Article · 6 min read

Dear SaaStr: How Should Founders Build Their First Customer Success Team?

Jason Lemkin · SaaStr Free Beginner

Direct answers to the timing question: first CS hire in your first 5 to 10 employees, full time once you have two big customers, $1M to $2M ARR per CSM once you scale.

  • Hire your first full-time customer success person once you have two big customers to support.
  • At least one of your first 5 to 10 employees should be a customer success hire.
  • Target each CSM carrying 1 to 2 million dollars of ARR to keep the function economic.
  • Do not hire an SMB-only background if your average contract value is 250,000 dollars or more.
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It answers 2 questions

  1. When should I hire my first customer success person?
  2. How do I structure a customer success team once one person is not enough?

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