Build the team

Hire, ramp and pay GTM people so the engine runs without you in every deal.

What founders use for build the team, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. Ten specific, named mistakes rather than principles, including hiring a VP of Sales too early and letting a bad rep linger past... SaaStr Podcast · 30 min listen SaaStr Podcast #379: The Top 10 Mistakes Founders Make When Hiring Their First Sales Team Jason Lemkin In 7 answers
  2. The number that should scare you into reading it: 70 percent of first VP of Sales hires do not make it. Ten named mistakes,... SaaStr Podcast · 35 min listen Hiring a Great VP of Sales: The New, Latest Edition with Jason Lemkin Jason Lemkin In 2 answers
  3. Podcast · 90 min 2X SaaS Founder: How To Sell Global Tech Products From India | Sharath Narayana Siddhartha Ahluwalia with Sharath Keshava Narayana
  4. Podcast · 61 min Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium) Pete Kazanjy
  5. Podcast · 57 min The $400K Sales Rep: What Top Earners Know That You Don't | Siva Rajamani (Everstage CEO) Siva Rajamani
  6. Podcast · 31 min Aligning sales compensation with strategy, not SKUs (with Stephen Long) Stephen Long
  7. Podcast · 28 min Sales Comp Is Morale: Why Bad Plans Cause Attrition | Shiv Walia | A Place For Mom | GTM Show Shiv Walia
  8. Podcast · 66 min John Lee on Scaling Sales Comp for 5,000+ Reps at @LinkedIn I Uncappd Insider I Everstage I John Lee
  9. Podcast · 82 min SDR Masterclass with Debdutta Saha | GTM Talk Debdutta Saha
  10. Yamini Bhat walks through how Vymo built an outbound engine, an SDR cadence and a value selling motion, then hired senior sales... Founder's Deep Dive, SaaSBoomi Podcast The journey of Vymo with Yamini Bhat Yamini Bhat
  11. Podcast · 19 min Are SPIFs Actually Worth It? Leo Rocha
  12. Podcast · 44 min #42 How to Build an Effective Sales Territory Plan - with Jeremy Donovan (Insight Partners) Jeremy Donovan
  13. Podcast · 32 min Beat the Benchmark #1: How to Improve Rep Quota Attainment Guy Rubin and Adam Roberts
  14. Podcast · 37 min Incentives and Compensation in Product-Led Sales with AJ Bruno AJ Bruno

The questions

Hiring and ramping GTM people 16

Your first sales hire, the interview loop, the ramp plan, and knowing early when someone is not going to make it.

When do I stop selling myself and hire my first salesperson? 5 → What does a good first sales hire actually look like, and what should I not fall for? 5 → I have been offered the first sales hire job at a startup. What should I check before I say yes? 4 → How do I interview a salesperson when I have never sold for a living? 3 → What should a new rep's first 90 days actually look like? 5 → All 16 questions in Hiring and ramping GTM people →
Comp, quotas and territory 16

Comp plans, quotas, OTE and accelerators, territory and segment design, in dollars and in rupees.

I have been handed a comp plan. How do I work out what I will actually earn? 5 → What do OTE, pay mix, accelerator, draw and clawback actually mean? 4 → I am a founder writing my first sales comp plan. What is the simplest thing that works? 4 → What is a fair quota for my first rep when we have no history to go on? 5 → How do I set quotas that most of the team can actually hit? 5 → All 16 questions in Comp, quotas and territory →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →