"Buyers are liars" - Inspir’em’s Emma Maslen on the 6 sales checks angels make before investing

<p>Most startups don’t fail because the product is bad. They fail because nobody can sell it.</p><p>On today’s episode, we’re joined by Emma Maslen, CEO of sales consultancy<a href="https://www.inspirem.coach" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"> inspir’em</a> and an angel investor with Angel Academe. After a career selling for IBM, SAP and Concur, Emma now works with everyone from early-stage startups to Snowflake and Salesforce. She explains how she tests a startup’s ability to sell before she invests.</p><p>We cover why founders must stop acting as the company’s best salesperson, the “Book a demo” trap and why buyers are liars, the two questions that reveal whether a founder has humility, why stalled growth usually means customer meetings have fallen off a cliff, and why replacing junior sales roles with AI could break the sales talent ladder. Emma also tackles whether male and female founders get asked the same questions, and names the one number every founder should be able to quote cold.</p><p>Emma is a member of the Angel Academe network. SyndicateRoom works with Angel Academe on its EIS funds.</p><p>If you enjoyed the episode, please like, subscribe and leave a comment: what number would you ask a founder to quote cold?</p><p>In this episode:</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombritton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Tom Britton</a></p><p><a href="uk.linkedin.com/in/emmamaslen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Emma Maslen</a><br>New to early-stage investing? Learn how <a href="https://www.syndicateroom.com/seis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme </a>works.</p><p></p>