Podcast · ~85 min

Building a world-class sales org

Jason Lemkin · Lenny's Podcast Free Advanced

Building a world-class sales org

Lemkin gives actual numbers for the decisions leaders agonise over: when to hire, how to set quota, how many reps per manager. Opinionated in a way that is useful even where you disagree.

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It answers 7 questions

  1. How do I decide which GTM roles to hire, and in what order?
  2. How do I get the team to actually use the ICP instead of nodding at a slide and then doing what they want?
  3. When do I hire SDRs, and how many AEs can one SDR feed?
  4. How do I turn the thing that worked when I did it into an engine someone else can run?
  5. How do I set quota, comp and ramp for my first sales team in India without copying a US template that does not fit?
  6. When do I hire a VP of Sales, and what happens to me after I do?
  7. What separates a great VP of Sales from a merely good one?

Read with it

  1. This is where the SDR and AE split came from, and the summary gives you the whole model without the book. The rule that no AE... Predictable Revenue Article · ~15 min read 15-Minute Summary of Predictable Revenue Aaron Ross
  2. The mistake is not the hire, it is stepping out of sales afterwards, which Lemkin reckons about two thirds of founders do and... SaaStr Article · short read The #1 Mistake I See Founders Make When They Hire Their First VP of Sales Jason Lemkin
  3. The most systematic treatment of recurring revenue as an engineered system rather than a set of departments, with 250+... Winning by Design Book · 556 pages Revenue Architecture Jacco van der Kooij
  4. Kirani has backed Freshworks, Chargebee and BrowserStack, and his rule that the product stays horizontal while the GTM goes... SeedToScale (Accel India) Article · ~15 min read How to Build a Clear and Actionable GTM Strategy Shekhar Kirani
  5. A rare account of the specific moments a GTM changed shape, from narrowing to cold email agencies, to reversing the demo, to... First Round Review Article · ~25 min read The GTM Inflection Points That Powered Clay to a $1B+ Valuation Varun Anand
  6. A concrete checklist for the first closer hire: close 10 to 20 yourself first, hire scrappy over pedigreed, and expect a deal... SaaStr Article · ~6 min read Dear SaaStr: How Do I Make Sure My First 1-2 Sales Reps Are Strong? Jason Lemkin
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