3 lessons I’ve learned building LINK: Sales, Innovation, and Funding
Building a startup isn’t a straight line. It’s a series of experiments, pivots, and bets—some that work, and some that teach you the hard way.
Over the last few years of building Link, I’ve learned that success isn’t just about having a great product. It’s about how you sell it, how you keep innovating, and how you choose to fund your journey.
Here are three lessons that have shaped the way I run Link and that might spark ideas for your own entrepreneurial path.
1. Sales and marketing: Find the most efficient path to market
As a tech entrepreneur, pushing the boundaries on product innovation is key. But it’s equally important to be nimble with sales and marketing.
When we started, we sold directly to merchants—retailers and restaurants. Selling and scaling into this segment is challenging due to its fragmentation. You either need deep venture capital pockets or an incredibly efficient way to reach them.
That efficiency came when we discovered a better route: selling through the tech platforms that already serve these merchants. Instead of building a large sales team, we made the platforms and their sales teams our customers. They, in turn, connect us to their merchants, our end users.
Once we validated this model with one point-of-sale system, one accounting platform, and so on, scaling became much faster. We now work with multiple platforms across retail and food, and their channels effectively serve as our sales force while LINK delivers value for both the platform and the merchant.
Takeaway: Look for distribution channels where someone else already has the audience you want. It can be the difference between slow, expensive growth and fast, scalable traction.
2. Innovation: Keep research alive while serving your core
Every startup wrestles with the same challenge: how do you push into new ideas without losing focus on your bread and butter?
AI is the latest wave where this question comes up. LLMs and agent-centric models are everywhere in the conversation, but figuring out how to actually use them meaningfully is another matter.
At LINK, accurate and dynamic mapping between systems is mission-critical. So we put two engineers into “lab mode” for months to hammer away at LLM capabilities. Eventually, they cracked it. When we demoed the solution to one of the largest point-of-sale and payment companies in North America, they immediately saw the value. We’re now taking it through the next stages of market rollout.
Takeaway: Even when it’s hard to justify in the short term, consistent R&D pays off. Your prospects and customers are exploring these same technologies—if you’re not, you risk becoming irrelevant.
3. Funding: Take only what you need; keep control where it counts
“How much should I raise?” is a question every founder faces. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s not just about the number—it’s about control and flexibility.
It’s tempting to think you need to raise $50M or more to have a shot at a billion-dollar exit. But in many cases, you might only need $7M to reach profitability and still execute well beyond that. That can often be done with angels and smaller funds, without giving up too much board control or company rights.
Why does this matter? Markets fluctuate, obstacles arise, and founders require the ability to make flexible decisions. Once you give that away, it’s difficult to get it back.
Takeaway: Raise in smaller chunks, choose your investors carefully, and keep the door open for future funding by nurturing long-term relationships.
