Why You’re Losing Customers by Selling Too Much Too Soon

The early sale isn’t about the grand future. It’s about solving one small, immediate problem. Today.

You want to win?

Stop selling the house. Sell the door first. Even the lock if it's easier.

Founders keep telling me: “But we’re building this platform that can replace 5 tools!”

Probably not yet. You can’t start there because it will take you months or years to build that huge platform realistically.

And no prospect cares about your vision. They care about their most immediate, urgent problem to solve.

Trying to sell the future vision is founder dopamine. It’s usually at its peak post-fundraising. Because you had to sell the big vision so investors could imagine your startup becoming a multi-billion dollar company.

It’s not credible.

It’s not real.

It’s not useful now.

Most buyers:

• Are skeptical because you’re 2–5 people in an incubator.
• Don’t want to take a big risk on a small and young company.
• Care about getting one specific thing fixed, fast.

The Biggest Traps of Selling the Big Vision

By selling the big thing you’ll have in the future, the problem is you’ll think you’re on the right path because you’ll generate a lot of conversations. Because it’s sexy. But sales? None.

And it automatically puts you in the mindset of trying to build the big thing before getting users on a tiny part of the product. A feature that solves an immediate problem.

What Actually Works Better in the Early DaysNail One valuable, specific outcome
One feature.
One result.
One wedge.

Examples:

• Slack didn’t sell “company-wide async communication.” They sold “ditch internal email.”
• Databricks didn’t sell “the Data Lake.” They sold “Spark at scale in one line.”
• Dropbox didn’t sell “a unified cloud productivity platform.” They sold “access your files from anywhere.”

Those single-use cases earned trust. A use case they could deliver on in the early days.

Then they expanded.

The Wedge Strategy

1. Pick the wedge: Find the hair-on-fire problem your ICP already wants solved.
2. Make it 10x better than current options for your specific ICP.
3. Sell that outcome. Not the product.
4. Deliver shockingly well.
5. Expand the product once they trust you. When you can realistically do it.

Why This Works

• Easier to market (specific copy, clear ROI)
• Easier to sell (fast “yes”)
• Easier to build (small scope = high polish)
• Easier to deliver (one outcome = laser focus)

This is Product-Led Sales 101.

Final Take

Build something that sells fast by solving a real, small problem right now.

Don’t try to sell the biggest thing possible. It’ll cause more trouble than it’s worth.

Of course, always pitch your larger vision. Because customers will embark on a journey with you. But that’s 10% of the sale. Focus on solving their current needs instead of pushing your vision.

Start there.

- Guillaume.