In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to Chris Reisig, Operating Partner for Jungle Ventures and 5-time CRO. Chris shares insights and wisdom he’s gained through his experience leading the scaling of multiple early-stage companies. From defining the ideal customer to hiring leaders and market expansion, Chris has done and seen it all. Leaders of all levels will appreciate this valuable advice on culture, talent, international sales, and product-led growth from a veteran start-up leader.

 

Additional Resources:

• Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisreisig/
• Check out Entrepreneurship for All: https://eforall.org/
• Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Don't stop looking for the acute pain point and the ideal customer
• Scaling a business means teaching everyone how to close a deal
• Don't expand your market too much too early
• How early is too early when joining a startup 
• Never settle for less when it comes to recruiting candidates
• The artist vs the scientist: you need both sellers at different times 
• Expanding outside of your home country entails a lot of resources
• Learn how to be the same before trying to be different
• Tips for staying connected for leaders being sent to another country
• The most important skill for a founder to have
• Don't try to be the smartest person in the room

 

QUOTES

Chris on finding the acute pain point that your customer has: "If you cannot find pain that's acute in your customer, you have to keep looking. Because unless you have something that's painful enough for a customer to invest money and time in, it's interesting but not relevant. They're not gonna do anything."

Chris on what it takes to scale a business: "It's one thing if you and the founder can go out and do 10 deals as a team. But unless you can teach other people beyond the founder and the first sales leader to close a deal, to take a deal from first presentation to a PO, you don't have a scalable business."

The most important skill for a founder to have, says Chris: "Hiring great leadership is probably the single most important difference-maker between success and failure. If you are a sales leader that knows how to hire great leadership underneath you, your ability to scale an organization is amplified. Your ability to get into markets is amplified. Your ability to grow the company is amplified."

 

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

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