How to Build a Sales Team Aligned with Founder Vision

Founder friend of mine called last night to pick my brain on transitioning from founder-led sales -> building a sales team. Have had this convo dozens of times, and always top of mind for first-time B2B Founders, so here are my thoughts: DO:  ✅ Close at least $100k-$200k ARR yourself before bringing on AEs to help. It's important to have a repeatable motion before you train someone else to do it.  ✅ Hire 1 AE you have extreme confidence in and do everything you can to make them successful or 2 AEs and have them start at a similar time. 2 AEs is generally safer because if 1 AE isn't working out, it de-risks whether it's the AE or your product-market-fit that's broken.  ✅ Make sure the AEs you bring onboard 1) are experienced hunters who are going to build most of their own pipe 2) have experience with a similar motion (e.g., sales cycle length, ACVs, selling to LoB, etc.) and 3) industry experience optional IMO (vs #1 & #2), but a nice bonus.  ✅ Once you hire AEs, give them all your pipe, try to make them wildly successful, and start to think of yourself as a super-SC 💪 ‎ DON'T:  ❌ Don't bring on a sales rep because you're struggling to figure out sales**. A lot of founders think they're struggling to do sales because they don't have the right sales experience, but 9 times out of 10, it's because you haven't figured out PMF.  ❌ ‎Don't hire a VP Sales right away. Most VPs are going to want to hire & scale and you're not ready for that. You need to prove that you can get a few AEs selling instead of a founder first.  ❌ ‎Don't hang onto all the deals once you bring onboard your first 1-2 AEs. Too many founders cling to all the deals they're working or the most important deals that come in to increase the odds of closing them, optimizing for short-term revenue. That's short-sighted. Once you have AEs, your only priority is to de-risk whether someone else can do sales, bc then you can add more 🚀  ❌ ‎Don't be completely hands-off either. Reverse-shadow in the first 1-2 months, continue to inspect every deal in forecast calls, and have them tap you in for their most important deals (esp. with economic buyers).  ** As a founder, you're going to be the best salesperson for your company because you can share your vision, you deeply understand your product & customer, can promise features on the spot, etc..  -> the two places AEs are going to be better than you are 1) qualifying out deals not worth their time (as founders, we think every company should use our product 😅 ‎) and 2) negotiation. Never be in the room while your AE is negotiating 👎 ‎ Bonus early-stage GTM benchmarks from Gem‎:  - Year 1: $100k -> $1M ARR in 9 months with 2 AEs  - Year 2: $1M -> $4M ARR with 4 AEs  - Year 2 (early): added marketing (dir demand gen) and SDRs.  - Year 3-7+: 🤐 ‎ Wdyt? For founders scaling from 0->$1M does this match what you're seeing? Founders who have found PMF and scaled past $1M, keep me honest. What did I miss?

The hardest transition B2B startups go through is moving from founder-led sales to a hired sales person. Unfortunately, almost everyone gets this wrong. A founder has several advantages when selling. Beyond knowing the product inside and out, they control the product roadmap. This gives founders the power to adjust the pitch and even promise features on the fly. While helpful in the early days as a way of building for the customer, this approach clearly does not scale beyond the founder. The first sales hire you bring on, no matter the seniority or experience, cannot be driving your roadmap. They likely also aren't intimately aware of exactly how the product was built. As a result, they can't mimic the founders product-led and adaptable approach to sales. And even if they could, playing quasi-product manager isn't really how most salespeople thrive. The way to ensure that your first professional salesperson succeeds is to make sure you have a defined value prop, a structured sales pitch, and a clear product to sell. When they have this they can leverage all of their sales experience and knowhow to dramatically accelerate revenue. And this brings me to why the transition from founder-led sales to the first sales hire fails so often. It is not just a change from one person selling to another. It is a total transformation of the sales process. So how do you avoid the mistakes so many of us have made during this transition? I have seen two things work. But both of them require an explicit understanding that everything sales needs to change for the transition to work. Option a: Start by changing how you as the founder sells. Define the sales pitch, put structure around the product, show that you can sell without leaning into the founder advantages. When you can bring on new customers in this way you are ready to hire your first professional salesperson. Option b: My preferred option is to hire someone as a bridge to go through this transition. I have found that a generalist with a product bent and lots of hustle, can start selling in a way that is a hybrid of what a founder does and what a sales person does. The focus should be on adjusting the sales motion and focusing on how to turn the founders unconstrained pitch into a more structured one.

For all my entrepreneurs out there just starting out. Here is a bit of guidance that I wish I had earlier. Creating a company's mission, vision, and values is not just about words on a page – it's about defining the soul of your organization. Here are some key steps to guide you in this essential process: 1️⃣ Mission: Start by asking yourself, "Why does my company exist?" Your mission statement should succinctly capture the purpose and primary objectives of your business. It should be inspiring, clear, and actionable, guiding your team's daily efforts. 2️⃣ Vision: Envision the future you aspire to create. Your vision statement should paint a compelling picture of what success looks like for your company in the long term. It should inspire and motivate both your team and your stakeholders, guiding strategic decision-making. 3️⃣ Values: Define the principles and beliefs that guide your company's behavior and decisions. Your values should reflect the culture you want to cultivate within your organization. They are the compass that keeps your team aligned and focused on what truly matters. I would suggest keeping this to 3 values anything more than that is too hard to manage. Once you have defined your mission, vision, and values, it's crucial to use them as a guiding light in your hiring process. Here's how: 1️⃣ Alignment: Look for candidates whose personal values align with those of your company. A shared sense of purpose and principles creates a strong foundation for collaboration and cultural fit. 2️⃣ Passion: Seek individuals who are not only skilled but also passionate about your mission and vision. Their enthusiasm and commitment will drive innovation and excellence within your team. 3️⃣ Behavioral Interviews: Structure your interviews to assess candidates' alignment with your company values. Ask situational questions that reveal how they have demonstrated these values in past experiences. 4️⃣ Onboarding: Once you've found the right fit, ensure that your new hires understand and embrace your company's mission, vision, and values from day one. This sets the tone for their integration into your team and reinforces your organizational culture. Remember, your mission, vision, and values are not static documents – they should evolve as your company grows and adapts to new challenges. By staying true to these guiding principles, you'll not only attract top talent but also build a resilient and purpose-driven organization. #companyculture #hiring #MissionVisionValues #mistakes #missionstatement #visionaryleader #vision #values #valuesbasedleadership #recruitment #lovelife #loveandkindness #peace