Jen Abel
Co-founder of JJELLYFISH, GM of Enterprise at State Affairs
Co-founder of JJELLYFISH which helps early-stage founders learn to sell, now GM of Enterprise at State Affairs, known for deeply tactical enterprise sales advice including why the mid-market doesn't exist, why you should sell to a gap not a problem, and why the best enterprise deals are built on relationships not tools.
Dimension Profile
Key Themes
Episode Summary
Jen Abel provides an extremely tactical guide to founder-led sales in the zero-to-one stage, centered on the insight that the founder is the product when there's no brand equity or marketing engine. She explains why vulnerability and honesty about being early-stage actually creates trust, why the real purpose of founder-led sales is learning fast enough to earn the right to sell rather than generating revenue, and why only founders can spot the 'budding moments' in sales conversations where the real gold of product-market fit discovery lives.
Leadership Principles
- → The founder is the product — in the early days with no brand equity, no marketing engine, no references, the founder's novel insight and vision is what gets the market excited
- → Founder-led sales is not about revenue on day one — it's about learning as fast as humanly possible to get to that pulse so you can earn the right to sell
- → Be vulnerable — be very open and honest about where you are, say you're an early-stage startup with a lot to learn, and ask for insight into how the problem manifests on their side
Notable Quotes
"The founder is the product. You have studied, you have experienced something that most of the market hasn't even had a chance to see or visualize yet. It's that novel insight that gets the market excited, in absence of a product."
— On why founders must do early sales themselves
"Founder-led sales is not about revenue on day one. It is about learning as fast as humanly possible to get to that pulse, so that you can earn the right to sell."
— On the real purpose of founder-led sales
"The founder can see something budding in a conversation that a salesperson won't be able to see. It's those budding moments where all the gold lives. Their day one market vision is never the same vision that takes them to product market fit."
— On why only founders can spot the pivotal insights in early sales calls
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