Welcome to Season 3 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest for Episode 57 is Dini Mehta, Executive in Residence at Peak XV Partners. Dini is a seasoned sales leader with more than 15 years of experience.
In this episode, Ross and Dini dive into the importance of building with principles and leading with values, strategies to optimize focus, and the balance between staying short-term paranoid and long-term optimistic.
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
Build with principles first; lead with values
Building a successful business starts with setting solid principles and values, and then seeking input from those who’ve already achieved what you’re aiming for. As Dini explains, “I deeply believe in building first with principles and then taking input and advice from people that have found success in what I’m trying to accomplish.” However, principles alone won’t carry you through the challenges of high-pressure environments. That’s where values come into play.
“On the flip side, your values have to be your north star because startups are high-stress revenue organizations, and it’s easy to sacrifice values to get to your numbers in the short term,” says Dini.
The problem with focusing only on short-term wins is that it can lead to regretful decisions, like onboarding customers that aren’t the right fit just to hit quota. While it might feel like a victory in the moment, these decisions come back to haunt you. Chasing immediate numbers at the expense of alignment and value leads to churn, customer dissatisfaction, and reputational damage — all of which hurt your ability to build a sustainable business in the long run. A better approach is to think carefully about the deals you pursue and consider whether they align with both your principles and the company’s long-term goals.
“Have the mindset of a CEO, because you're the CEO of your book of business or team. Make sure you’re always asking yourself questions such as: ‘If I were the CEO, would I do this deal?’” advises Dini.
Integrity isn’t optional — it’s a necessity. There are no shortcuts. To thrive, you need to be obsessed with delivering value to customers. As Dini puts it, “Values play a critical role, and if you start with principles first — which is hard to do — you build the foundation to scale in a way that lasts.”
Optimize focus & opportunity costs to drive excellence
“As an AE, it’s easy to say, ‘I just need more deals. If I had more deals and more pipeline, I could get to my number.’ But sometimes the answer is being disciplined and really thinking about your own opportunity,” says Dini.
The key to driving excellence lies not in chasing every potential opportunity, but in focusing on the right ones.
Here are a few ways to optimize your focus and manage opportunity costs:
- Assess the real cost of time and effort: Every opportunity comes with a cost — your time and energy. Ask yourself: Is this opportunity really the best use of my time? Often, sales professionals don’t qualify prospects out early enough because they hold on to the hope that something will come through.
- Commit to a clear strategy: Rather than trying to create a bunch of different strategies hoping one will work, commit to one or two priorities with focus and conviction.
- Understand the power of saying ‘no’: Excellence is as much about what you don’t do as it is about what you focus on. “Focus is such a critical part of excellence at all levels,” says Dini. “What you say ‘no’ to often matters more than what you say ‘yes’ to.” On a quarterly basis, assess your priorities and align your actions with what will have the highest impact.
By narrowing your focus and eliminating distractions, you not only make better use of your time, but you also give yourself the mental clarity needed to excel. Chasing every opportunity may seem like the path to success, but long-term excellence comes from disciplined focus and thoughtful decisions on where to invest your efforts.
Be short-term paranoid, long-term optimistic
“Sales is a revenue game, and leadership is a rollercoaster of highs and lows. The highs are really high, and the lows are really low,” Dini reflects. “So the question is, how do you stay even-keeled through it all?”
It’s easy to get distracted by success when things are going well. You start thinking, ‘I’m crushing it! I’m unstoppable.’ But this mindset can lead to complacency, and that’s where things can quickly fall apart. “On the flip side, when things aren’t going well, it’s easy to become nervous and negative, and stop believing in yourself,” says Dini.
Her advice? Master the balance between short-term vigilance and long-term optimism. “The magic formula is believing in the long-term because this is what allows you to rethink your choices in the present. You’ve got to believe there’s a reason you joined this company and are in this role, and there’s a reason you chose this path.”
So how do you apply this mindset practically? In the short term, stay paranoid. This means remaining vigilant, questioning your assumptions, and not getting complacent. Keep in mind, what works today won’t always work tomorrow, so you need to constantly evolve, refine your processes, and adapt to new challenges.
But also, stay optimistic because in sales, things can rapidly — markets shift, customer needs evolve, and deals fall through. Without long-term optimism, it’s easy to become disillusioned when things don't go as planned. This belief in the bigger picture gives you the resilience to keep moving forward, even when results aren’t immediate.
About Dini
Dini is a passionate sales leader who excels at building high-performing, diverse teams and leading with authenticity. She has extensive experience in sustainably scaling GTM engines from the ground up. Prior to joining Peak XV Partners in April 2024, Dini spent five years leading teams at Lattice.
