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The Top 10 Things to Know Before Starting a SaaS Company

SaaStr

You have to love, or at least commit to, recruiting constantly. If you’re not willing to constantly recruit cross-functionality … you’ll never attract the talent. But the founders and CEOs need to attract even more types of managers, earlier, in SaaS. You’ll probably hire the wrong first VP of Sales. Everyone is.

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Dear SaaStr: What Are The Biggest Problems You Face as a Startup Founder?

SaaStr

The list of problems is endless (this is one of the hardest parts of the job), but let me try to order a few of the biggest challenges roughly based on stage: Pre-Revenue: Finding a Truly Great Co-Founder That is Just as Committed as You. Then their collective revenues often only add up to Cappuccino money. It never ends.

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Dear SaaStr: What Are The Biggest Pains as CEO?

SaaStr

The toughest part in the end is always recruiting. Recruiting. Over time, that’s recruiting more and more senior folks, so the target changes. You’ll have to be recruiting new ones all the time. That means you are constantly recruiting. Dear SaaStr: How Should I Design My First Sales Rep Compensation Plan?

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10 Common Blindspots When Hiring Your First Sales Team

SaaStr

Q: What are some common blind spots and mistakes startups make when hiring for and building out a sales team? Some of the top blind spots founders and even VPs of Sales make: #1. You hire a sales rep to sell before you can prove you can do it yourself. You hire a VP of Sales to sell before you prove you can do it yourself.

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What Does — And Doesn’t — Get Easier After $10m ARR

SaaStr

Once you cross $5m-$10m in ARR, then usually: You have a brand. At least, you have a mini-brand in your niche. And that brand generates leads organically, and fairly low-cost leads. Efficiency goes down in other places (sales efficiency usually, marketing efficiency often). This helps a lot. You have redundancy.

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The Top 10 Mistakes Made in Hiring Your First Sales Team

SaaStr

I know we’ve hit a number of these points individually before on SaaStr, but after getting asked about the top mistakes hiring your first sales team so many times over the years, I thought it would be worthwhile to assemble a Top 10 List. Yes, you may be terrible at sales. It’s sales, after all. Here’s my Top 10 list: #1.

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The 48 Types of VP Sales. Make Deadly Sure You Hire the Right One.

SaaStr

Ah the VP of Sales. The first post is What a Great VP of Sales Actually Does. The second post is a script for you to use (and modify as you see fit) – 10 Great Questions to Ask a VP Sales Candidate. Just so you know, there are 48 Different Types of VP Sales. You have a micro-brand. The toughest hire.