In this episode of the East Coast Elite series, we sit down with Liam Mulcahy, Operating Partner at Kleiner Perkins. Having worked with over 100 startups, from first-ever sales rep to operating partner, Liam shares his unfiltered playbook for success in the chaotic world of early-stage companies. We cover how to identify the right opportunities, what a founder-led sales motion looks like, the red flags to watch for in an interview, and the mindset needed to thrive in a high-risk, high-reward environment. Liam also shares his famous cardboard cutout story that landed him a job at MongoDB, a company he helped take public. 🏹 Key Topics Covered 00:00 - Intro 01:53 - The Operating Partner Role at KP 05:18 - From Mongo to VC 09:34 - The Cardboard Cutout Story 11:53 - Product-Out vs. Customer-In 13:30 - Intrinsic Motivation for Startups 17:39 - The "Revenue-Generating PM" 19:53 - Qualifying a Startup as a Rep 23:26 - The Player-Coach Myth 27:49 - Scaling a Sales Team with Pods 30:34 - Evaluating Pre-Revenue Companies 35:22 - Finding the Right Company 40:30 - Red Flags when Interviewing Founders 48:09 - Faster Enterprise Buying Cycles 50:13 - The Future of Sales and AI 55:16 - The Value of Sales Training 💥 3 Biggest Lessons: The DNA of a Founder: Look for founders who see sales as a first-class citizen and have a high emotional resonance with the problem they are solving, not just a homework assignment from a board. The "Player-Coach" Myth: The idea of a single person acting as both a top rep and a team leader is a "misnomer" that often leads to failure at an early-stage startup. It's better to hire great reps first, and then bring in a leader once the sales motion is proven. Bet on Yourself: The best early-stage hires have an intrinsic motivation to prove they can succeed in a chaotic environment. They are not just looking for a prestigious role but for a chance to build something from the ground up. 🙌 Thanks for listening! This episode was hosted by Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne, founders of Hunters & Unicorns, and post-produced by the team at videoforce.pro. If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a like/share and subscribe to our channel! 🦄 Connect with Hunters & Unicorns Website: http://huntersandunicorns.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/HuntersUn1corns Instagram: http://instagram.com/huntersandunicorns Blog: http://huntersandunicorns.com/blog   💬 Notable Quotes "What is the condition where a company would be so desperate and in pain they'd want what we have? And if that's the case, will they pay us anything?". "I bought a cardboard cutout of myself... It just said, can you see me working here?". "If I'm going to hire you as a founding sales rep, I need you to walk through the door on day one as a great sales rep. I can't have to enable you to do the actual function.". "The best early stage hires I've made is they're like revenue-generating product managers.". "If you ask me in 10 years, there're going to be more or less salespeople, I'd say less... the markets are getting exponentially larger... and the models are getting better, faster to be able to do full jobs.". #softwaresales #huntersandunicorns #playbookuniverse #EastCoastElite