SaaStr

JULY 27, 2021

Q: What are the most common challenges of a VP of marketing transitioning into a Chief Revenue officer CRO role? But here’s what happens: They don’t know how to recruit an A+ sales team. Maybe they recruited a few BDRs to work with them in marketing, but that’s not the same. I’ve almost never seen this work. Not entirely.

Sales Recruiting 302

Sales Recruiting Trends Sales Hiring Growth Marketing 302

SaaStr

OCTOBER 28, 2022

Conversations about the state of the SaaS market in 2022 are everywhere, and it can seem overwhelming for entrepreneurs and business leaders to make sense of everything. In 2021, there was much less focus on efficiency and more on revenue metrics like ARR. The 2022 Economic Climate, Barriers to Growth, and Recruitment.

Sales Recruiting 209

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Leadership Interviewing 209

SaaStr

MARCH 20, 2024

They discuss Sam’s learnings at Founders Fund, what the 2024 playbook looks like, hiring and motivating sales teams, and a handful of audience questions. Higher than he imagined in terms of the founder quality bar and, the stage of the business, and growth and efficiency metrics. On the sales side, people hired way too much.

Sales Hiring 259

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Headcount 259

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

Recent unicorns like Stripe and Canva have stolen the headlines, but a wide range of successful PLG businesses all over the globe have arisen. Going from sales-led to PLG is doable, but it is not easy. Going from sales-led to PLG is doable, but it is not easy. Sales-led organizations struggle to adapt to a PLG mindset.”.

Sales Recruiting 252

Sales Recruiting Business Pricing Churn 252

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2023

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?

Sales Recruiting 178

Sales Recruiting Scale Compensation Business Model 178

SaaStr

DECEMBER 31, 2020

The most common objection you’ll get in SaaS sales, which will drive you nuts at first, is … Not Right Now. No one needs another piece of business software. Every business is mostly running OK already with its tech stack, and it’s unlikely your little app, alone, is going to change the revenue/profits course of any customer.

Sales Recruiting 318

Sales Recruiting Sales SaaS Software 318

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2021

Flock Safety’s Founder and CEO, Garrett Langley, and its VP of Growth, Alex Latraverse, know a bit about sales. Enough to go from 0 to 100 sales reps in about 18 months — and they’re looking to be well beyond 100 by the end of this month. The three things that led to ramping up sales at Flock Safety were: Achieving product-market fit.

Sales Recruiting 175

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 175

Andreessen Horowitz

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

But building a sales compensation plan that both aligns your sales team’s compensation with your customers’ objectives and recruits top salespeople can be incredibly difficult in usage-based pricing. Determine where your sales team makes your customers more successful In usage-based pricing, value = usage.

Compensation 90

Compensation Sales Recruiting Sales Systems Review 90

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

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. The toughest hire. Such a high failure rate.

Sales Hiring 363

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 363

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 26, 2019

And as companies take advantage of global business opportunities, they’re experiencing an increasingly diverse range of clientele. ” Prioritizing women is sales and other business sectors continues to be a challenge for businesses, but recruiting women of color—that’s a greater challenge yet.

Sales Recruiting 55

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Company Culture 55

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 6, 2020

The number one thing I grade candidates on is how well did they run their sales process on me? If you’re a job candidate in sales, you should be managing your job application process just like you’d run your sales process with a potential customer. Again, I’m running this like a sales process.

Sales Recruiting 70

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Sales Consulting 70

Sales Hacker

JULY 25, 2022

Your revenue organization works in the same way. Here’s the thing about driving a car — and about running a sales org: Bumps in the road are inevitable. One of the best ways to ensure every part of your engine is running smoothly is to build sales performance dashboards for everyone on your team. Activity metrics.

Sales Recruiting 99

Sales Recruiting Engineering Revenue Sales Enablement 99

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2021

Sandi Lin, CEO and Co-founder of Skilljar, and Kathy Lord, its CRO, know a thing or two about Chief Revenue Officers. You might never have considered a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) because it’s not been a common role until very recently, and because you might not have the kind of revenue that needs its own manager.

Sales Hiring 241

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 241

SaaStr

AUGUST 26, 2020

Founder-led sales generally stops scaling around $1m-$2m ARR. A sign to hire a real sales leader. Over the years at SaaStr we’ve talked a lot about hiring a great VP of Sales, when it works, when it does, and how it moves the needle. To stick with founder-led sales longer than most folks do, i.e. past $1.5m-$2m ARR or so.

Sales Hiring 291

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 291

SaaStr

MARCH 25, 2023

So one recent survey we did really brought out a healthy debate: does your VP of Sales really need to be a product expert? Many of the comments said it was more important a VP of Sales understand process and leadership more than the product itself. They often melt. I say, you just gotta know the product. Not just with buzzwords.

Scale 231

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 231

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Brendon Cassidy, my VP of Sales wrote a version of this piece a while back. I though an updated version of this would be good for founders thinking about hiring a VP of Sales … VPs of Sales themselves … and VPs-to-be to read — Jason, ed. … 10 Rules to Being a VP of Sales in a Startup.

Sales Hiring 287

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Startup Sales 287

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 17, 2023

Chuck is the co-founder of Blueprint Expansion , a GTM roles recruiting firm that has helped over 50 VC-backed companies make amazing Sales, Marketing, & Customer Success hires. Our Sponsor Today’s episode is sponsored by DemandBase , Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources.

Sales Hiring 103

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing SMB 103

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2021

” now we have a strong team, enough revenues to start taking things more seriously, and a global (if accidental) footprint. Still, an overall deep-dive on lessons learned the second and third time around: Not Easier : Recruiting – Not Easier. Sales — Not Easier. I know how sales works much, much better.

Sales Recruiting 325

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Branding 325

Sales Hacker

JUNE 10, 2021

There’s one thing recruiters are unanimous about. It’s that sales representatives are one of the toughest positions to hire for. The demand for sales reps is one of the highest of any job. Our recruitment team at EASI has gotten really good at this. It generated over $53 million in revenue just in 2020. Leadership.

Sales Hiring 103

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales Interviewing 103

SaaStr

JANUARY 18, 2023

It’s the most common objection you’ll get in SaaS sales … Not Right Now. No one needs another piece of business software. Every business is mostly running OK already with its tech stack, and it’s unlikely your little app, alone, is going to change the revenue/profits course of any customer. I Don’t Have Budget.

Sales Recruiting 259

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review Software Review 259

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Recently, Redpoint Office Hours welcomed Allison Pickens to clarify the COO role and when startups should consider recruiting one. Product and technology-centric founders should remain at the helm of these businesses longer because the product drives the GTM. The CoS doesn’t manage anyone. A few hypotheses underpin this trend.

Sales Recruiting 192

Sales Recruiting Startup Scale Sales Hiring 192

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 30, 2020

B2B sales is always changing, but nothing could’ve quite prepared us for the wild ride that 2020 ended up being. While most of us have settled into the new normal and the challenges that come with it, sales leaders are looking ahead with uncertainty. Best Sales Statistics to Know in 2021. Short on time? What this means for you.

Sales Recruiting 125

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Revenue 125

Buffer Resources

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

This trend leverages social media platforms to build connections and establish meaningful relationships with potential business prospects — and when it comes to social selling, LinkedIn is the MVP. I’ve never created LinkedIn content with the “goal” of lead generation or immediate-term sales.

Sales Recruiting 128

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Social Media 128

Sales Hacker

MAY 6, 2021

What’s the difference between a VP of Sales and a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)? The VP of Sales. Great VPs of sales have gravitas and tact, command the room and hold their end of the table regardless of who is on the other side. Singular focus on sales. And this is exactly why you hired them!

VP of Engineering 93

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 93

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2023

I asked this CRO how he’d handle the fact that 66% of their revenue came from indirect and channel. It’s so, so easy to stand out in recruiting if you’ve actually done your homework. He said that was the first time he’d heard that. The other day I did a similar final, fourth round interview for a VPM. Now I see who they sell to!”

Interviewing 229

Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Consulting 229

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 20, 2022

Strong sales reps are the lifeblood of your business and how you choose to invest in them matters. For frontline sales managers, attributes like competency, quality of work, ease of execution, and length of contribution indicate reps’ overall job success, but you can’t rely on those inputs to tell you if they are personally satisfied.

Sales Recruiting 98

Sales Recruiting Scale Retention Sales 98

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

They credit this growth to their global team, a switch to an enterprise business model switch, and flexible work operations. Storyblok started with a leadership-first hiring plan and a recruitment strategy that involved the following: A test to know how candidates handle different tasks and their expertise level.

Scale 199

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scaling 199

SaaStr

JULY 25, 2021

They talked about product adoption, sales alignment, freemium models and lessons they have learned throughout their successful SaaS careers. As two CEO who love the art of sales and scaling, this one really was special. And we were like less than 10 million ARR and business was doing very well.

Sales Recruiting 249

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale VP of Engineering 249

Point Nine Land

OCTOBER 23, 2023

P9 Panel on Hiring Sales Leaders — Founders Summit 2023 “You are going to fire your first sales manager!” — A lesson too many founders learn the hard way. One key lesson we’ve learned from the best founders we’ve worked with is that they don’t need to learn the hard way by risking their businesses and employees.

Sales Hiring 125

Sales Hiring Scale Technical Advisors Technical Cofounder 125

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 30, 2023

The first goal of sales at a startup isn’t to bring in revenue — it’s to get customer feedback. I’ve used our sales process to iterate our way to product market-fit and wanted to share what I’ve learned along the way. Use sales conversations as a tool to get product feedback. So how do you get there?

Sales Recruiting 88

Sales Recruiting Product Marketing Scale Sales Hiring 88

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 7, 2020

Fortunately, more organizers than ever before are consciously seeking out female sales experts for panels, presentations, and podcasts. At Sales Hacker, we’re serious about diversity, and for that reason, we’ve compiled a list of 530+ female sales experts to consider for your next event. Sales Development. Sales Growth.

VP of Engineering 121

VP of Engineering Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Payment Services 121

SaaStr

APRIL 26, 2022

It’s the never-ending stereotype –– marketing and sales are eternal “frenemies.” In this session, Tolithia Kornweibel, CRO at Gusto, shares advice on creating sustainable partnerships between marketing and sales. . Tip Three: Better Recruiting. Tip Six: Both CMO and CRO Should Drive Revenue and LTV.

Leadership 192

Leadership Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale 192

SaaStr

DECEMBER 10, 2020

I hear again and again from SaaS founders growing to $5m, $10m ARR or even more that they don’t need a certain VP — with the exception of a VP of Sales. Basically, in SaaS, everyone “gets” that they need a VP of Sales. To get to $5m-$10m ARR and beyond, we’ll need a real VP of Sales.

Sales Hiring 358

Sales Hiring CTO Hire Sales Recruiting Scale 358

Mucker Capital

APRIL 2, 2024

In this Mucker Growth session, Mike Genstil with ValueCore delves into the concept of value selling and its application in enterprise sales. As a founder, ideally you want your sellers, marketers, and product leaders aligned in transforming product features into value-based messages to accelerate sales cycles and secure corporate deals.

Sales Recruiting 52

Sales Recruiting Technical Review Enterprise Cybersecurity 52

Intercom, Inc.

MARCH 12, 2019

A little over a year ago, I got the opportunity to start a new team within our sales organization – a team of Relationship Managers dedicated to growing our current customers at scale. The opportunity emerged out of a shift in how we practice sales. For example, relationship managers who made more phone and video calls saw 4.8%

Sales Hiring 171

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Scale 171

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 19, 2023

I traveled with them in business class to see clients. I generated millions of dollars in revenue for the company. First, I’ll explain the challenges facing Black and brown women in sales, and why addressing those challenges isn’t just the right thing to do: It also makes business sense. Treat them that way!

Sales Recruiting 85

Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Sales Hiring Sales 85

Intercom, Inc.

JULY 28, 2022

And for Intercom’s VP of Sales EMEA, Sanj Bhayro , scaling is just what you need to invest in to ensure growth becomes as constant and linear as it can be. By the time he left to join Google Cloud as EMEA VP of Operations and Customer Growth, Salesforce had around 17 billion dollars in revenue and almost 50,000 employees.

Scale 210

Scale Scaling Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting 210