A lot of founders get caught in this trap because they were never taught what sales really is. I would argue that the best salespeople are spending a lot of their time doing two things: Learning and filtering, learning and filtering. Every sales call should start with three questions that allow the customer to disqualify themselves from your product. Figure out what you could have asked them so they would have said no in the first three minutes of the conversation.
Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel on the importance of talking to your users, why successful founders are ok with rejection from potential customers, and how protecting your ego by not talking to your users can kill your startup.
To create Rookies Mistakes we asked YC founders: Is there a simple fact you wish you knew when you started your company or a rookie mistake you wish you could take back?
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