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 237

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 237

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2021

” now we have a strong team, enough revenues to start taking things more seriously, and a global (if accidental) footprint. 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. Sales — Not Easier. I’m not.

Sales Recruiting 320

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Branding 320

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

MARCH 7, 2021

I thought it would be worth drilling down deeper into each of them, and sharing the learnings and mistakes: 1/ Spending less time fixing things, more time recruiting senior folks to own them. No one spends enough time recruiting as it is, after $1m ARR or so. Yes, you can manage the sales team yourself. You can do this.

Part-Time VPE 265

Part-Time VPE Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale 265

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. Invest those extra cycles. Then I’d let them know how I prepared for the meeting so they knew I invested my time to get ready.

Interviewing 225

Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Consulting 225

SaaStr

JULY 29, 2021

Someone great at something core you aren’t: Sales, Engineering, Marketing. Great at sales. Somehow, find enough cash to make it 24 months to first real revenue. Even if on their own, they aren’t enough revenue to really pay for all that much. If you hire someone to do the first sales, you’ll never understand it yourself.

Sales Hiring 300

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Engineering 300

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. 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. And when you hire a real, great VP of Sales. I Don’t Have Budget. Deliver it for her.

Sales Recruiting 254

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review Software Review 254

SaaStr

JANUARY 25, 2021

And then, I would have invested more wisely in Year 1 especially. Not Hiring 2-3 Sales Reps to Start. More on that here: When You Hire Your First Sales Rep — Just Make Sure You Hire Two. I should have invested a little more in sales reps, more quickly, one we had some initial traction (see above).

Sales Recruiting 264

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale SaaS 264

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

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. Additionally, they had to figure out how they would sustain the revenue stream to retain the staff. Self-service.

Scale 195

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scaling 195

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

I’ve had the privilege to invest one way or another in about 35 SaaS companies, both as a VC and as angel. They understand why they got “No”s in the early, pre-traction days, and even, in the early-ish days when they had a handful of customers but wasn’t really taking off yet (my favorite time to invest).

Scale 339

Scale Sales Recruiting Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence 339

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

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

SaaStr

AUGUST 7, 2020

A few factors that contribute to high-performing sales teams: High quota attainment. The best startups invest in their sales teams and work hard so most of the reps hit and exceed quota. Turning over a sales team is very hard on the organization. A great VP of Sales is worth her weight in gold.

Sales Hiring 318

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Compensation 318

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. 20 VCs do come to me to invest in the company now. Jyoti Bansal: Let’s switch topics to sales.

Sales Recruiting 247

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale VP of Engineering 247

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 128

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Social Media 128

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2021

1% equity considered low as a startup Director of Sales? What types of due diligence are undertaken by VCs before investing in a company? I’m Head of Product and I think our CEO is actively recruiting a VP of Product. He has met Adam Neumann for only 4 minutes and decided to invest $4.4 How much does a VC make?

Software Review 281

Software Review CTO Coach Technical Review Sales Recruiting 281

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. The Founder isn’t willing to be the first salesperson Many of the best founders we work with don’t have a sales background and are either product or engineering focused.

Sales Hiring 125

Sales Hiring Scale Technical Advisors Technical Cofounder 125

SaaStr

JANUARY 27, 2021

I probably will pass on investing in you if I don’t know you want money. We recently did a New New in Venture event and I asked the question of many top VCs including David Sacks, Keith Rabois, Aileen Lee and more. “Give the VP of Sales More Time” This is always terrible advice. In one sales cycle, or less.

Part-Time VPE 297

Part-Time VPE Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting 297

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

APRIL 19, 2022

In this article, I’ll outline the principles of compensation design , how to build sales compensation plans , and include resources to set OTEs and quotas that keep your reps happy and hungry for more. Why Sales Comp Planning is Key to Rep Retention. Who should be responsible for sales compensation planning?

Compensation 86

Compensation Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Retention 86

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 16, 2020

The merry retail investors using Robinhood bolster the passive investment wave, and their market-shaping forces sustain stratospheric multiples in the public markets. I thought the remote trend would be a powerful recruiting advantage; I didn’t foresee a global pandemic obligating companies to work remotely.

Sales Recruiting 279

Sales Recruiting Blockchain Banking Machine Learning 279

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Nabbing enterprise clients could mean fewer deals to reach revenue goals. Before you rush in for the sale, you need to assess everything. Tailor your solution and sales material to meet their specific need in the same language they use when they talk about their problems and desired solutions. What’s going on in the market?

Enterprise 139

Enterprise Technical Review Sales Recruiting Scale 139

Sales Hacker

AUGUST 3, 2020

It would be foolish to tell you that every CRO and CFO I talk to agrees with me in saying that SDRs are a no-brainer investment. Most companies are intrigued by the potential of SDRs, but cautious when investing the necessary resources to build a proper team. And a good AE will have already closed a sale or two. The SDR Setup.

Sales Recruiting 91

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Investment Technical Review 91

InsightSquared

MAY 15, 2019

It’s one of my favorite questions to ask a fellow professional in sales operations. Insurance sales rep. Account Manager. Sales Operations is Still Developing. Sales operations as a profession is growing, yet it is a comparatively new function in businesses. Sales Ops is Many Disciplines in One.

Sales Recruiting 110

Sales Recruiting Scale Technical Review Sales 110

Intercom, Inc.

OCTOBER 7, 2021

In 2018, it became clear we needed to scale, and fast – our APAC customer base had increased more than 900%, and about 10 to 12% of the company’s revenue was already there. Liam: Samira Alamudi is a Sales Development Manager in our Sydney office as part of the Asia Pacific or APAC team. We had two SDRs and one account executive.

Sales Recruiting 118

Sales Recruiting Scale Sales Hiring Customer Support 118

Sales Hacker

MARCH 17, 2021

Getting past the first stage of revenue growth and building an initial customer base is the easy part, but what happens when you hit a revenue plateau and can’t seem to take that next step? Combatting missed revenue growth for second-stage startups. 5 revenue growth mistakes second-stage startups make. And why blame them?

Scale 93

Scale Revenue Startup Sales Recruiting 93

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

The company has no visibility into their revenue growth. So, the management team should minimize costs, maximize cash and lengthen runway to provide as much time as possible to find that product market fit. In other words, how much cash investment is required to double or triple or quadruple revenues in the next year.

Sales Recruiting 111

Sales Recruiting Revenue Startup Sales Hiring 111

Tom Tunguz

MAY 15, 2017

How much revenue do you want to book for your SaaS startup next quarter? It’s another thing altogether to have the sales team staffed to close that amount of business. The bookings capacity of the business is the amount of business a sales team should book in a certain period. So does recruiting time.

Sales Hiring 120

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 120

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Women in Revenue Sessions. We’re super excited to have partnered with Women in Revenue to bring a mini event-within-an-event for women leaders in SaaS and Cloud. Recruiting Fair. Outside of SaaStr Square park, we’re adding the first-ever SaaStr Recruiting Fair. So you can go to both, and back-and-forth.

New CTO 259

New CTO Sales Recruiting CTO Coach Scale 259

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2021

And at a sales perspective, they’ll move to optimizing revenue per lead, over closing every possibly lead. Once sales and marketing gets to be all about the top line, you need to let some marginal customers just go, if for no other reason than holding on price. Harder to Recruit. More on that here.

Scale 239

Scale Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Pricing 239

User Pilot

JULY 27, 2023

Account Managers: They serve as the lead point of contact for all customer account management matters. Product Marketing Manager: This person is tasked with developing product marketing campaigns , crafting compelling marketing messages, and coming up with ideas to retain customers. Average salary: $46,035/yr.

Sales Hiring 94

Sales Hiring SaaS Payments Sales Recruiting CTO Hire 94

SaaStr

AUGUST 25, 2023

2 “Give the VP of Sales more time.” You can’t always expect a great VP of Sales to double sales in 30-60-90 days. But you have to see progress in one sales cycle. If, in one sales cycle, things aren’t improving on several core metrics, they never will. The best VPs of Sales hit the ground running.

Part-Time VPE 181

Part-Time VPE Scale Sales Hiring CTO Hire 181

Valuize Consulting

JANUARY 25, 2024

In the rapidly evolving B2B recurring revenue economy, the focus on Digital Customer Success is more pertinent than ever. Effective Cross-Functional Collaboration Your Digital CS program should be directed by Customer Success but also requires close partnership with Marketing, Product, Sales, and Revenue Operations.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Sales Recruiting Scale Strategy 52

FastSpring

AUGUST 23, 2019

With the right planning and strategy in place, investing in an affiliate program is a great way to scale a software company and drive more online sales. In our latest webinar, FastSpring Affiliate Marketing Manager Mark Jacobs, guided attendees through the exciting world of affiliate marketing.

Sales Recruiting 63

Sales Recruiting Scale Software Sales 63

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. A mercenary is driven by the sale.

Sales Hiring 99

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 99