If you rate highly in Quadrants 2, that you are more likely to be a technically-lead founder. If you excelled in Quadrant 3, you are likely to be a sales-led founder.

Perhaps this is why a tech founder seek to buddy up with a sales founder, and vice versa. Having co-founders is a way to get an edge in all four quadrants.

Point your camera phone here.

I define a technical founder as a founder having a background in computer science. The geeks. The guys and girls who build the product.

It is no surprise technically-led startups score high in Quadrants 2. Quadrant 2 focuses on the product, the product fact sheet, and the product roadmap. Tech founders know the product inside out because they built it.

Startups that kick ass in Quadrants 3 are likely to be sales-led founders. Sales founders have a background in design, marketing and sales.

Neither type of founder is at an advantage. Each founder’s startup respectively fires on one or two quadrants, not all four. Opportunities to reduce friction found in the remaining quadrants is missed.

Technical founders are at risk of becoming Quadrant 2 fanatics. This is because they undervalue Quadrants 3 and 4. Their discussions are dominated by product, product, and more product.

Companies that are technically lead have strong product knowledge and product roadmap.

However, they miss the opportunity to build shared beliefs with customers, staff and suppliers. In the third Quadrant, their idea of a brand identity is a logo, they created the day before the website went live.

Quadrant 2 fanatics are devout believers that the answer to every problem in the business is a better product with more features. They believe if you want to raise prices or increase market share, one simply needs a superior product.

This thinking commodizes their business because Quadrant 2 is the least defensible quadrant from copycating competitors.

Shared beliefs tucked away in Q3 on the other hand, are difficult to copy. Sharing beliefs come from within the founder. They are the foundation for why the company started.

Shared beliefs give the customer a feeling of belonging and tap irrational buying behaviour where customers ignore features from Quadrant 2, and make a buying decision based on beliefs in Quadrant 3.

Sales founders are the inverse. In fact, they use their experience in the third Quadrant to cover their shortcomings in Quadrant 2. Sales founders are prone to becoming Quadrant 3 fanatics because they are more likely to future sell.

Future selling is when someone in the startup commits the company to build a feature tomorrow, in order to make a sale today. The startup falls foul of making the sale contingent on a feature which may not have been specified, costed or the feature thoroughly tested with the code-base.

They compensate for the shortcoming of the Quadrant 2 by hammering shared beliefs in Quadrant 3. Every opportunity they will talk about shared beliefs as a way of masking a failing Quadrant 2.

A sales founder also cares about the customer experience specified in Quadrant 4. A tech-led founder unconsciously believe the product is the experience. A sales-led founder draws a distinction and knows no matter how superior the product, an inferior customer experience is likely to equate to a poor product review.

While sales and tech founders are polarised over Quadrants 2 and 3, a dominance of Q1 and 4 varies based on unique circumstances. That means a sales founder may excel in Q1 and a tech founder excel in Q4

A sales-led founder may know precisely each customer profile. They often insist on in-person meetings, so they build an intimate picture of the customer. It is for this reason they might discount effort spent in Quadrant 4. They want to sell face-to-face because that’s what the founder is comfortable doing. The founder is very passionate about selling, and the sales process pivots around the founder.

Tech-led founders often shy away from making outbound calls. They may have less touch with customers, so they don’t have a clear picture of who they serve.

However, their reluctance to meet a customer face-to-face, coupled with technical skills could make them ideal masters of Q4. They can be the type of person building an experience for the customer that is largely automated.

Further, a tech-led founder can place over emphasize Quadrant 2, and downplay Quadrant 1 by convincing themselves and others their product can be used by anyone.

Not only does it sound arrogant, it is not true.

A sales-led founder reading this text knows better. Just because two customer profiles can both use the product, doesn’t mean both want to buy it. Why? Because Sally is not a target audience, she is a customer, and if you don’t talk to Sally about her needs, she won’t be convinced to buy your product.