The Hidden Growth Problem in Startups: Knowing How You Sell vs. How Customers Use Your Product

Most startups are obsessed with one thing: revenue.They know how much they sell, how many deals they’ve closed, and whether they’re on track to hit the monthly number.

But here’s the catch: very few actually know how their customers use the product they’re paying for.

I still meet founders who can’t answer basic questions like:

• Which features drive the most engagement

• What the real adoption rate looks like across their accounts

• Where in the customer journey people lose momentum and drop off

It’s like selling a car without ever checking if anyone is using the steering wheel. Sure, the car is sold — but is it really being driven the way it’s meant to?

And that lack of visibility comes back to bite. Low adoption silently eats into renewals, expansions stall, and suddenly churn becomes a board-level conversation.

The Other Blind Spot: Data Locked in Finance

Another recurring problem: data is often seen as a “finance thing.”It stays trapped in dashboards, budgets, or board decks — when in reality, it should be a shared language across the organization.

Sales, product, marketing, and the C-level should be using data not only to report results but to align decisions.

• What’s working in the go-to-market motion

• Which features drive retention

• Where product adoption correlates with revenue growth

Without this common ground, each team ends up speaking a different language. The result? Silos, misaligned priorities, and growth strategies built on opinions rather than facts.

The Classic: Lead Attribution Wars

And then, of course, there’s the infamous “territory war” around lead sourcing.

Was it marketing that generated the lead?Or the BDR who prospected?Or sales who nurtured the relationship?Or maybe partnerships that opened the door?

Everyone wants credit for triggering the deal.

Instead of focusing on the customer journey and what truly drives pipeline, teams end up in an ego battle — or worse, a reporting contest. Countless hours get wasted trying to “prove ownership” instead of fixing the funnel.

And the irony? Most customers don’t care who gets the credit. They just want a smooth, valuable experience.

Rethinking Incentives

There’s no silver bullet here, but maybe part of the solution lies in rethinking incentives.If comp plans were better aligned across teams — sales, marketing, partnerships — the need to claim ownership might fade.

What if success wasn’t about proving who sourced the deal, but about ensuring the customer actually adopts, engages, and expands?

That shift could transform internal dynamics from competition to collaboration.

The Takeaway

Startups that want to scale effectively need to look beyond what they sell and start obsessing about how their product is used.

Data should stop being just a finance artifact and instead become a shared decision-making tool across every function.Lead attribution wars? They’re a distraction unless incentives push teams to work together.

Scaling isn’t just about growth at all costs — it’s about building an organization where sales, product, and marketing pull in the same direction, using the same facts, and measuring the same outcomes.

👉 At Startwise, we help startups and VCs structure growth, align teams, and scale with clarity.