You're ready to make your first sales hire - a pivotal moment for any early-stage startup. But you’re left with the million dollar question: What kind of person best fits the role? Below are some of the most common mistakes and misconceptions I have witnessed (and, of course, made) when bringing on that first sales role: 1️⃣ 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐕𝐏 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬: An experienced VP sounds like the safe bet, right? Wrong. VPs are great at managing teams and a large funnel. But this is your first sales hire, and you’re likely still refining your go-to-market strategy and ICP. You need someone willing, nay, excited, to explore and get their hands real dirty. 2️⃣ 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: Your first sales hire needs the ability to help shape your offering, not just sell it. Pure salespeople - the best ones especially - are often like sharks, relentlessly focused on hitting quotas. But at this early stage, that singular focus can be a liability rather than an asset. You want someone with patience, someone versed in longer-term relationship building and complex deals who can help identify and communicate necessary product adjustments from their conversations with clients. 3️⃣ 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬: Speaking of customer feedback and status, exceptional communication in this role is *critical*, particularly if your sales hire will work remotely. You need someone to represent your vision and bring back honest, unfiltered market feedback. In some ways, they are a business extension of the founder. 4️⃣ 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭: This goes for all those early roles you’re hiring for (and preferably always). Someone with an impressive track record - ideally 5-10 years of experience - whose hunger is written on their face. Candidates who have consistently outperformed expectations and show a drive to figure things out when the playbook isn't yet written. 5️⃣𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡: It’s best to hire two salespeople at once for two critical reasons: Backup and comparison. Backup ensures that if one of them sucks, you still have someone selling his heart out. Comparison provides valuable perspective, because when one says: “No one is buying your shitty product and that’s why I have zero sales in Q4” while the other is closing deals quarter after quarter, you know what the problem is :) Remember: Unless you've already achieved repeatable sales with a polished product and established ICP, you’re not looking for a VP nor a sales shark. You are looking for a versatile professional with drive and stellar communication skills. What have I missed? What other qualities have you found essential in early sales hires?
One of the major misconceptions is hiring sales sharks before you have a solid value proposition and a product to sell. In the beginning, you need people who can listen to customer feedback, distill it for the company, and help navigate the "wannabe excellent product that everyone must have" to the reality of a sellable service or product. Hiring sales sharks too early will only burn your money and the team.
And if you're lucky enough to have Gil Shai as an investor, you get his help in the hiring process
Business Developer & Customer Success Leader
23hVery practical advice! Now, the only question (as the talent who looks for a job) is where to find the startups that open these positions 🙂