# Built to Grow *A field manual for B2B founders who are still closing every deal themselves. Stephanie Friedman, who built Xamarin's sales and customer-success team from nothing to about 100 people before Microsoft bought the company in 2016, divides a startup's go-to-market life into three phases, Experiment, Build and Scale. She walks the same seven subjects through each phase: playbook, hiring, revenue management, customer success, compensation, culture and internal collaboration.* > **What I read.** I did not read the book. It came out on 13 October 2026 and there is no legal free copy; Google's search-inside was blocked from my box. The contents come from the publisher's catalog data as reprinted by retailers (Hugendubel, Antoine Online) and from the chapter list in the Google Books ebook preview. Most of the substance comes from the publisher's page and its two Substack posts; the *Kirkus* review, which quotes the text; Andrew Magno's and Eric Jacobson's reviews; and two pieces by the author herself: a Q&A on Jacobson's blog and an essay in *Sales & Marketing Management* (20 October 2026). Quotations from the book are given as the reviewer quoted them, and I have no page numbers. Her 2018 talks and interview with David Skok show where the method came from. Related in this vault: - Publisher folder: [[Book Summaries/Stripe Press/Stripe Press|Stripe Press]] (the catalog Marshall asked for). Other Stripe Press management titles in the queue: *Scaling People* (Claire Hughes Johnson, who blurbs this book), *High Growth Handbook* (Elad Gil) and *An Elegant Puzzle* (Will Larson). - Same press, very different book: [[Book Summaries/Stripe Press/The Dream Machine - M. Mitchell Waldrop|The Dream Machine]]. - Another recent go-to-market handbook in the vault: [[Book Summaries/Wiebe, Joanna/The Copyselling System - Joanna Wiebe|The Copyselling System]]. ## 1. Book facts | | | |---|---| | Title | *Built to Grow: A Handbook for High-Performance Sales Teams* | | Author | Stephanie Friedman (published earlier as Stephanie Schatz and Stephanie Schatz Friedman) | | Publisher | Stripe Press, the publishing arm of Stripe. Imprint of record: Stripe Matter, Inc. ([Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953629); [Hugendubel](https://www.hugendubel.de/de/buch_gebunden/stephanie_friedman-built_to_grow-51224900-produkt-details.html)) | | Published | 13 October 2026, in hardcover, ebook and audiobook. Preorders were announced on 25 August 2026 ([Stripe Press Substack](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/pre-order-built-to-grow-a-handbook)); the "out now" post is dated 13 October 2026 ([Substack](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high)) | | ISBNs | Hardcover 978-1-953953-62-9 (195395362X); ebook 978-1-953953-54-4 ([Amazon Kindle page](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H5DWM234)) | | Pages | 272 in hardcover (Google Books, *Kirkus*, Hugendubel). The Kindle page lists a print length of 229. Hardcover size 235 × 157 × 24 mm, 546 g (Hugendubel) | | List price | US$40 hardcover (Stripe Press) | | Audiobook | Unabridged, read by Samara Naeymi, 8 h 10 min, ©/℗ 2026 Stripe Press ([Audible](https://www.audible.com/pd/Built-to-Grow-Audiobook/B0HCWGHJLX); [Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales/id6800904316)) | | Library data | No Open Library record yet. LCCN and OCLC numbers not found (WorldCat rate-limited my box) | | Blurbs | Claire Hughes Johnson (Stripe), Aaron Levie (Box), Daniel Gross, Ravi Gupta (Sequoia), Christina Cacioppo (Vanta) ([Stripe Press](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow)) | **Where it came up.** Marshall asked on 2026-11-13 for the whole current [Stripe Press catalog](https://press.stripe.com/) to go into the queue. This book was #2 on the publisher's newest-first list. #1, *Nomad Letters*, is on hold until it comes out on 1 December 2026, so this is the first catalog book to get a dossier. The request was relayed by Obsidian Author. Catalog page: [press.stripe.com/built-to-grow](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow). ## 2. Book resources **Free (legal).** None. The book is newly published and in copyright, and I found no free excerpt from the publisher. The nearest free material is by the author: - Her essay ["The $10M ARR Trap"](https://salesandmarketing.com/the-10m-arr-trap-why-growth-can-hide-a-broken-sales-engine/) (*Sales & Marketing Management*, 20 October 2026). It summarizes the three phases in her own words. - Her Q&A on [Eric Jacobson's blog](https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-to-build-high-performing-sales-team.html) (13 October 2026). - Her 2018 Matrix Partners "Zero to 100" talks, an early version of the same material ([video page](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/)). - Amazon offers a free Kindle sample (the "Send a free sample" option on the Kindle page). **Where to get it.** - **Publisher:** [Stripe Press](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow), which links to Bookshop, Barnes & Noble and Amazon at US$40. Direct links: [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/built-to-grow-stephanie-friedman/1147711185?ean=9781953953629); [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/p/books/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales-teams-stephanie-friedman/4d8d652814bafc7c) (the link comes from the publisher page; Bookshop blocks my box, so I could not open it). - **Amazon print:** [hardcover](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195395362X), linked from the publisher page. - **Kindle:** [Kindle edition B0H5DWM234](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H5DWM234). It is available, published 13 October 2026, with an audiobook add-on offered on the same page. - **Audible:** [B0HCWGHJLX](https://www.audible.com/pd/Built-to-Grow-Audiobook/B0HCWGHJLX), read by Samara Naeymi, 8 h 10 min, unabridged. Also on [Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales/id6800904316). - **Libby/OverDrive:** not found. On 2026-11-14 I searched the OverDrive catalogs of the Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Chicago public libraries and none had it. Your library may add it later. - **Hoopla:** not checked reliably, because the site's search needs JavaScript and returned nothing usable to my box. - **Internet Archive lending / Open Library borrow:** not available. There is no scan and no Open Library record. - **Project Gutenberg:** not applicable (in copyright). **Catalog records.** [Google Books, hardcover](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953629) (id nuBq0QEACAAJ; no preview); [Google Books, ebook](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953544) (id JCzrEQAAQBAJ; preview with contents); Open Library has none yet ([search](https://openlibrary.org/search?q=built+to+grow+friedman)); WorldCat [ISBN search](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=bn:9781953953629) (not opened; rate-limited). **Cover:** [Syndetics cover image](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781953953629/LC.JPG&client=sfpl). It shows a blue and bronze marbled-paper design. In her LinkedIn launch post the author thanks Stripe Press for the "absolutely gorgeous cover". ## 3. Author biography **From her own and the publisher's biographies.** Stephanie Friedman calls herself an angel investor, adviser and startup executive with more than 20 years of go-to-market experience in enterprise software ([Stripe Press](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow); [Syndetics author note](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781953953629/anotes.html&client=sfpl)). By her own account: - **Early life.** She grew up in Germany and started selling flowers in a flower shop at 11 ([her SMM essay](https://salesandmarketing.com/the-10m-arr-trap-why-growth-can-hide-a-broken-sales-engine/); [Jacobson Q&A](https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-to-build-high-performing-sales-team.html)). She was raised by a single mother, and paid for college by working as an interpreter at more than 120 international trade shows, translating buyer–seller negotiations ([The Cap Table interview, Sacra](https://sacra.com/p/stephanie-friedman-angel-investor/)). - **Languages and schooling.** She has lived and worked in six countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Paraguay and the United States) and speaks five languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian and German. Her degree is an MBA (the publisher says a master's degree) in international business ([Antoine Online bio](https://www.antoineonline.com/intr/en/p/Built%20to%20Grow-A%20Handbook%20for%20High-Performance%20Sales%20Teams-Friedman%2C%20Stephanie/9781953953629); [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stschatz), as shown in search results). - **SUSE and Novell.** She was part of three startup exits. One was SUSE Linux, which Novell acquired in 2004 (Sacra). Novell announced the US$210 million deal on 4 November 2003 and completed it in January 2004 ([Wikipedia: SUSE S.A.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_S.A.)). After that acquisition she stayed at Novell. Her LinkedIn lists "Director EMEA Field Operations, Novell, Apr 2007–Jul 2009", running day-to-day operations for a "$380M sales organization", which the 2018 Matrix release calls a "220 salesperson business". - **Sabbatical.** Around 2010 she and her husband spent about a year travelling between jobs (Sacra; her travel blog is shetravels.org). They then settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. - **Xamarin.** She joined Xamarin, the Mono/.NET mobile-tools company founded in May 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xamarin)), as its first non-engineering hire. LinkedIn lists her as VP Sales and Customer Success from Dec 2011 and SVP from Jan 2014 to Mar 2016. The publisher and David Skok say she joined in 2012. She says she built the customer-facing team to about 100 people and the run rate to almost US$50 million in under four years. Microsoft announced it would acquire Xamarin on 24 February 2016 ([Microsoft blog](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/24/microsoft-to-acquire-xamarin-and-empower-more-developers-to-build-apps-on-any-device/)). After the deal she became a Microsoft general manager for mobile application development strategy and go-to-market (LinkedIn). - **Matrix Partners.** In 2018 she co-led the "Zero to 100: Matrix Growth Academy" founder program with Matrix Partners' David Skok ([Skok's post](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/first-sales-hire/); [Matrix videos](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/)). - **Investing and advising.** Around 2020–21, Sacra listed her as an angel investor (Netlify, Tailscale), a board member at Apollo GraphQL, and a special adviser to the CEOs of Zeplin and Front. Her current LinkedIn headline is "Author of Built to Grow by Stripe Press, Advisor, Investor, Board Director". - **Love Dogs Rescue.** She founded Love Dogs Rescue and Foundation in 2019 (Sacra), a San Francisco non-profit. It moves shelter dogs from California's Central Valley to rescues in Los Angeles and San Francisco and runs a mobile spay/neuter unit ([lovedogsrescue.org](https://www.lovedogsrescue.org/)). - She lives in California with her husband, two children and rescue dogs (publisher bio). *Kirkus* calls this her "nonfiction debut". Note that nearly all of the career figures (team size, run rate, "never once missed a sales number") are her own or her publisher's statements; see section 6. ## 4. Author interviews and talks - **Matrix Growth Academy "Zero to 100", Building a Sales Team (2018).** A three-part talk: philosophy and early structure; onboarding, compensation, pipeline, forecasting and quotas; then board, culture, scaling, sales ops and partner sales. It reads like a first draft of the book's grid. [Video page](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/); [slides/snippet at revenue.fyi](https://www.revenue.fyi/snippets/part-4-building-a-sales-team-stephanie-schatz). - **David Skok, "Onboarding your first Sales Hire as an Entrepreneur" (forEntrepreneurs, 2018).** An interview about her first months at Xamarin, with her "Blacksheet" call-prep template and the rule "No call without an agenda, no call without preparation". [Link](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/first-sales-hire/) - **The Cap Table / Sacra exclusive (about 2020–21).** Covers her career, scaling Xamarin, angel investing, the sabbatical and dog rescue. [Link](https://sacra.com/p/stephanie-friedman-angel-investor/) - **Eric Jacobson on Management, Q&A (13 October 2026).** She discusses which phase is hardest and how non-startups can use the book. [Link](https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-to-build-high-performing-sales-team.html) - **"The $10M ARR Trap", essay by Friedman (*Sales & Marketing Management*, 20 October 2026).** The book's thesis in about 900 words. [Link](https://salesandmarketing.com/the-10m-arr-trap-why-growth-can-hide-a-broken-sales-engine/) - **LinkedIn launch post (13 October 2026).** She thanks Patrick Collison for "early encouragement to keep writing" and Daniel Gross and Aaron Levie for input. [Link](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stschatz_cant-believe-its-happening-today-my-book-activity-7515808320222322688-ts7j) (text seen via search results) - **Not an interview:** Stripe's *Cheeky Pint* podcast plugged the book in its 3 November 2026 episode with Scott Nolan ([podshelf mention log](https://podshelf.io/books/9781953953544)). I found no podcast or video interview with Friedman about the book itself. ## 5. Summary **Thesis.** Founder-led selling works for the first deals but does not scale. Beyond a certain point, she writes (as quoted by Stripe Press), "you can't rely on intuition to drive sales. You need formal, repeatable processes that transform sales into a disciplined function rather than an improvised and inconsistent art form." The founder's first job is to find and write down the company's *repeatable sales motion*: who buys, how to find and talk to them, and how to close them. The founder works this out with a couple of "trailblazer" sales hires, and the result goes into a written sales playbook. Everything else is built on that playbook: hiring, forecasting, customer success, compensation, culture and collaboration. *Kirkus* quotes the core claim: "The best way to set yourself up to become a successful, independent, profitable company … is to take a systematic approach to building the sales team's foundations from day one." She adds a warning, also quoted by *Kirkus*: "doing the wrong things, or even the right things at the wrong time, may create problems that will need to be solved later on." **Audience.** B2B founders and CEOs, especially in enterprise software, who have already sold to their first customers. The publisher aims it at growth "from $0 to $100 million in annual sales", which "often coincides with building the sales team from 0 to 100 salespeople". In the Jacobson Q&A she says she wrote it as a book rather than a series of blog posts to give founders, investors and executives "a joint vocabulary" for a startup's go-to-market maturity. **Structure: a 3 × 7 grid.** The book has three phases. Each phase works through the same seven "pillars", which the publisher lists as documenting the repeatable sales motion, hiring, forecasting revenue, customer experience, compensation, culture and collaboration. **Outline.** The contents below come from the publisher's catalog data as reprinted by [Hugendubel](https://www.hugendubel.de/de/buch_gebunden/stephanie_friedman-built_to_grow-51224900-produkt-details.html) and [Antoine Online](https://www.antoineonline.com/intr/en/p/Built%20to%20Grow-A%20Handbook%20for%20High-Performance%20Sales%20Teams-Friedman%2C%20Stephanie/9781953953629). The chapter numbers and fuller pillar names come from the [Google Books ebook contents](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953544). Neither source gives page numbers. - **Introduction** - **Part I. Experiment** (ebook chapters 1–7) 1. Experiment: Playbook ("Sales Playbook") 2. Experiment: Hiring 3. Experiment: Revenue ("Revenue Management") 4. Experiment: Customers ("Customer Success") 5. Experiment: Compensation 6. Experiment: Culture 7. Experiment: Collaboration ("Internal Collaboration") - **Part II. Build** (chapters 8–14): the same seven chapters, Build: Playbook through Build: Collaboration - **Part III. Scale** (chapters 15–21): the same seven, Scale: Playbook through Scale: Collaboration - **Back matter.** The catalog list has Epilogue, Endnotes, Glossary, Acknowledgments, Index and About the Author. The ebook contents show Conclusion, Glossary, Acknowledgments and About the Author (no index listed in the ebook). **What each phase is for (from her SMM essay, the Jacobson Q&A and *Kirkus*).** - **Experiment.** The founder analyses what has worked in closing deals so far. Then the founder brings on "your first two trailblazer sales hires" and writes "the very first version of your sales playbook" (SMM essay). *Kirkus* quotes the phase's agenda: to "experiment with, identify, and start to document what will become the holy grail of your company's financial success". Magno describes the trailblazers as adaptable, motivated pioneers willing to "write the playbook", and says they feed back to product and marketing what works. In the Q&A she calls this phase the one founders most often underestimate. Early sales may just be "pent-up demand from early adopters" rather than a durable market, and a business that leaves Experiment with a clear first market and ideal customer profile finds "anything that comes after … much easier". - **Build.** The team grows "to seven or eight salespeople". The goals are to "prove that non-trailblazer salespeople can use that playbook to successfully sell", show that new hires "ramp up and hit their quota quickly", refine the playbook, and "lay the foundation for operational excellence" (SMM essay). *Kirkus* quotes her: "If you haven't yet hired a dedicated head of sales, this is the time to do it." Magno says this is where forecasting, CRM discipline and sales tooling get built. - **Scale.** "Step on the gas", growing from about eight to 100 salespeople, "fully focused on never missing your monthly and quarterly targets". The organization becomes "more layered, more specialized, and more sophisticated" (SMM essay). In the Q&A she stresses that this phase means overhauling leadership and recruiting an executive team, and finding "the right executive for the right type of company for the right stage". Magno notes the advice to develop senior reps into managers and to keep a culture of accountability and feedback. **Key ideas.** 1. **The repeatable sales motion is the foundation.** In the SMM essay she defines it as "the series of actions that consistently and reliably lead prospective buyers to buy". The questions it must answer are the ideal customer profile, where to find those buyers, the buyer's journey, and the objections met along the way. 2. **The "$10M ARR trap".** Her essay's diagnosis is that companies stall "in the low tens of millions" because they hired many reps before anyone knew how to sell. Every new rep then has to work it out alone, which means low productivity and missed quotas. 3. **Write the playbook even though it is tedious.** "It's worth it … to create a resource that can drive reliable results for the business" (quoted by *Kirkus*). 4. **Hire slowly and for agency.** *Kirkus* says she wants people who are "high-agency, able to think on their feet and solve problems independently". In the Q&A she recommends "taking very seriously and spending a lot of time on" hiring. In the Sacra interview she recalls interviewing "dozens of people before making one hire" at Xamarin. 5. **Pay new reps while they learn.** A compensation "pro tip" quoted by *Kirkus*: in a new salesperson's first two or three months "it can make sense to pay them 100 percent of their variable pay no matter what", as long as they work hard and write up what they learn. Magno sums it up as "Leaders, pay your people." 6. **Call discipline.** Jacobson's paraphrased takeaways include "No call without an agenda", never bringing up a competitor first, and preferring storytellers who read the room. The agenda rule matches what she told Skok in 2018. Magno reports weekly pipeline meetings as a recommended practice, and he dislikes them. 7. **Culture and trust are operational.** "Coworkers who build authentic personal relationships are more likely to speak candidly, give straightforward feedback, and address problems head-on" (quoted by *Kirkus*). The CEO should model the culture by celebrating wins and owning failures (Jacobson's paraphrase). 8. **Sales sits at the centre and collaborates.** Magno highlights the internal-collaboration chapters, which cover the loops between sales, marketing (lead nurturing) and product management. **Form.** Each chapter includes summary tables (Magno) and the text is studded with "PRO TIP" boxes (*Kirkus*; "PRO TIP" also appears among the Google Books common terms). **Reception.** - ***Kirkus*** (posted 29 October 2026; issue of 1 January 2027): positive. It calls the book "a detailed and actionable plan for creating successful startup sales forces", says the advice "effectively balances the aspirational and the pragmatic", and praises its "smooth, comfortable, and relatively clear prose". This is a **Kirkus Indie** review, from the program Kirkus sells to authors and publishers ([program page](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/)). - **Andrew Magno** ("Go Build Something" Substack, 18 October 2026): favourable, writing as a capital-equipment sales leader. He finds it "spot on in many ways" but says it is software-centred, presupposes a finished product and an available budget, leaves "sales cycle" undefined, and does not discuss what forecasts are used for beyond revenue. - **Eric Jacobson** (blog, 13 October 2026): enthusiastic; he worked from an advance copy sent by the publisher. **Why it is here.** It is part of Marshall's Stripe Press catalog request. It is the press's sales-team counterpart to Claire Hughes Johnson's *Scaling People*, which is also queued. ## 6. Fact-check Overall verdict: **mixed**. The publication facts and contents are supported. The author's career figures are consistent across many sources, but they all trace back to her own statements. The publisher's claim that advice on building sales teams is scarce is contestable. | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |---|---|---| | Published by Stripe Press on 13 Oct 2026; hardcover ISBN 9781953953629; 272 pp. | Supported | [Stripe Press](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow); [Substack](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high); [Kirkus](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephanie-friedman/built-to-grow/); [Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953629) | | Ebook ISBN 9781953953544; Kindle "print length 229 pages" | Supported, with a discrepancy | [Amazon Kindle page](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H5DWM234). The 229 figure conflicts with 272 for the hardcover; Amazon's Kindle print-length figures often differ from the printed book | | Three parts (Experiment, Build, Scale) × seven chapters each | Supported | Catalog contents ([Hugendubel](https://www.hugendubel.de/de/buch_gebunden/stephanie_friedman-built_to_grow-51224900-produkt-details.html)); [Google Books ebook contents](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953544) | | Back matter: "Epilogue … Endnotes … Index" | Disputed in detail | The catalog data says so; the ebook contents show "Conclusion" and no index. These may be edition or format differences, or pre-publication catalog data | | Audiobook read by Samara Naeymi, 8 h 10 min | Supported | [Audible](https://www.audible.com/pd/Built-to-Grow-Audiobook/B0HCWGHJLX); [Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales/id6800904316) | | She joined Xamarin "in 2012" as its first non-engineering hire | Supported, with a date variance | Publisher and [Skok 2018](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/first-sales-hire/) say 2012; her LinkedIn says VP from Dec 2011; [Sacra](https://sacra.com/p/stephanie-friedman-angel-investor/) says "2014", which looks like the start of her SVP title. Xamarin was founded in May 2011 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xamarin)). "First non-engineering hire" is self-reported | | She built the team to about 100 people and almost $50M run rate in under four years | Unverified | Her own statements only (publisher bio, Skok interview, LinkedIn). Xamarin was private and published no revenue | | Microsoft acquired Xamarin in 2016 | Supported | Announced 24 Feb 2016 ([Microsoft blog](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/24/microsoft-to-acquire-xamarin-and-empower-more-developers-to-build-apps-on-any-device/)) | | Microsoft paid "about 10x revenue" (her 2018 Skok interview) | Unverified | The price was never officially disclosed. Bloomberg reported about $400M ([headline](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-25/microsoft-said-to-pay-about-400-million-in-xamarin-acquisition); paywalled, not opened). That would roughly fit ~10× a run rate approaching $50M, but neither figure is confirmed | | She was part of SUSE's 2004 acquisition by Novell and later ran operations for a $380M EMEA sales organization | Partly supported | The SUSE–Novell deal (announced Nov 2003, closed Jan 2004) is documented ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_S.A.)). Her role and the $380M/220-rep figures are self-reported (Sacra, LinkedIn, 2018 Matrix release) | | She "never once missed a sales number" | Unverified | Publisher's claim ([preorder post](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/pre-order-built-to-grow-a-handbook)), no independent evidence | | Advice on building sales teams is scarce ("no established framework"; "harder to come by") | Disputed | Several books cover the same ground: Pete Kazanjy's *Founding Sales* ([foundingsales.com](https://www.foundingsales.com/)), Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler's *Predictable Revenue* ([predictablerevenue.com](https://www.predictablerevenue.com/)), and the Skok/Friedman "Zero to 100" curriculum itself ([2018](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/)). A reader under the preorder post asked for exactly that comparison. The claim is better read as "no single phase-by-phase handbook" | | *Kirkus* review is independent trade criticism | Needs context | The review is in the Kirkus Indie program, which authors and publishers commission ([Kirkus page](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephanie-friedman/built-to-grow/) lists "Review Program: Kirkus Indie"; [program page](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/)) | ## 7. Citations and references **Notable sources** - [Stripe Press: Built to Grow](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow): description, author bio, blurbs and buy links - [*Kirkus Reviews*: Built to Grow](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephanie-friedman/built-to-grow/) (Kirkus Indie, 29 Oct 2026) - Stephanie Friedman, ["The $10M ARR Trap: Why Growth Can Hide a Broken Sales Engine"](https://salesandmarketing.com/the-10m-arr-trap-why-growth-can-hide-a-broken-sales-engine/), *Sales & Marketing Management*, 20 Oct 2026 - [Eric Jacobson, "How To Build A High Performing Sales Team"](https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-to-build-high-performing-sales-team.html) (review + author Q&A, 13 Oct 2026) - [Andrew Magno, "Built to Grow: A Handbook for High-Performance Sales Teams"](https://culturegrowthpartners.substack.com/p/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high) (Go Build Something, 18 Oct 2026) - Contents: [Hugendubel](https://www.hugendubel.de/de/buch_gebunden/stephanie_friedman-built_to_grow-51224900-produkt-details.html); [Antoine Online](https://www.antoineonline.com/intr/en/p/Built%20to%20Grow-A%20Handbook%20for%20High-Performance%20Sales%20Teams-Friedman%2C%20Stephanie/9781953953629); [Google Books ebook](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953544) **Every link used** - Publisher and press posts: [Stripe Press catalog](https://press.stripe.com/); [book page](https://press.stripe.com/built-to-grow); [preorder post, 25 Aug 2026](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/pre-order-built-to-grow-a-handbook); ["out now" post, 13 Oct 2026](https://stripepress.substack.com/p/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high) - Catalog and retail: [Google Books hardcover](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953629); [Google Books ebook](https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781953953544); [Syndetics summary](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781953953629/summary.html&client=sfpl); [Syndetics author notes](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781953953629/anotes.html&client=sfpl); [Syndetics cover](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781953953629/LC.JPG&client=sfpl); [Hugendubel](https://www.hugendubel.de/de/buch_gebunden/stephanie_friedman-built_to_grow-51224900-produkt-details.html); [Antoine Online](https://www.antoineonline.com/intr/en/p/Built%20to%20Grow-A%20Handbook%20for%20High-Performance%20Sales%20Teams-Friedman%2C%20Stephanie/9781953953629); [Amazon hardcover](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195395362X); [Amazon Kindle](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H5DWM234); [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/built-to-grow-stephanie-friedman/1147711185?ean=9781953953629); [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/p/books/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales-teams-stephanie-friedman/4d8d652814bafc7c); [Audible](https://www.audible.com/pd/Built-to-Grow-Audiobook/B0HCWGHJLX); [Apple Books audiobook](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high-performance-sales/id6800904316); [Open Library search](https://openlibrary.org/search?q=built+to+grow+friedman); [WorldCat ISBN search](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=bn:9781953953629) - Reviews: [Kirkus](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephanie-friedman/built-to-grow/); [Kirkus Indie program](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/); [Magno](https://culturegrowthpartners.substack.com/p/built-to-grow-a-handbook-for-high); [Jacobson](https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-to-build-high-performing-sales-team.html); [podshelf (Cheeky Pint mention)](https://podshelf.io/books/9781953953544) - Author: [SMM essay](https://salesandmarketing.com/the-10m-arr-trap-why-growth-can-hide-a-broken-sales-engine/); [LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stschatz); [LinkedIn launch post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stschatz_cant-believe-its-happening-today-my-book-activity-7515808320222322688-ts7j); [The Cap Table / Sacra](https://sacra.com/p/stephanie-friedman-angel-investor/); [Skok, forEntrepreneurs 2018](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/first-sales-hire/); [Zero to 100 videos](https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/matrix-growth-academy-zero-to-100-videos/); [revenue.fyi snippet](https://www.revenue.fyi/snippets/part-4-building-a-sales-team-stephanie-schatz); [Matrix Partners release, 5 Sep 2018](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/09/05/1565667/0/en/Entrepreneurship-Experts-David-Skok-and-Stephanie-Schatz-Friedman-Lead-New-Program-to-Guide-B2B-Startup-Founders-Through-Challenges-of-Growth.html) (text via search results; blocks my box); [Love Dogs Rescue](https://www.lovedogsrescue.org/) - Context and fact-check: [Wikipedia: Xamarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xamarin); [Microsoft blog, 24 Feb 2016](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/24/microsoft-to-acquire-xamarin-and-empower-more-developers-to-build-apps-on-any-device/); [Bloomberg, 25 Feb 2016](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-25/microsoft-said-to-pay-about-400-million-in-xamarin-acquisition) (headline only); [Wikipedia: SUSE S.A.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_S.A.); [Founding Sales](https://www.foundingsales.com/); [Predictable Revenue](https://www.predictablerevenue.com/)