The IriusRisk Guide to Enterprise Sales: Why Authenticity Beats Optimism in Fundraising

Most startup playbooks call for founders to project boundless optimism in investor meetings. But in a recent episode of Category Visionaries, IriusRisk CEO Stephen de Vries revealed how rejecting this convention led to stronger investor relationships and sustainable growth.

The Authenticity Paradox

“I think investors expect an overly optimistic Founder to always come through with, we’re going to change the world. It’s going to be ultra amazing and everything is going to be 1000x,” Stephen explains. But rather than play into these expectations, he took a different approach: “My personal style isn’t to present that way, so I’ll just present the numbers as they are, the projections, as we realistically think the projections are going to be.”

This authenticity often met with initial skepticism. “Their feedback to me is, yeah, that sounds kind of uninteresting. And I’m like, yeah, but it’s real. This is what we can actually deliver and we’re going to do that.”

Building Trust Through Realism

The power of this approach lies in its credibility. When investors encounter realistic projections instead of hyperbole, Stephen notes they “recognize that, yeah, this is something that’s trustworthy and it’s not crazy expectations with an over optimistic Founder.”

This credibility becomes particularly valuable when investors “internally, mentally, then need to discount everything or divide everything by ten to come up with what is actually going to happen here and what are we actually going to deliver.”

Results Over Rhetoric

The numbers validate this authentic approach. IriusRisk achieved “112% growth, and the year before that, were at about 104%. So 85 was a slower year for us.” These growth rates didn’t come from overselling to customers or investors, but from delivering real value.

This focus on substance over style extends to how they measure success. Stephen emphasizes that expansion revenue is “the most satisfying growth that we can have, because it’s not essentially a customer who’s gone through a demo and a pov and they maybe see through rose colored glasses.”

Learning Beyond Technical Expertise

For technical founders, authenticity includes acknowledging knowledge gaps. Stephen admits he “knew zero about sales, almost nothing about marketing, customer success and all these other aspects of a business.”

The solution? “You got to be a good listener,” he explains. “You need to essentially know that you don’t know and say, okay, I don’t know enough about marketing. Let me go and find out. Let me listen to people.”

Adapting to Enterprise Requirements

This authentic approach extends to how IriusRisk navigates enterprise relationships. Understanding when and how to engage industry analysts illustrates this principle. “If you’re selling to the enterprise space, I think the analysts play a bigger role. If you’re selling to maybe directly to engineers or a b to C space or even B2B in mid market, probably not so much.”

The Future of Enterprise Sales

Looking ahead, Stephen sees the market validating their authentic approach. With new regulations requiring secure software design practices, customers need partners they can trust. As he notes, “this is the right time to be in the software security industry.”

For B2B founders, IriusRisk’s experience offers a compelling alternative to the standard fundraising playbook. Instead of projecting unrealistic optimism, consider how authentic communication might build stronger, more sustainable relationships with both investors and customers. The key is delivering substance that matches your statements – let your results speak louder than your projections.