The ISH - The Founder Sales Bottleneck Assessment

Earlier this year, I watched a $3M ARR company lose their biggest deal of the year.

Not because their product wasn't good enough. Not because the prospect chose a competitor.

Because it took three weeks to schedule a 30-minute call between the founder and the prospect. The founder insisted on being part of the final discussion, but his calendar was completely packed. Every time they found a slot, something "urgent" would come up.

"We've been trying to move forward for almost a month," the prospect finally said. "We can't wait any longer - we're going with [competitor] because they were able to meet with us this week."

Here's the thing: this founder thought he was being strategic by staying involved in big deals. In reality, his packed schedule had become the biggest bottleneck in his own company's growth.

Sound familiar?

Most successful founders hit this wall between $1M-$5M ARR. The very skills that got you here are now holding you back. The question is: how deep are you in the bottleneck, and what's it costing you?

There's a clear path out. But first, you need to know exactly where you stand.

The Founder Sales Bottleneck Assessment

Discover Your Current Level

1. What percentage of product demos do you personally attend?

2. Who typically closes your deals?

3. When complex technical or competitive questions arise, what happens?

4. How do your key customer relationships work?

5. What happens when you're unavailable (vacation, sick, busy with other priorities)?

6. How are pricing decisions and negotiations handled?

7. How often do customer issues or expansion conversations escalate to you?

8. How would you describe your current role in the sales process?