SaaStr

JUNE 20, 2025

billion valuation after 175M round Scale AI : $29 billion valuation / “sale” with Meta’s $14.3 The Billion-Dollar AI Unicorn Factory The scale of AI startup funding isn’t just impressive — it’s existential for SaaS: The AI Billion-Dollar Club: OpenAI : $8.4 billion in funding xAI : $6.4 billion stake Waymo : $10.5

AI Search 283

AI Search Artificial Intelligence AI CTO Hire 283

SaaStr

MARCH 3, 2023

At SaaStr APAC 2023, Scott Pugh, VP of Sales at Figma, shared how to scale these two sales teams while building culture. Pugh’s strategy is simple, albeit not always easy: Recruitment — how to hire the best talent to scale your sales organization. Let’s look at five tips to consider for successful recruiting.

Scale 268

Scale Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scaling 268

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2020

Justin Welsh, former SVP of Sales at PatientPop explains how he started in SaaS in 2009 as the second sales hire at Zocdoc. Justin used Sales Culture to grow a successful PatientPop team to 140 employees and 55 million in revenue. Justin Welsh | SVP Sales @ PatientPop. I was a local sales manager or regional manager.

Sales Recruiting 331

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 331

SaaStr

JUNE 21, 2024

Sam Blond, the former CRO at Brex with 15 years in tech sales, took the stage at SaaStr Europa 2024 to share nine easy sales concepts that so many get wrong. Sam got his first job in tech sales as an SDR for Jason Lemkin’s company, EchoSign, which later sold to Adobe and launched his career. They did this right at Brex.

Sales Recruiting 284

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Outsourced Development 284

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 321

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 321

SaaStr

JANUARY 31, 2022

Having learned from thousands of customers and prospects, Sarah Lash, Envoy’s head of enterprise sales, will talk about what it takes to guide and scale enterprise sales programs during an uncertain future. In my first six months at Envoy , I grew the sales team from six to 17. Combine Strategies To Drive Sales.

Sales Recruiting 246

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Enterprise 246

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2024

In the latest episode of CRO Confidential, host Sam Blond, partner at Founders Fund and former CRO at Brex, sits down with Ashley Kelly, VP of Global Sales Development at Rippling. For context – Ashley had previously helped Sam scale Brex’s outbound sales from $2M to over $300M in ARR as Senior Director of SDR.

Sales Hiring 305

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Outbound Sales Team 305

SaaStr

MAY 6, 2021

A CRO owns and directs the strategy over a company’s revenue cycle, but there’s not a set standard for operational or management decisions: in addition to sales and sales development, they might be responsible for customer success, lead generation and pipelines, and even marketing and brand development.

Sales Hiring 293

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 293

FastSpring

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Lizzie Mintus Founder and CEO of Here’s Waldo Recruiting and host of The Heres Waldo Podcast about her thoughts on: The most effective recruiting strategies for SMBs. Podcast Full Interview: Audio Listen online or find it on more podcast services. Jump to video.

SMB 107

SMB Sales Recruiting Branding Sales Hiring 107

FastSpring

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

In this post, we’re featuring our Recruiting Manager, Elizabeth Faddis! Priority projects are focused on enhancing the company’s recruiting strategy, processes, and programs to deliver on current and future talent needs. You recently started your Recruiting Manager role at FastSpring, how are you liking it so far?

Sales Recruiting 128

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Management Technical Review 128

SaaStr

JUNE 21, 2023

They hired their first VP of Sales with a wonderful pedigree and experience at some of the hottest startups. After three months, this talented guy came to Harbaugh with the recognition that LaunchDarkly’s customers were developers. He didn’t like to sell to developers, so he quit. because they needed to rebuild the sales team.

Sales Recruiting 286

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Pricing 286

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 2, 2015

Specifically, she champions a metrics-based approach for developing world class recruiting teams. Because of her position, Maia has observed recruiting patterns in hundreds of companies, and has developed best practices for startups. Maia reports these five strategic recruiting metrics to the executive team each quarter.

Sales Recruiting 113

Sales Recruiting Startup Sales Hiring Data Analysis 113

Sales Hacker

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Success in sales requires the right skills and a competitive, driven, and personable nature. However, scoring a great sales role takes more than just being confident in your own skills and nature. You have to convince a management team of those things as well. Start Acing Your Interview Before You Even Start.

Sales Recruiting 87

Sales Recruiting Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales 87

OpenView Labs

APRIL 29, 2021

Recruiting top talent is the common denominator across all scaling startups. Nine out of 10 founders and CEOs I connect with are involved in recruiting on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Many of them are learning on the fly and trying to juggle being CEO and Chief People Officer/Lead Recruiter/Brand Evangelist all at once.

Sales Recruiting 98

Sales Recruiting Outsourcing Services Sales Hiring Scale 98

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2023

For part one of this Ask Me Anything session, Jason covers everything you need to know about hiring your first VP of Sales, what he really thinks about AI, what the future of lead generation in 2024 looks like, and much more. In this interview, David Sacks talks about how 70-80% of investor time is spent looking at AI.

Scale 278

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting AI 278

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2022

Imagine a coverage model, from end to end, for the full customer life cycle: from demand generation to sales to post-sales. In addition to marketing, do you also need business development representatives (BDR)? Sales Cycle. This includes everything from inside sales to account executives to strategic asset allocation.

Scale 268

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scaling 268

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

You might have a few account executives and a sales leader in place; maybe some revenue and a handful of customers. The sales team costs real money, and the question before the company is: how do you know what quota plan to assign to the account executives? Stage 1: Management by Objectives.

Compensation 195

Compensation Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale 195

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Interviewers also face a new challenge: developing golden standards to evaluate AI fluency. Of course, this modern interview won’t exclude the other critical components of a high quality process , identifying characteristics of teamwork and sales skills or marketing expertise. 1 Fueled by AI.

Interviewing 113

Interviewing AI Sales Recruiting Construction 113

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2024

1: How Sales and Marketing Have Shifted Since 2020 Expectations and the types of people working in SaaS have shifted over the past few years, and much more in sales, marketing, and customer success. . #1: I can leave my horrible sales job making $240k OTE and be a solopreneur. You can listen to the full podcast here. #1:

Sales Hiring 295

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Marketing Scale 295

SaaStr

JUNE 27, 2024

Job Stopped Participating in Every Interview Early On Many founders still interview everyone when their company is at 200 or 300 people. Job still does interviews for everyone, director and up, but not for the ICs and managers of ICs, for the most part. So that support person, Mafalda, started doing sales, too.

Scale 257

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Sales Recruiting 257

Sales Hacker

APRIL 26, 2019

when interviewing for a sales position? You answered the sales interview questions in a way that made you look like a winner. Now, some people may feel that nailing an interview is a hit-or-miss proposition. There are concrete ways to be sure you’ll shine every time you sit down to an interview.

Sales Recruiting 22

Sales Recruiting Interviewing Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team 22

The Angel VC

APRIL 1, 2017

At the excellent SaaStr Annual 2016 conference about a year ago, a very experienced SaaS CEO said on stage that an internal recruiter can be a startup CEO’s secret superpower. Being willing to invest in an internal recruiter or talent manager (or more broadly, an HR person) early on requires pretty big balls a lot of confidence.

Sales Hiring 168

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Startup Software Review 168

OpenView Labs

JULY 20, 2020

Interviewing is hard , and interviewing candidates for sales roles can be doubly so. Sales requires a mix of left- and right-brained qualities, and accurately evaluating a candidate’s skills is a challenge for hiring managers. Why is effective interviewing so important? How not to interview for sales.

Interviewing 104

Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 104

SaaStr

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Hiring a VP of Sales isn’t new, but the conversations have evolved as the world has. Jason has written about the cheat codes for hiring VPs of Sales since 2012 and realized it was worth a deeper dive. Jason has written about the cheat codes for hiring VPs of Sales since 2012 and realized it was worth a deeper dive.

Sales Hiring 152

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales Interviewing 152

Sales Hacker

JANUARY 22, 2020

If you think sales is a simple job, I have a few hundred professional connections who would like a word with you. By mastering your sales interview questions. As a longtime recruiting leader, I’ve worked with countless hiring managers looking to fill sales roles , and I’ve had a firsthand look at their interview process.

Sales Hiring 98

Sales Hiring Interviewing Underperforming Technical Team Sales Recruiting 98

Sales Hacker

APRIL 21, 2020

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. You’ll be able to download the interview scorecard template that I use with my clients. Can you ever be sure you’re hiring the right salesperson? Man oh man, how the world has changed so quickly!

Sales Hiring 121

Sales Hiring Interviewing Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 121

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Recruiters are still reporting it as a challenging time to fill roles, with both employers and candidates being more gun shy than previously. Nailing the interview process: Here’s one way to nail the interview process once the interview is landed: 1. Have the 1st interview. At Demandbase, data wins every time.

Interviewing 116

Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 116

SaaStr

JULY 1, 2021

It became a part of our interview questions. What questions do you ask in the interview? It’s a team that’s only focused on a values type interview process. Every single candidate coming through Gusto does what we call a watermelon interview. I got it wrong many times myself. How do you get them to join?

VP of Engineering 286

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 286

SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2019

Andrei Brasoveanu will sit down for a conversation with Agnes Bazin Doctolib on how to create a targeted and effective sales process tailor-made for SMB. Agnes Bazin | Chief Development Officer @ Doctolib. She’s part of the founding team Doctolib, and the current chief development officer for the company. Andrei B.:

Sales Recruiting 122

Sales Recruiting SMB Scale Sales Hiring 122

How To Buy Saas

MAY 21, 2025

Whether youre a startup , an SMB , or a global enterprise , the right ATS can streamline your recruitment process, save time, and help attract top talent in a competitive market. Modern ATS software automates tedious tasks like job posting, resume screening, and interview scheduling, freeing HR teams to focus on engaging with candidates.

Systems Review 52

Systems Review Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review 52

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. As the title would hint at, the VP of Sales should focus on sales.

VP of Engineering 118

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 118

Sales Hacker

APRIL 30, 2020

What’s your approach when hiring sales reps? Companies often hire sales reps who have knowledge of, or even a passion for, the brand’s product or industry — which is great because it gives you a team of “walking brochures” who can spout off all the benefits of your product. The best training for new sales hires.

Sales Hiring 115

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales Underperforming Technical Team 115

ChurnZero

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

This is a guest article by Swati Garg , founder and CEO, Melo Associates , and Lindsay Lynch , senior recruitment consultant, Melo Associates , a recruitment firm focused on customer success hiring for SaaS and tech companies nationwide. 2: Start with a clear job title.

Technical Review 52

Technical Review Sales Recruiting Customer Success Sales Hiring 52

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

It’s an approach that’s served him well along the road to building the HubSpot sales team, where he was CRO for nine years. That experience led to his bestselling book, The Sales Acceleration Formula. I just don’t think sales have anything to do with product-market fit. A data-driven framework for scaling.

Scale 226

Scale Scaling Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring 226

SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2019

Andrei Brasoveanu will sit down for a conversation with Agnes Bazin Doctolib on how to create a targeted and effective sales process tailor-made for SMB. Agnes Bazin | Chief Development Officer @ Doctolib. She’s part of the founding team Doctolib, and the current chief development officer for the company. Andrei B.:

Sales Recruiting 109

Sales Recruiting SMB Scale Sales Hiring 109

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

They work with consulting firms, hire their own analysts, buy data management software. But the fact is that a large portion of the employees – developers, marketers, product managers (whose work depends on an intimate understanding of the customer) – rarely, if ever, interact with them.

Interviewing 138

Interviewing Underperforming Technical Team Sales Recruiting Software Review 138

SaaStr

APRIL 7, 2022

We took the series A, interesting enough, the first executive hired by, thanks to the sales coaching, actually was marketing. We actually think it’s about where the customers are when it comes to our sales and customer success and then where our product development center should be. We do have a network of recruiters.

Sales Hiring 269

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Outsourcing Services 269