Every founder is great at selling—until they're not.

In this episode, Summer Poletti, founder of Rise of Us, breaks down one of the most common (and costly) challenges in business growth: transitioning from founder-led sales to a scalable sales system.

Summer shares her unconventional path—from growth-stage operator to coach to consultant—and how her experience across multiple business functions gives her a unique edge in solving revenue problems holistically.

This conversation uncovers why most sales hires fail, why founders unknowingly stall their own growth, and how the "messy middle" is actually where real businesses are built.

For entrepreneurs, the key takeaway is clear:
your business doesn't stall because of effort—it stalls because of structure.

00:00:00 – Introduction & Episode Context

00:01:40 – Summer's Non-Linear Career Path

00:03:58 – Transitioning Into Consulting

00:04:08 – Early Clients & False Momentum

00:06:52 – Lessons From Early Career Mistakes

00:07:19 – Identifying Ideal Clients

00:09:46 – Favorite Project & Sales System Success

00:11:42 – Hiring Salespeople the Right Way

00:12:29 – Toxic Salespeople & Cultural Impact

00:15:24 – Using Data to Diagnose Sales Problems

00:16:55 – Founder-Led Sales Bottlenecks

00:18:57 – When Founders Should Step Out of Sales

00:19:25 – The Impact of Helping Businesses Scale

00:20:49 – Where to Find Summer & Rise of Us

Dive deeper into how Summer helps founders transition from unpredictable, founder-led sales to scalable revenue systems that actually support growth: https://theriseofus.com

Legacy Podcast: For more information about the Legacy Podcast and its co-hosts, visit https://businesslegacypodcast.com

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For more information: Visit https://businesslegacypodcast.com to access the show notes and additional resources on the episode.