SaaStr

OCTOBER 13, 2023

If the answer’s no, is it still worth investing in at the expense of profitability? If your product has effortless growth or a word-of-mouth motion and momentum, it automatically takes care of one of your biggest cost drivers: sales and marketing. The only way to stay ahead of support volume was to keep hiring into the support team.

Outsourcing Services 241

Outsourcing Services Sales Hiring Scale SaaS 241

SaaStr

APRIL 2, 2023

I walk them through this when I hire them. Mistake: On the other hand… not betting on the team that got me there “Everything will be fine once we get a new head of [X]” -every startup CEO ever (also me, frequently) When you launch a company, the initial team is usually whoever you can get. Invest in back-office systems early.

Sales Hiring 264

Sales Hiring Scale Scaling Customer Success 264

SaaStr

MAY 3, 2023

Take the time to create onboarding documents showcasing your company values and the expected behaviors leaders must align with to uphold those values. Things don’t always get better by hiring someone new. It’s easier to swing and miss when hiring someone new vs. betting on the people you already have.

Sales Hiring 174

Sales Hiring Scale Pricing Customer Success 174

OpenView Labs

MARCH 24, 2021

Without fail, every week I speak to 5–10 startup founders who are dealing with one of these two painful situations: They’re going through the process of parting ways with the wrong VP of Sales or the wrong enterprise salespeople. For either one, the bottom line is that the cost of a bad hire is significant.

Sales Hiring 56

Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Company Culture Interviewing 56

SaaStr

MARCH 29, 2023

Obsess how you bring on talent Hiring processes are loose and inconsistent in even the biggest businesses. As a $20M business, you likely can’t afford an HR chief, making your hiring standards and disciplines even more important. Get conscious about who you are trying to hire and the process you want to take them through.

Sales Hiring 179

Sales Hiring Scale Strategy Metrics 179

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 27, 2014

The chart above compares the contribution of two hypothetical inside sales people with $400,000 quotas to an early-stage startup’s finances. In this case, contribution is the 18 month revenue of sold customers tallied cumulatively minus the salary costs of $100k annualized of the sales person.

Sales Hiring 100

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Customer Lifetime Value Company Culture 100

SaaStr

JULY 27, 2022

Founded in 2015, PayFit is a software company that empowers entrepreneurs and SMBs to digitize payroll and HR processes. Boterri’s company Accel invested in PayFit in 2017 and again in 2021. As of 2022, Payfit has reached unicorn status –– after raising $289 million in Series E, the company is now valued at $2.1

SMB 190

SMB Sales Hiring Scale B2C 190

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2021

I’ve also invested in 24+ next-generation SaaS companies, mostly successes, and had a chance to watch and learn from them as well, with a new lens. My general rule for start-ups is “young at heart” Hire folks of any age that are young at heart, with a joy of discovery and learning, and special things happen.

Sales Recruiting 322

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Branding 322

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Your sales team is integral to your business’s success: not only do your salespeople bring in the big deals, but they also represent your company and culture to every new and potential prospect. So why is sales team culture still an afterthought for so many organizations? Be collaborative, not cutthroat.

Sales Hiring 143

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 143

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. Starting a company the second time and running it the second time. It’s a bit easier on a few things.

Sales Recruiting 248

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale VP of Engineering 248

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 19, 2022

As the president of Sales Xceleration, a firm specializing in assessing and implementing sales strategy , sales processes, and sales execution to drive growth, I’ve seen how job hopping can affect otherwise stable sales teams. Sales organizations experienced 58% higher voluntary turnover in 2021 than in 2020.

Sales Hiring 80

Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Sales Recruiting Compensation 80

SaaStr

DECEMBER 3, 2020

403: Sam Taylor is the VP of Sales and Success @ Loom, the startup that helps you get your message across by making it easy to record instantly shareable videos. As for Sam, prior to Loom, Sam spent over 4 years at Salesforce following their acquisition of Quip, a startup Salesforce acquired for $750M where Sam was also the 1st sales leader.

Scale 173

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 173

SaaStr

APRIL 1, 2022

Mistake #1: Being Risk-Averse to Investments Outside of Your Area of Expertise. Many founders find themselves confident in one area of their business, whether it be the product, customer success, or, in Schuck’s case, sales. Schuck felt that he could more easily see the results in immediate dollars when he invested in sales.

Sales Hiring 229

Sales Hiring Acquisition Investment Leadership 229

SaaStr

JANUARY 28, 2020

And so, she can, and Anthony just finished up basically going from the first sales hire at Gainsight at almost 100 million in revenue and has just retired. Maria : Yeah, I think, coming from a marketing side and thinking about that as a marketer, marketing is all about investments. And what am I missing from your journey.

Sales Hiring 205

Sales Hiring Scale Underperforming Technical Team Sales Recruiting 205

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

I was the new Vice President of International Sales & Managing Director for a work management software company called Wrike. Starting Your International Sales Team. The key to starting an international sales team is having the right people in your landing team. We took all of these hires very seriously.

Sales Hiring 101

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 101

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Matt Turck talks with three hyper-growth stage Co-Founders and CEOs on three roadblocks when scaling past $15M ARR: hiring, culture, and sales. We invest all over the country and very much in Europe as well including Paris. So we decided to take you to know three specific topics which are hiring, culture and sales.

Sales Hiring 114

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Company Culture 114

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

UserZoom invested in a model where they didn’t just provide software, but services, in a model known as SaaS++. Sales and marketing are still significant, but consider dedicating more research and design to the user experience. Park that ego enough so you can hire the best people you can find and then get out of their way.

Scale 214

Scale Venture Capital Sales Hiring SMB 214

ChurnZero

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

It’s newer when compared to more established departments like sales and marketing. But the paradox in this is that Customer Success teams are absolutely vital for companies today because they help reduce customer churn, boost retention, and contribute to business profitability and success.

Customer Success 94

Customer Success Sales Hiring Onboarding Investment 94

Sales Hacker

APRIL 21, 2020

Can you ever be sure you’re hiring the right salesperson? When I first wrote this article, we were in a very different place, with unemployment at an all-time low and sales hiring a top priority. That secret weapon is a hiring scorecard. Fortunately, my client used their hiring scorecard to sidestep a costly mis-hire.

Sales Hiring 95

Sales Hiring Interviewing Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 95

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

Building a sales team that can go from $0-$50M (Video + Transcript). Gaetan Gachet | SVP of Sales @Algolia. It’s an honor to be here with this mythical creature, this sales leader that goes from zero to 50 million in the same job. He has a whole French sales team and office that only speaks English in Paris.

Scale 136

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Technical Advisors 136

Buffer Resources

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

I’ve never created LinkedIn content with the “goal” of lead generation or immediate-term sales. Another cool example I really like is Tito Bohrt — he stands out with the pseudo, “ Sales Mad Scientist ” — which demonstrates confidence and a unique identity online.

Sales Recruiting 135

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Social Media 135

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2019

The people you hired, the culture you make, the first 10, 20 hires really make the rest of the culture of the company. I remember talking to Belgium investors at the time and everybody said, look, enterprise software is dead, there’s no opportunity through investment. People make the difference.

Sales Hiring 177

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Government 177

OpenView Labs

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Why startup founders should treat fundraising like a sales funnel. Beware of flashy hires from big corporations. There are always exceptions, but when brought in early on, these kinds of hires tend to flounder. . Get your COO on board and hire for operations roles earlier than you think. Hire for brand even earlier. .

Sales Hiring 82

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Marketing 82

SaaStr

MAY 24, 2019

How does the product and what you invest in proactively need to change as you move into enterprise? What you need to know about hiring, firing, advisors, and culture. You just need to hire more people. And so, it’s all incremental investments, incremental risk, so it can get your product very far.

Sales Hiring 145

Sales Hiring Scale SMB Sales Recruiting 145

Totango

JUNE 10, 2022

Do you think posting on LinkedIn helps with visibility within your company, especially if you’re new? Most organizations are active on LinkedIn beyond marketing activities to promote hiring, share tidbits of company culture externally and to collaborate. And if so, do you have any tips on what to post? JD : Absolutely!

Customer Success 103

Customer Success Scale Sales Hiring Leadership 103

ChurnZero

JANUARY 20, 2022

As a Customer Success leader, you know you should invest more time and resources into planning and executing the long-term initiatives your team needs to scale. Rod Cherkas, CEO of HelloCCO, joined us for a webinar to share his approach to ensure your Customer Success team stays ahead of your company’s growth.

Scale 52

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Sales 52

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2019

Why does Parker believe it is fundamentally better to wait for as long as possible before hiring customer support? Why should your engineers be heavily involved in the customer support hiring process? What do you look for in those hires? Parker Conrad: The companies that think, like, gosh, there’s just a lot of work.

VP of Engineering 132

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Scale Systems Review 132

SaaStr

MARCH 26, 2019

Scaling the company’s employee base, sales teams, marketing, and operations—all while preserving its culture—has required a laser focus on first principles, smart processes, and effective hiring. And at the risk of giving you a full Stripe sales pitch, don’t worry, that’s in my other talk.

Scale 152

Scale Payment Services Payment Methods Scaling 152

SaaStr

MARCH 3, 2020

Brendon introduces his playbook to hiring the first VP of Sales from his experiences as VP of Sales at LinkedIn, EchoSign, Talkdesk and more. Learn the dos and don’ts to make the correct hire the first time and not rush into hiring the wrong VP of Sales, which can cost the company months or even years.

Sales Hiring 155

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting CTO Hire Scale 155

Neil Patel

JULY 26, 2021

The franchisee runs the business themselves (or hires someone to run it) and must follow the rules and regulations related to how the brand is used. How much money do you have to invest? Is it a flat fee or a portion of your sales? The initial fee : Most franchisees pay a yearly fee (called the royalty fee) based on sales.

Payment Methods 129

Payment Methods Business Sales Hiring Travel 129

Intercom, Inc.

MAY 26, 2021

Catherine Brodigan , Business Development Partnerships Manager, sees this value at work across the sales team. “As Her team is hiring , and her experience watching the team grow fuels her enthusiasm when she talks to potential candidates. We invest in building for the long term and we learn from experimenting in the short term.

Sales Hiring 138

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Customer Support Engineering 138

SaaStr

JANUARY 10, 2020

Does Bob agree with the notion that channel sales have completely died in the world of SaaS? How does Bob think about when is the right time to hire a Head of Partnerships? Where do most startups go wrong both in hiring for partnerships and in the engagements themselves? Why is this? What are the drivers of its death?

Sales Hiring 132

Sales Hiring Scale Outsourcing Services CTO Hire 132

OPEXEngine

JANUARY 13, 2021

From the middle: traditional tech companies, even hardware companies, are entering SaaS markets with new offerings and models. From the bottom: VC, PE, and angel investors are expected to continue strong investment in SaaS. SaaS Management and Operations. Security investments and attention to data privacy will increase.

Sales Recruiting 52

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring SaaS Benchmarks 52

SmartKarrot

JUNE 6, 2022

It is important to keep certain skills and requirements in mind to hiring someone as a customer trainer. 7 Essential Hiring Tips for Hiring Managers while choosing a Customer Trainer. 7 Essential Hiring Tips for Hiring Managers while choosing a Customer Trainer. This includes-. Use social media.

Sales Hiring 10

Sales Hiring Social Media Customer Success Scale 10

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

When popular culture breeds company culture. And this one day, he called me and said he’d started a company and he wanted me to check it out. So I went there and he asked me if I could join as a sales rep. I had no idea what sales was, I had no work experience, but I thought it was a fun, interesting idea.

Technical Review 210

Technical Review Company Culture Business Model Sales Hiring 210

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 4, 2020

This week on the Sales Hacker podcast, we speak with Matt Rizzetta , founder of North 6th Agency, which is a communications and PR firm based in New York City. Subscribe to the Sales Hacker Podcast. When should a company associate with a marketing agency [12:19]. How to get better at sales [21:37]. We’re on iTunes.

Scale 106

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Outsourcing Services 106

OpenView Labs

APRIL 6, 2021

A robust, vibrant, living company culture needs strong feedback loops. The execution can be done free or with minimal investment in tools. The quality of the answers to these questions reflects the strength of your company culture. This indicates a hyper-tribal, insular culture that isn’t open to new people.

Scale 53

Scale Company Culture Sales Hiring Systems Review 53