Why Most Founders Struggle to Scale Sales and How to Fix It

Every founder is great at selling—until they're not. In this episode, Summer Poletti, founder of Rise of Us, breaks down one of the most common (and costly) challenges in business growth: transitioning from founder-led sales to a scalable sales system. Summer shares her unconventional path—from growth-stage operator to coach to consultant—and how her experience across multiple business functions gives her a unique edge in solving revenue problems holistically. This conversation uncovers why most sales hires fail, why founders unknowingly stall their own growth, and how the "messy middle" is actually where real businesses are built. For entrepreneurs, the key takeaway is clear: your business doesn't stall because of effort—it stalls because of structure.   Timestamps 00:00:00 – Introduction & Episode Context 00:01:40 – Summer's Non-Linear Career Path 00:03:58 – Transitioning Into Consulting 00:04:08 – Early Clients & False Momentum 00:06:52 – Lessons From Early Career Mistakes 00:07:19 – Identifying Ideal Clients 00:09:46 – Favorite Project & Sales System Success 00:11:42 – Hiring Salespeople the Right Way 00:12:29 – Toxic Salespeople & Cultural Impact 00:15:24 – Using Data to Diagnose Sales Problems 00:16:55 – Founder-Led Sales Bottlenecks 00:18:57 – When Founders Should Step Out of Sales 00:19:25 – The Impact of Helping Businesses Scale 00:20:49 – Where to Find Summer & Rise of Us   Episode Resources Dive deeper into how Summer helps founders transition from unpredictable, founder-led sales to scalable revenue systems that actually support growth: https://theriseofus.com Legacy Podcast: For more information about the Legacy Podcast and its co-hosts, visit https://businesslegacypodcast.com Leave a Review: If you enjoyed the episode, leave a review and rating on your preferred podcast platform. For more information: Visit https://businesslegacypodcast.com to access the show notes and additional resources on the episode.