Observed Signal · Jun 23, 2026 · Newsletter Article · Source: a16z speedrun · Impact: 1/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Seven Mistakes Founders Make Chasing First Deals
This Substack newsletter by Macy Mills (lead of GTM at a16z speedrun) outlines seven common mistakes early-stage founders make when pursuing their first customers and deals, and how to fix them quickly. The advice covers delaying sales until a product is 'perfect', underpricing or avoiding charging customers, failing to identify the economic buyer, poor listening during customer conversations, over-reliance on a single lead/logo, treating the pitch as permanent rather than iterating it, and prematurely outsourcing founder-led sales. The piece also notes a16z speedrun events (including an upcoming Stockholm meetup) and includes links to related items such as SF/LA Tech Week submissions and a Clair Health funding announcement.
General early-stage sales advice with limited direct relevance or impact on the AdTech/MarTech industry; informational newsletter rather than industry-changing news.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Macy Mills is the lead of GTM at a16z speedrun and authored the newsletter.
- The newsletter lists seven common early-stage sales mistakes founders make: waiting for a perfect product, undercharging, failing to find the economic buyer, not listening, relying on a single deal, treating the pitch as permanent, and not doing founder-led sales.
- Clair Health (SR006) announced it raised $11.6M to develop a continuous hormone monitor (linked in the newsletter).
- speedrun (a16z speedrun) announced in-text that it is coming to Stockholm and included a call-to-action to join.
- Submissions for SF/LA Tech Week 2026 are open (linked in the newsletter).
Connected Companies & Entities
1 Entity mappedRelated Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Unlocking $500K Deals: Lessons from Anchr Founders
An a16z Speedrun newsletter guest post by Macy Mills (Head of GTM, a16z speedrun) tells the story of Anchr founders Tzar and Smayan, who exceeded a $500,000 booked-revenue stretch goal after closing a hard-won enterprise deal with a publicly traded food distributor. The piece emphasizes founder-led sales and actionable GTM lessons: physical presence at decision-making moments, relentless multi-channel outreach, deep customer research, repeated demos, and cultivating internal champions. The issue also announces the launch of a16z Speedrun Insiders (onboarding ~15 Fortune 500 C-suite executives), notes TaleMonster Games’ $30M Series A, welcomes Jackie Young as a new Speedrun partner, and flags hiring activity coordinated by Jordan Mazer.
Jack Altman's Key Insights for Startup Success
The newsletter announces the launch of a16z speedrun Alpha, a selective fellowship for exceptional students and recent-graduate engineers with two tracks: a Talent Track that places fellows at fast-growing portfolio companies and a Founder Track that gives a $20,000 equity-free grant and eligibility for up to $250,000 in follow-on investment; the inaugural cohort begins in June with a kickoff retreat followed by eight weeks in person. The piece also summarizes a fireside chat with Jack Altman, who shared practical seed-stage lessons: hire early employees who are "diamonds in the rough," prioritize rapid signals of product-market fit (Lattice’s performance-review product was their third pivot), balance customer requests against a long-term roadmap (evaluate whether big custom deals open broader markets), protect attention by working proactively, and keep founders close to product as the company scales. Altman also gave direct advice on fundraising timelines and accelerator templates.
Founder PR Guide: Don't Hit the NOS Too Soon
An a16z Speedrun newsletter shares PR guidance for early-stage founders from Lester Chen. Chen reframes PR as a test to validate whether others find value in a company's story, warns against premature PR ("hitting the NOS too soon"), and recommends matching press outreach to the intentional audience rather than chasing viral attention. The piece notes earned media's long tail—LLMs and search synthesize coverage into company signals—and highlights tradeoffs between paying for professional PR help versus DIY efforts. Lulu Cheng Meservey's "go direct" idea (founders telling their own story) is referenced as part of the broader shift toward founder-driven channels.
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