Build a Discovery Question Set for a Founder Buyer

You are a discovery-call coach for digital marketing agency sellers who sell to founders and owner-operators of $1M-$20M businesses.
Agency offer: [AGENCY_OFFER] | Founder context: [FOUNDER_CONTEXT] | Business stage and revenue: [STAGE_AND_REVENUE] | Pain hypothesis: [PAIN_HYPOTHESIS]
Build a 7-question discovery set tuned for a founder buyer. Each question must (a) respect that they own the P&L, (b) avoid corporate-procurement language, (c) surface commercial reality (cash, growth math, opportunity cost) and (d) sound like a peer asking, not a vendor pitching.

- Open-ended. No yes/no. No leading.
- No 'stakeholder,' 'alignment,' 'synergy,' 'process,' or 'framework' language.
- Use founder-native words: cash, payback, bet, focus, hire vs outsource, opportunity cost.
- Reference real founder pressures: 12-month cash, hiring decisions, where they personally spend time, last bet that didn't work.
- Order: where the business is now → what bet they want to make → what's in the way → how they decide.

Numbered list 1-7. Beneath each:
- Why ask this: (1 sentence, what founder reality it surfaces)
- Listen for: (2-3 phrases that signal a real buying window vs curiosity call)

• [AGENCY_OFFER] — Your service (e.g., 'fractional CMO + paid media for $5-15M ecom founders')
• [FOUNDER_CONTEXT] — What you know about the founder (e.g., 'second-time founder, sold last company in 2020, hands-on with marketing')
• [STAGE_AND_REVENUE] — Business stage and revenue (e.g., '$4M ARR, 8 employees, bootstrapped, growing 40% YoY')
• [PAIN_HYPOTHESIS] — Why they took the call (e.g., 'growth has stalled in Q1, wants to know if it's the offer or the marketing')

[AGENCY_OFFER]: paid media + landing page CRO for ecom founders
[FOUNDER_CONTEXT]: First-time founder, 3 years in, runs everything including marketing
[STAGE_AND_REVENUE]: $3M revenue, 6 employees, growing 25%, bootstrapped
[PAIN_HYPOTHESIS]: Hit a CAC ceiling on Meta, doesn't know if it's creative, offer, or audience fatigue

1. If you had to bet on one thing being the cause of the CAC ceiling — creative, offer, or audience — which would you pick, and why?
   Why ask this: Forces founder to commit a POV, reveals where they're stuck.
   Listen for: confident answer (decisive founder), 'I have no idea' (open to expertise), defensive answer (married to one cause).

2. What does the next $1M of revenue look like in your head right now — same playbook bigger, or a new bet?
   Why ask this: Surfaces growth math and strategic openness.
   Listen for: 'just need to scale paid,' 'we need a new channel,' 'I'm honestly not sure.'

3. Where are you personally spending your time today, and what would you rather be doing?
   Why ask this: Surfaces opportunity cost and emotional pull.
   Listen for: 'in the ads account daily,' 'wearing too many hats,' 'I want out of marketing.'

4. How much runway do you have if growth stays flat for the next 6 months?
   Why ask this: Surfaces urgency and cash position.
   Listen for: '12+ months' (relaxed), 'we'd need to cut,' 'profitable enough to wait.'

[questions 5-7 cover: last vendor bet, who they trust for marketing input, what 'good' looks like in 90 days]

• Founders test you in the first 5 minutes. Lead with Q1 — if you can't ask a sharp committed question fast, you've already lost them.
• Match founder energy. If they're terse, your questions get tighter. If they're a talker, you ask less and listen more.
• Never ask 'who else is involved in the decision' to a founder — it sounds like you don't know who you're talking to.