Founder Conversations

₹22 Cr in pipeline. 12 of 47 deals with the decision-maker

Rohan Goel Rohan Goel·April 7, 2026·4 min read
Founder

Pipeline is on target: ₹22 Cr, 47 active opportunities. We are hitting activity targets every week.

Me

How many of those 47 are with the decision-maker?

Founder

Most of them.

Me

Let us pull the 47 and filter for "spoken to the decision-maker".

He came back the next day: 12 of 47.

₹22 Cr

reported pipeline

vs
₹5.5 Cr

with the decision-maker

The rest was ₹16.5 Cr of optimism stacked on top.

Activity is the input. Buyer coverage is the output

Activity targets are the easiest number to hit: 50 calls a week, 20 emails, 8 meetings booked. They look like progress on a dashboard. But 50 calls to gatekeepers are not 5 calls to decision-makers.

The founders I work with in the ₹5–80 Cr range rarely have an activity problem. They have a qualification problem dressed up as a pipeline problem.

The 10-Deal Test

1

Pull your top 10 open deals today

By value, not by stage.

2

Name the decision-maker for each

The person who signs, not the person who replies.

3

Write the date of the last conversation with them

Not the last email to the team.

4

Count how many you can complete

Fewer than 7 means your pipeline is lying to you about the forecast.

Related: Your pipeline is a list, not a system — the weekly line that keeps deals moving.

Quick Answers

Quick answers

Filter open opportunities by whether your team has spoken to the actual decision-maker. In one ₹22 Cr pipeline only 12 of 47 deals had, leaving about ₹5.5 Cr of realistic pipeline.

They measure input, not progress. Calls, emails and meetings booked are easy to hit, but revenue depends on coverage with the people who make the buying decision.

Take your top 10 open deals and name the decision-maker and the date of your last conversation with them. If you can do this for fewer than 7, the forecast is likely overstated.

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