# How I Landed a Job in Sales with a Cardboard Cutout, w/ Liam Mulcahy Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy.md Podcast: [Hunters and Unicorns](https://stenobird.com/podcast/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689) Published: 2025-09-10T10:51:28+00:00 Episode link: https://huntersandunicorns.podbean.com/e/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy/ Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/7crx2ab2zkq8uj7t/Hunters_ECE_Liam_v2_audio.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689/episodes/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy Duration seconds: 3484 ## Resource 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 πŸ’₯ 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… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689/episodes/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/hunters-and-unicorns-1378689/how-i-landed-a-job-in-sales-with-a-cardboard-cutout-w-liam-mulcahy.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.