You're in the Business of Selling Promotions by @ttunguz

Enter a competent sales rep. They will smooth the way during the sales process. They will find the key decision maker, make sure that person is listened to, and build trust. They will make promises about the functions of your product, and your customer will always have someone to yell at if things go south.

In almost all circumstances I can think of, if not a member of the founding team, you want to say, "With the money I hope to raise from you, this is the person—here's his/her résumé—that we're going to bring on board to take care of the business marketing aspect of it." I've always had that in the startup companies I've been associated wi