Stop looking at headcount and look at the magic number: net new ARR in a quarter divided by the fully loaded sales and marketing spend of the quarter before. Below 0.5 you are either underinvesting or the motion does not work, 0.5 to 0.75 says the engine is real and you can push, 0.75 to 1.0 is efficient growth, and above 1.0 you should probably be hiring faster than you are. Fully loaded means salaries, commissions, tools, events and agencies, not just base pay. Run it per segment too, because a healthy blended number often hides one segment quietly subsidising another.
4 hand-picked resources, 4 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it One number that tells you whether your whole GTM spend is working, with current benchmark bands (under 0.5 underinvesting, 0.75 to 1.0 efficient, over 1.0 exceptional) and the precise definition of what to include in the spend.
From The SaaS CFO by Ben Murray 8 min read
Open thesaascfo.com →Why we picked it The headcount question answered as arithmetic: revenue target divided by revenue per rep and capacity utilisation, with ramp time and attrition built in. Use it before you sign off next quarter's hiring plan.
From Everstage 12 min read
Open everstage.com →Why we picked it The clearest arithmetic anywhere on rep economics: the rule of 10 for quota against base, four months to productivity, draws during ramp, and why teams attain about 70 percent of quota capacity so you must plan over capacity.
From Craft Ventures by David Sacks 12 min read
Open sacks.substack.com →Why we picked it Roughly 47,000 quota carrying reps across 246 companies, with average attainment at 42.7 percent. The number to put in front of a board that thinks your team is underperforming when the quota is what is broken.
From QuotaPath, using RepVue's Cloud Sales Index 8 min read
Open quotapath.com →How comp, quotas and territory reads from a different seat.
The same ground, over in Co-founders, team & legal, our Starting Up track.
