When you launch a product, everything feels exciting. Every lead looks interesting.
Every conversation sounds useful.
And in the early days, that’s fine.
You test. You collect feedback. You move from idea-market fit to product-market fit.
But once revenue starts coming in, the rules change.
Trying to sell to everyone becomes a serious blocker.
At Inscaler, we see this all the time with early-stage founders building their first sales motion.
I once heard a simple rule that stuck with me:
Until you reach 10M ARR, focus on one tier, one geography, one target.
Yet many founders start drifting after the first 1–2M.
A bigger logo shows up. You sign-up a new one from another country.
Suddenly the business is juggling three directions instead of one.
That’s when sales starts feeling heavy.
Your first step is simple: pick your tier.
Tiering means grouping customers by size.
It’s not fancy. It’s practical.
And it shapes your whole sales strategy - pricing, messaging, hiring, everything.
Most startups use employee count because it’s easier and consistent.
The main tiers:
Each one comes with its own rhythm, challenges, and expectations.
Let’s break them down clearly, based on what we see every day with our founders.
Sales Cycle & ACV
Fast and simple. Cycles under 15 days.
ACV often 1-3K in Europe and around 5K in the US.
You speak to 1-2 people max.
Product-led vs Sales-led
Because ACV is low, your product needs to do most of the closing. A heavy sales motion becomes too expensive.
Inbound vs Outbound
Inbound wins. Outbound can work, but only if your cost structure is very lean.
This is the “home base” for many successful B2B companies.
Sales Cycle & ACV
Deal sizes jump: 5-20K, sometimes up to 50K.
Cycles stretch to 30-90 days. Procurement gets involved.
More decision-makers enter the picture.
Product-led vs Sales-led
MM usually fits a sales-led motion. Reps can prospect, nurture, and close effectively.
Inbound vs Outbound
Both work. Outbound becomes essential.
Reps might need to work 3-5 contacts inside each account.
The mountain everyone wants to climb. (Only a few reach the top.)
Sales Cycle & ACV
Deals start at 20-50K and scale up.
Cycles take months.
RFPs, pilots, legal reviews… You need champions, economic buyer, sponsors...a whole plethora of people.
Product-led vs Sales-led
You need skilled salespeople. (You need A-players.)
Complex deals require human guidance at every step.
Potentially multiple people involved from your end, yourself, your founders, your customer success team, product & engineering.
Inbound vs Outbound
Mainly outbound.
Plus channel partners when implementation becomes heavy.
Working with founders across Europe, we see the same problem repeat.
When you sell to every tier at once, everything becomes harder:
Your sales cycle becomes unpredictable.
Your CRM turns messy. Your team loses direction.
Your revenue stops growing in a steady way.
A great example from our Sales Pyramid blog post: revenue slows down when activity and pipeline creation lose consistency. Mixing tiers usually causes exactly that.
Exploring different tiers at the beginning is fine.
But once you spot where you win consistently, stay there.
That’s how you build a clean, repeatable motion.
You don’t need every customer.
You need the right ones.
Pick your tier.
Serve it with clarity and discipline.
And progress is what early-stage founders need the most.
If this helped you reflect on your current stage, good - that’s a step forward already.
Thanks for reading this far, have a good weekend everyone!
– Matteo
