Hey HN. Author here. I wrote this up because I very hesitant to run a black friday sale for my product and was blown away by how much it impacted the business. Hopefully sharing the story (and lessons learned) might encourage others who are worried about the "ickiness" of sales to try them out. Also happy to answer any questions anyone has.
Nice writeup, and congrats on the success with the sale. I especially liked your graphic on the 4 buckets someone can be in when they encounter your sales pitch. Very cleverly presented, and definitely puts into context how little it matters if you happen to pitch someone who isn't interested. The trick is exactly as you write, find out whether they're interested first, and then only move forward if they are. Move on if they aren't! No hard feelings and it has zero bearing on the value or worth of your product or offering.
Unfortunately, too many engineers project their own antisocial allergies onto the general population (myself included) and thus miss out on the greater business success that comes with being both a strong builder and capable seller.