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. At least a little bit.

Scale 231

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 231

SaaStr

JULY 18, 2023

Some engineers by training, others in sales or product originally. But a few uniting characteristics of the very best: Relentless Recruiters. You have to be constantly recruiting the best. The best founders usually spend at least 20% of their time recruiting. Some ruthless with competition, some more zen about it.

Sales Recruiting 218

Sales Recruiting Scale Scaling Engineering 218

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 22, 2015

On December 2, SaaS Office Hours at Redpoint will welcome Maia Josebachvilli , VP of Strategy and People at Greenhouse, a fast growing recruiting software company. Before Greenhouse, Maia founded Urban Escapes, a DC-based startup she sold to LivingSocial. She was also selected for Inc’s 30 under 30.

Sales Recruiting 100

Sales Recruiting Metrics SaaS Sales Funnel 100

Tom Tunguz

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

When a new leader joins a startup, their impact hinges on their ability to build their teams. Whether you manage a team of engineers, a team of regional sales managers, or the company, your first responsibility is to hire and successfully manage the seven people who will form your leadership team.

Sales Hiring 234

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Management Leadership 234

SaaStr

AUGUST 23, 2022

Dear SaaStr: When Should a CEO of a Startup Stop “Doing the Work” and Let Others Do the Work? So you don’t have to directly manage at least several of the key functional areas in the company at all. management team by 50 employees or so. You spend all your recruiting time just on VPs and above.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Startup 195

SaaStr

AUGUST 30, 2022

This happens with some regularity in SaaS, I’ve learned (and to be clear: I’m not talking about any company I’ve invested in, am an advisor to, board member of, etc – Because when it’s still a very small team, with no true management team … co-founders can kind of hack it to $1m-$2m in ARR together.

Sales Recruiting 236

Sales Recruiting Technical Cofounder Scale Investment 236

OpenView Labs

DECEMBER 16, 2019

So if scaling your sales organization is a priority in 2020, here are the things you need to be aware of to make sure you do so successfully. In my experience both as a salesperson and as a recruiter, it’s primarily been four things: They want the work they’re doing to matter to them. Hiring sales leaders will get harder.

Sales Recruiting 53

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Trends 53

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

Mark Roberge, the Chief Revenue Officer at Hubspot, has spent 20 years in startups. As he told me a few days ago, he has observed the lack of sales management and sales execution skills as one of the most consistent deficiencies limiting the potential of early stage SaaS companies. The first step is hiring a sales leader.

Sales Hiring 184

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Startup Compensation 184

Kellblog

JULY 17, 2022

In general, I think branding is a potential marketing rathole for startups, particularly early-stage ones. Some startups put the cart in front of the horse. In this post, I’ll use a six-point branding framework and share my thoughts on how each element applies (or doesn’t) to startups. For startups, fewer is better.

Branding 131

Branding Startup Software Sales Recruiting 131

SaaStr

OCTOBER 3, 2023

He completely misunderstood the value prop of the startup. It’s so, so easy to stand out in recruiting if you’ve actually done your homework. ” — Steve Bailey, SVP Sales, EdCast (image from here ) The post How to Truly Stand Out in Any Job Interview, from SDR to COO appeared first on SaaStr.

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Interviewing Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Consulting 229

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 127

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Social Media 127

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

You see this time and time again in startups that are late to “top” their first set of VPs. For example, a great Stretch VP of Sales might get you to from $50k to $500k a month in new bookings. But if it goes one for more than a sales cycle, or a few releases, it’s time to bring in the VP for the next stage of growth.

Sales Recruiting 235

Sales Recruiting Scale Sales Hiring Metrics 235

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

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. Is a CRO right for you?

Sales Hiring 241

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Revenue 241

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 323

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Compensation 323

OpenView Labs

DECEMBER 8, 2020

According to First Round’s 2019 State of Startups report , sales leadership is the most difficult hire to make. Image: State of Startups. And with sales being a top priority for founders…. Image: State of Startups. …hiring a qualified sales leader is getting harder by the day.

Sales Hiring 81

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 81

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 then some track record of execution either as the new startup or in the past. Dev Ittycheria : Thank you.

Sales Recruiting 249

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale VP of Engineering 249

SaaSX

JULY 26, 2020

But, I’ve found when you actually look at the work to be done inside of high-growth startups there are some gaps that don’t always fit into a common org chart. . There are a handful of less obvious roles that can make an immediate positive impact on almost any high-growth startup. Is it time for a sales engineer?

Sales Recruiting 64

Sales Recruiting Technical Review Scale Startup 64

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

In this episode of the Sales Hacker Podcast, we have Hakim Myers , Business Recruiter at Nextdoor , where he recruits for people, finance, and legal functions for startups. Join us for a revealing conversation on sales and talent from the perspective of a recruiter in an executive search firm.

Sales Recruiting 81

Sales Recruiting Retention Scale Sales Hiring 81

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 30, 2018

Welcome to Sales Hacker’s first-ever Influential Women in Sales list! In this exclusive list, we wanted to honor not just female leaders that promote their own sales platform (no shame in that!) They say “You can’t be what you can’t see,” and the sales floor is no exception.

Sales Recruiting 111

Sales Recruiting VP of Engineering Scale Sales Hiring 111

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

379: From how many reps to hire, to compensation models, here are the top 10 mistakes founders make when hiring their first sales teams and how to avoid them. Announcer: In today’s SaaStr Insider, SaaStr CEO and founder, Jason Lemkin, shared the top 10 mistakes founders make when hiring their first sales team.

Sales Hiring 178

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 178

ChurnZero

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

When I ventured out to build my first Customer Success department at a tech software company, my leadership team thought I was nuts. At the time, I was a sales engineer, and my job was to close deals and move on to the next prospect. However, I found there were two flaws in our customer management process.

Customer Success 98

Customer Success Sales Recruiting Technical Review Compensation 98

FastSpring

MARCH 8, 2021

We’ll go first––only 5% of leadership roles within the tech industry are women. With high numbers of men in leadership positions and a lack of emphasis on hiring women for those leadership roles, you can see the issue here. – Chelsea Cianciolo, Customer Success Manager . Why does a job need to be gender-specific?

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Leadership 147

SaaStr

JANUARY 24, 2024

Sales reps were hosting 4-6 calls daily but most of these calls were early demos or top-of-funnel discovery calls Sales was closing really small deals on one end while talking to really large companies with hundreds of thousands of people on the other. As a startup, it’s tempting to try and do everything.

Scale 231

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Revenue 231

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

David’s first foray into SaaS was in 1999 when he joined a startup that would become PayPal, starting as the product leader and later as the COO. In 2008, he founded Yammer, an enterprise software company that David grew to 500 employees and $60 million in sales. Head of Sales. VP Sales (45 Employees). billion in 2012.

CTO Hire 249

CTO Hire Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting CTO 249

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 52

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Social Media 52

OpenView Labs

MARCH 8, 2021

B2B sales involves one business selling its product to another business. Those with experience in both B2B and B2C sales know that B2B is a lot tougher—the deals are bigger, there’s often more than one decision-maker, and the competition is intense. For all those reasons, hiring and management must be on point.

Sales Hiring 80

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting B2B 80

SaaStr

MAY 5, 2021

Or if you hired someone that talked the talk, but isn’t the right fit for your startup? 50% of the job of a real VP is recruiting. Sales — for a VPS. You may still need to spend just as much time in sales when you hire a great VP of Sales — but you shouldn’t have to own it as much.

Part-Time VPE 188

Part-Time VPE Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Metrics 188

SaaStr

MARCH 10, 2020

That was the most over the top entrance that the sales leader for a company that moves boxes around the world has ever gotten. So we did about 442 million in sales last year. The top 25 freight forwarders combined to do 100 billion a year in sales. Rely on your success, know you are doing something right and scale faster.

Scale 199

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scaling 199

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

In this episode of the Sales Hacker Podcast, we have Scott Barton , VP of Industry Solutions at Varicent. He’s an expert in the sales world, particularly in revenue operations and incentive compensation. Join us for a great conversation about driving the right behaviors within your sales team. powered by Sounder.

Compensation 80

Compensation Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Leadership 80

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

That you absolutely, positively, have to only hire “Rockstars” in your startups. If you don’t think you need a great VP of Sales, Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and Engineering — then all that all that means is you’ve never worked with a great one. Head of Sales – What Corners Can I Cut?

Sales Hiring 273

Sales Hiring Part-Time VPE Scale Sales Recruiting 273

SaaStr

MARCH 24, 2020

Nothing matters but recruiting and using your personal network. Sam Blond, CSO at Brex explains why recruiting, networking and employee happiness is the key to this playbook on recruiting your sales team. Sam Blond | Chief Sales Officer @ Brex. I’m doing The Playbook To Recruiting Your Sales Team.

Sales Recruiting 131

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Underperforming Technical Team 131

Sales Hacker

MARCH 12, 2020

Like most things in life, hiring sales talent is a matter of timing. Especially since the best candidates with strong sales skills are usually snatched up within 10 days. That’s why it’s critical to overcome indecision and move quickly when recruiting sales talent. Is it unrealistic sales quotas?

Sales Hiring 76

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Compensation Underperforming Technical Team 76

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. Before Quip, Sam spent an incredible 3 years at Dropbox where he was the first enterprise sales rep in the entire company. Should you hire 2 at a time?

Scale 174

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 174

Sales Hacker

JUNE 8, 2021

In this episode, Kyle Racki , co-founder and CEO of Proposify, talks about how his upbringing helped his sales career, the journey from being a freelancer to a founder, and how to create and maintain a competitive advantage. Subscribe to the Sales Hacker Podcast. The framework for leading a startup to success [20:45].

Sales Recruiting 73

Sales Recruiting Entrepreneurship Sales Hiring Sales 73

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Companies were growing their sales organizations and bringing in more revenue. Companies everywhere have frozen their hiring and laid off workers — with sales reps often among the first to go. I’ll be honest: as the leader of a sales-focused recruiting company, this has been tough for me and my team.

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Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 94

Buffer Resources

NOVEMBER 12, 2021

Building Thought Leadership While other social channels are typically reserved for building your company’s brand, LinkedIn provides a unique opportunity for you to grow a personal following—that can, in turn, support your brand’s recognition. It won't take much time and it can go a long way!

Sales Recruiting 80

Sales Recruiting Social Media Business Marketplace as a Service 80