Session Recaps
February 24, 2026Founder-Led Sales: How to Get Meetings, Run Discovery Calls, and Close Proposals
Most founders didn't start a company because they love selling. But without sales, nothing else matters.
At INBOUND 2025, Carole Mahoney (founder of Unbound Growth and sales coach at Harvard Business School), Leslie Venetz (founder of Sales-Led GTM and author of Profit Generating Pipeline), and Jaime Diglio (founder of the Win Room) led a packed 90-minute session on founder-led sales—the process of founders personally driving early-stage customer acquisition before building a formal sales team.
Together, they covered the full arc, from getting meetings to running discovery calls to closing with proposals that actually land. Here's what they shared, plus what you can start doing today.




