The hottest Sales Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

New this week: Lovable, Datadog, Canva and more

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
💼 Business Sales
  1. Lots of companies adjusted pricing, plans, and product limits this week—there were price increases, plan restructures, new plans, and capacity/feature changes across the market.
  2. Many vendors are expanding into adjacent products and enterprise features to become full platforms and win bigger deals, using new features and managed services to drive higher contract value.
  3. Firms are balancing broad free access with paid monetization by democratizing AI features at lower tiers while gating higher usage or unlimited access for paid plans.

Season 11 starts next week

Mehdeeka • 3 implied HN points • 27 Jan 26
💼 Business Sales
  1. Season 11 of the email series starts next week and will run for 12 weeks before taking another break.
  2. Three resources were shared: a curation of moon-landing-era ads, a Threads trend showing narrative-driven product placement that sparks curiosity, and a new TikTok aimed at junior product marketers.
  3. A two-afternoon online pricing workshop is being offered for $600 AUD (Mehketeers get 10% off with code MEHKETEERFOREVER) for anyone needing to update pricing pages, sales decks, new product pricing, or to learn pricing fundamentals.

Our conference season watchlist

Top of the Lyne • 117 implied HN points • 02 Aug 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. September is a busy month for conferences and tech events.
  2. Major conferences like Inbound, SaaStr Annual, and Dreamforce are key events to attend for marketing, sales, and revenue teams.
  3. Various events like Sales Enablement Summit and Pendomonium offer specialized learning opportunities for specific teams within organizations.

Generative AI will not kill the sales profession...

EarlyGTM | Craft Ventures • 117 implied HN points • 31 May 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Generative AI will have profound impacts on the economy, but won't replace sales professionals soon due to the complex nature of sales cycles.
  2. The intricate steps of the sales cycle require human guidance to avoid 'lossiness' between interactions that AI cannot manage effectively yet.
  3. AI can assist in sales processes, but trust in human sellers is essential for revenue goals, as AI lacks the social, nuanced aspects crucial in high-stakes sales.
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14 actionable CRM tactics for early-stage SaaS founders

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 51 implied HN points • 27 Jul 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Having a clear and updated CRM helps keep all your customer information organized. This way, everyone in your team can access the same data in real-time.
  2. It's important to track all interactions with clients, like calls and emails. This gives you better insights on moving deals forward and improving your sales process.
  3. Avoid common mistakes like not defining deal stages and not tracking lost reasons. These can lead to missed opportunities and unclear data about your sales performance.

Why Selling AI Automation to Hedge Funds Is Hard

Enterprise AI Trends • 63 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Selling AI to hedge funds is quite challenging. They often lack success stories and top-down support can make a difference.
  2. Investment managers face unique barriers when considering new technology like AI. Understanding these barriers can help tailor your sales approach.
  3. Many companies have struggled to sell AI in finance, leading some to pivot their strategies. It's important to learn from these experiences to succeed.

A Culture of Innovation

The Polymerist • 132 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Having a well-equipped lab is crucial for innovation in fields like chemistry. Safety is incredibly important, and people need to know how to operate in a lab to prevent accidents.
  2. Long-term thinking is necessary for product development. Even great ideas can take years to become profitable, so careful planning and decision-making about launching products are key.
  3. A culture of collaboration between teams is essential for success. Sales, marketing, and technical teams need to communicate effectively to help ensure new products meet market demands and are profitable.

Your guide to sales compensation & PLG

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 631 implied HN points • 26 Jul 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Sales compensation design involves understanding company goals, seller profiles, and using compensation to drive desired behaviors.
  2. Components of a sales compensation plan include OTE, base salary, variable comp, quota, quota attainment, and more.
  3. When designing a sales compensation plan for a PLG business, consider business goals, roles needed, best practices, and behaviors to incentivize.

5 ways to be customer friendly

Good Better Best • 3 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
💼 Business Sales
  1. Meet customers where they already are by adding integrations and channels so they can use your product without switching platforms.
  2. Remove pricing friction and be transparent by offering public price-matching or ‘starts at’ enterprise pricing so prospects get a clear ballpark.
  3. Give customers flexibility and room to grow by adding more payment options and much higher usage limits so they won’t hit arbitrary barriers while experimenting.

🙌🏽 Community spotlight: hottest AI startups & tools, funds that lead pre-seed rounds, term sheet guide, VC trends, Barbie and more

Lolita's Newsletter • 98 implied HN points • 02 Jul 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Monthly newsletter for underestimated founders, funders, and friends with curated insights and resources
  2. Importance of leaning on community for personal and professional success, highlighted with examples like Beyoncé and Barbie
  3. Announcements of funds raised by various ventures and empowerment initiatives for underrepresented founders

Account Based What?

42 Slash • 98 implied HN points • 11 May 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. ABM is about focusing on your top dream accounts with sales leading the way
  2. Start small with 1 BDR and 1 Marketer for a pilot campaign
  3. ABM success comes from targeted account lists, personalized creatives, and leveraging events for face-to-face interactions

Week 4 Recap at Vixul

Michael’s Newsletter • 98 implied HN points • 20 Sep 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Preparing for a pitch session at Vixul involves defining positioning, value propositions, and unique services
  2. Focusing on a specific audience and problem enhances lead generation efforts
  3. Mentorship and community support play a significant role in entrepreneurial development at Vixul

How to Craft a Compelling Offer That Buyers Can't Say No To

Michael’s Newsletter • 98 implied HN points • 15 Aug 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Craft a compelling offer that speaks to the customer's dream result, provides certainty, reduces time to value, and minimizes effort needed.
  2. The way you position your offer can significantly impact buyer response and lead to higher close rates.
  3. Creating a grand-slam offer involves addressing the dream result, certainty, time to value, and effort or cost for the customer.

Weekly Micro Market: Linkedin Automation Tools

Micro Markets Newsletter • 2 HN points • 29 Aug 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. LinkedIn automation tools help salespeople and recruiters connect with potential clients or candidates more efficiently by automating repetitive tasks like sending messages.
  2. This market is worth about $2-4 billion and has many competitors, but most tools struggle with user-friendliness, creating opportunities for new, simpler tools.
  3. Running these tools is complex and risky because they may violate LinkedIn's terms of service, but there's potential for innovation by creating complementary services that improve outreach success.

How I learnt to do sales, despite being a coder

Recontact • 39 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. Always be passionate and excited about talking about your work and shamelessly sell to potential clients.
  2. In sales, key strategies include outbound, inbound, personal network sales, and handling calls for closing deals.
  3. Engage with clients genuinely, be a good listener during calls, follow up with gratitude, and strategically approach asking for payments.

GTM Foundation: How SaaS Founders grow from €0 to €1M ARR (Part 3)

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 47 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Pricing should be flexible as your business grows. Start with a simple model and adapt it based on customer feedback and sales progress.
  2. Choose a sales strategy that matches how your customers want to buy. Stick to one approach, whether it's product-led or sales-led.
  3. Keep track of key metrics and use a CRM to understand your customers and improve your sales process. This information helps you make better decisions.

Why I Stopped Trying to Scale My Business

Tiny Empires • 36 implied HN points • 01 Aug 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Growing a business isn't always the best goal. Making consistent money might mean you're successful, even if you're not expanding.
  2. It's important to find a business model that gives you time and money. Your business should help your life, not take over it.
  3. Testing ideas before investing a lot can save you time and money. Getting your first customers is about building trust and knowing what they really want.

GTM Foundation: How SaaS Founders grow from €0 to €1M ARR (Part 2)

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 51 implied HN points • 15 Jun 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Building a Go-To-Market (GTM) foundation is essential for growing a SaaS company from zero to one million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). This involves understanding your target market and developing proper strategies.
  2. GTM collaterals, like an effective homepage and sales deck, are vital tools for converting visitors into customers. They help communicate your value and guide potential buyers through their decision-making process.
  3. Choosing the right channels to reach your customers is crucial. Focus on a few primary channels first and gradually explore secondary options as you gain traction.

Improving the conversion rate 💰

André Casal's Substack • 1 HN point • 09 Sep 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. Improving the conversion rate is a top priority, and the focus will be on enhancing the landing page to stand out and attract more customers.
  2. A solid marketing strategy is being developed, which includes identifying the right channels, testing, and scaling successful approaches.
  3. The next steps involve making the product even better with new features and improved documentation to surprise and delight customers.

How you package is how you sell

Good Better Best • 3 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
💼 Business Sales
  1. Product-led and sales-led motions don’t compete — they complement each other. Build systems that connect product usage to pricing so both acquisition and monetization can scale together.
  2. Pick pricing metrics that pass two simple tests: customers feel you earn more of their wallet as they grow, and a sales rep can explain the metric in about 15 seconds. Apply the same clarity to secondary usage metrics to make upgrades obvious.
  3. Limits are the connective tissue between self-serve and enterprise — they create signals and opportunities to nudge customers or involve sales. Make limits observable with telemetry and automate product notices and sales alerts so you can act when usage spikes.

Black Friday - Happy Birthday sale

Computer Ads from the Past • 128 implied HN points • 30 Nov 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. There is a special sale going on for Black Friday and a birthday celebration, offering 38% off subscriptions until December 8th. It's a fun way to mark the occasion and give people a discount.
  2. Readers can also support through one-time donations on various platforms like Ko-Fi or Patreon. There are flexible options for those who want to contribute.
  3. Gift subscriptions are available, making it an ideal present for anyone interested in computer ads or a fun way to share unique content. It's a thoughtful holiday gift for a nerdy friend.

A Hubspot Playbook for realizing your CRM dreams

42 Slash • 78 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Define your business goals and map out your processes before implementing HubSpot.
  2. Integrate your CRM with your entire growth operation to ensure data flow and connectivity.
  3. Keep your data clean, organized, and connected within HubSpot for efficient operations.

Demand Generation Demystified

42 Slash • 78 implied HN points • 27 Apr 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Demand Generation is not just about creating content and hoping for leads, it's broader and includes customer acquisition and infrastructure.
  2. Marketing in a B2B company should be structured around three main pillars: Demand Generation, Brand, and Product Marketing.
  3. Product Marketing is foundational to a company as it connects various functions like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Customer Service.

"Bloat is Beautiful" 🎨

The SaaS Baton • 78 implied HN points • 19 Jul 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. Customers often desire flexibility in products, even if it means adding more complex features.
  2. In the fast-paced world of SaaS, finding multiple product-market fits is crucial for company growth and success.
  3. Collecting and addressing day-to-day sales process frictions can greatly optimize a sales organization.

4 questions that predict if your business will fail

Tiny Empires • 36 implied HN points • 16 Jul 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. To succeed as a solo founder, you need to ensure that you can handle the sales alone. If it requires a team or complex processes, it might not be the right fit.
  2. It's important to play to your strengths. Choose a business that aligns with what you naturally do well and feels comfortable for you.
  3. Make sure your business can operate without your constant attention. If it demands 24/7 work, consider finding a different model that allows you more flexibility.

Selling Better.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 27 implied HN points • 17 Aug 25
💼 Business Sales
  1. Focusing on solutions is key when selling. Customers want to know how you can solve their problems, not just what products you have.
  2. Keep interactions simple and accessible. Make it easy for people to understand and engage with what you offer.
  3. Make your presentations concise. Aim for no more than 9 slides, highlighting the main ideas and actions needed to keep your audience's attention.

Case Study: Scaling customer intelligence

Artificial Ignorance • 117 implied HN points • 27 Nov 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. AI can help analyze a large number of sales calls quickly instead of relying on humans to do it manually. This makes it easier to understand customer behaviors and needs.
  2. Choosing the right AI model is important. Higher quality models may cost more, but they can provide better and more accurate results over cheaper options.
  3. It’s essential to make the data user-friendly. Organizing and making information accessible helps teams use insights from the analysis effectively.

The inside story of Amplitude’s new self-service plan

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 252 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. Launching a self-service plan can lead to significant improvements in conversion rates, even if initial numbers are low
  2. It's important to involve the sales team in the self-serve journey to avoid cannibalization and maintain a healthy balance between self-service and enterprise sales
  3. Revisiting pricing and packaging is crucial for the success of a self-service model, including conducting user interviews, analyzing features, and monitoring competitors

Sacrifice revenue for simplicity

Tiny Empires • 98 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
💼 Business Sales
  1. Sometimes, it's better to simplify your business model even if it means making less money. This can save you time and reduce stress.
  2. Instead of making custom offers for every client, create standard packages to streamline sales. This way, you spend less time on individual deals.
  3. Automating your sales process can help you focus on growth. With self-serve options, clients can buy directly from your website, which saves you effort.

PLG and sales in 2023

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 402 implied HN points • 14 Jun 23
💼 Business Sales
  1. PLG companies are adopting sales strategies and outspending traditional SaaS peers on sales & marketing.
  2. Efficient growth requires combining PLG and sales strategies.
  3. Anti-patterns to avoid when trying to combine PLG and sales motions.