Right moves successful entrepreneurs make at every funding stage ft. Leo Polovets of SUSA Ventures.

Leo Polovets is the co-founder and General Partner of SUSA Ventures, a seed-stage fund focusing on traditional tech, where he's been instrumental in shaping the landscape of B2B SaaS, healthcare, and fintech. Leo began his journey as a software engineer, where he made significant contributions to industry giants like LinkedIn and Google, before venturing into the startup world with Factual.  Tune in to the Seed to Sequoia Podcast's premiere episode, where Leo Polovets and Host Alex Shartsis discuss the intricacies of building a successful startup, covering - hiring, sales, pilot projects, and more. Show Notes: 0:00 Introduction 2:27 GTM at various Investment Stages 5:06 Importance of Founder-led Sales 6:56 Self assessment on Sales capabilities 9:24 Goals of Early Stage Sales 11:11 Indicators of Right and Wrong Tracks 16:00 The Importance of Go-to-market Strategy 19:50 The Role of Metrics in Business Growth 22:40 The Dangers of Vanity Metrics 24:05  Pilots in Deep Tech 29:00 Gap Between Original Pitch and Actual Customer Needs 31:32 Knowing when you hired the right person 34:50 What should founders ask more of to investors 39:00 The Role of Strategic Investors in Early Stages 41:20 Best Practices for Founders 44:50 Conclusion and Contact Information Guest: Leo Polovets(linkedin.com/in/lpolovets) Host: Alex Shartsis(linkedin.com/in/shartsis) Audio Engineer & Video Editor - James Fixx (fixxmusic.com) The Seed to Sequoia podcast is created by Silverwood Advisors to help founders with practical advice on building successful startups. If you would like to get expert advice for your startup reach out to us on: Website: silverwood.ai Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/silverwood-advisors Below is a list of startups backed by SUSA Ventures: Accorded. Andela. Aquera. Ascend. Assemble. Avro Therapeutics. BetterStack. Bright Cascade.Casetext. Centaur Labs. Chapter. Chatdesk. Claim. Cocoon. Coros. Cortex Health. Curebase. Drivezy Expanse .Farmraise. Flexport . Float . Flock . Focal Point . Fynn . Gentem . Guilded. Hallow . Headrace . Higo. Hodinkee . Honeybee Health . Human Interest . Hyas . Interviewing.io . Intricately . Journey . Juvena Therapeutics . LifestyleRx . Lightyear . Locale . Loop. Lyst . Mashgin . Meadow . Medallion . Memo. Merit. Miso . MK1 . Modelbit . Modernanimal . MUX