I was fortunate enough to get an invite to Theory Ventures’ office hours, which featured Maggie Hott, the head of GTM for OpenAI. Before OpenAI, she led sales at Slack and Webflow and is now an advisor to top venture firms – Cowboy Ventures and Sequoia – and an angel investor.

Maggie shared a ton of great advice that start-up founders should use when building their GTM motion and to avoid common pitfalls.

1. The CEO’s involvement is crucial throughout the deal process to ensure all necessary steps are covered.
2. Identifying decision-makers at the beginning of the sales cycle is essential for effective engagement.
3. Working with non-decision-makers can lead to prolonged sales cycles and wasted resources.
4. Asking the right questions upfront about the approval process can prevent complications later in the sales process.
5. Understanding the evolving dynamics of buying committees is important for navigating the sales landscape effectively.

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