Traction 5 GTM Rules Every Founder Should Know with Bocar Dia of Forum Ventures
If you're building before validating the market, you're not a founder — you’re a hopeful builder. In this episode, Bocar Dia, Partner and GM at Forum Ventures, shares how to build a capital-efficient, scalable sales motion in B2B SaaS, from idea to product-market fit and beyond. Drawing from his early days at Hootsuite and advising 30+ founders annually, Bocar unpacks the frameworks and mindsets for growing to $100M ARR without chasing inflated valuations.
Specifically, Bocar covers:
(03:13) Bocar Dia shifts from engineering to sales at early-stage Hootsuite.
(12:09) Validate real pain, then pinpoint key problems to shape your MVP.
(20:01) Founders often raise before soul-searching — and end up misaligned.
(25:10) Product-market fit is when value drives steady inbound demand.
(30:17) Sales has three phases: product fit, GTM fit and scale.
(36:57) Don’t scale early traction. Prove one repeatable channel first.
(41:57) Hire Customer Success before Sales to drive renewals and growth.
(46:30) Founders who sell first know exactly what kind of leaders and reps to hire next.
(51:00) AI can help sales, but manual validation is needed before scaling.
(57:53) Bocar recommends data-driven, tactical sales books for founders.
Resources Mentioned:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bocardia/
Forum Ventures | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/forumvc/
Forum Ventures | Website
https://www.forumvc.com/
"The Sales Acceleration Formula" by Mark Roberge
https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-Inbound/dp/1119047072
"Founding Sales" by Pete Kazanjy
https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Sales-Go-Market-Handbook/dp/1734505117
https://winningbydesign.com/resources/books/
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