Tom Tunguz

MAY 28, 2019

Hashicorp and Mattermost staff their GTM functions in headquarters, but manage a distributed engineering team. This structure is common across companies monetizing open source software. They are are among the best engineers to recruit to the team and the first to join. Ten years ago, Israel and India were the most common.

Sales Recruiting 278

Sales Recruiting Startup Sales Hiring Engineering 278

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

Your startup is just getting off the ground. You might have a few account executives and a sales leader in place; maybe some revenue and a handful of customers. The sales team costs real money, and the question before the company is: how do you know what quota plan to assign to the account executives?

Compensation 196

Compensation Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale 196

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Throughout her time there, she scaled the SaaS company from $1M ARR to pre- IPO, along the way, creating the category of customer success software, and paving the way for Gainsight’s $1.1B Should you hire a COO for your startup? How you should you go about recruiting the right person? How does the role work with the CEO?

Scale 300

Scale Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Customer Success 300

SaaStr

MARCH 25, 2023

So one recent survey we did really brought out a healthy debate: does your VP of Sales really need to be a product expert? Many of the comments said it was more important a VP of Sales understand process and leadership more than the product itself. They often melt. I say, you just gotta know the product. Not just with buzzwords.

Scale 298

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Sales 298

SaaStr

JUNE 15, 2021

The Return to the Startup Game. Says Bansal, “You should be doing what you enjoy…I realized I really enjoyed the journey of building a startup.” Bansal felt passionate about enhanced software delivery, the need that Harness meets for developers. Recruitment: Getting the right talent onboard is a critical step.

Sales Recruiting 282

Sales Recruiting Scale Software Delivery Travel 282

SaaStr

JANUARY 18, 2023

It’s the most common objection you’ll get in SaaS sales … Not Right Now. No one needs another piece of business software. It can’t strategically improve sales software, financial software, quoting software, recruiting software, QA processes, call center software, etc.

Sales Recruiting 317

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review Software Review 317

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2021

It’s been a fun experience being on Quora for … a decade We’ve crossed 60,000,000 views of our answers there, so let’s take a look at the Top 50 most viewed SaaStr Answers on Quora in 2020: Why do many startup owners sell their firm and move on instead of planning on making it a big player like Google, Microsoft, etc.?

Software Review 300

Software Review CTO Coach Technical Review Sales Recruiting 300

Intercom, Inc.

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

The same is true in software. In this battle, I’ve found a secret weapon hidden within one of our core engineering strategies, an idea called Run Less Software. As well as being a critical philosophy behind how we build software, it also represents how I feel about the software industry and technology in general.

Outsourcing Services 224

Outsourcing Services Software Review Software Outsourced Development 224

Kellblog

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Emboldened by this seeming endorsement, I dashed off what turned into a lengthy email on interviewing and recruiting, a topic about which I am passionate not because I think I am good it, but because I think I am not. Thoughts on The Recruiting Process. For a CFO, do you require a accounting or finance background?

Sales Recruiting 110

Sales Recruiting Interviewing Sales Hiring Finance 110

SaaStr

JULY 29, 2021

Q: What are the top 20 pieces of advice for building a successful SaaS startup? Someone great at something core you aren’t: Sales, Engineering, Marketing. Someone great at something core you aren’t: Sales, Engineering, Marketing. Great at sales. When you go to hire your first sales rep, hire 2. A bit more here.

Sales Hiring 318

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Interviewing Engineering 318

SaaStr

MAY 14, 2023

Check out this week’s top blog posts, podcasts, and videos: Top Blog Posts This Week: 15+ of The Top Sales & Marketing Mistakes SaaS Startups Make (Updated) Cloudflare: Our Top Reps Are Hitting 129% of Quota. 7 Things All Founders Should Know About Sales with Dave Kellogg: SaaStr Workshop Wednesday LIVE 2.

Sales Recruiting 263

Sales Recruiting Scale Generative AI AI 263

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2023

For part one of this Ask Me Anything session, Jason covers everything you need to know about hiring your first VP of Sales, what he really thinks about AI, what the future of lead generation in 2024 looks like, and much more. Lead generation tools do change, but the basic motions of sales and marketing haven’t changed much.

Scale 291

Scale Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting AI 291

SaaStr

JULY 13, 2023

Startups come in all shapes and sizes on various stages of a timeline, yet it’s not surprising how many have the same questions and concerns about how to scale from x to y to z, the right time to hire and fire, and how to keep a team motivated during hard times. Q: Where Should SDRs Report — Marketing or Sales?

CTO Hire 242

CTO Hire Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale 242

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 22, 2015

On December 2, SaaS Office Hours at Redpoint will welcome Maia Josebachvilli , VP of Strategy and People at Greenhouse, a fast growing recruiting software company. Before Greenhouse, Maia founded Urban Escapes, a DC-based startup she sold to LivingSocial. She was also selected for Inc’s 30 under 30.

Sales Recruiting 100

Sales Recruiting Metrics SaaS Sales Funnel 100

Kellblog

JULY 17, 2022

In general, I think branding is a potential marketing rathole for startups, particularly early-stage ones. Go sell some software. Go sell some software. Go sell some software. Some startups put the cart in front of the horse. Go sell some software to prove there’s a market. Do want to build a brand?

Branding 143

Branding Startup Software Sales Recruiting 143

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 11, 2020

A recruiter in the audience submitted a question often discussed in startup boardrooms. If you’re hiring a sales leader, you don’t pass up an awesome sales leader that has a killer track record of closing deals just because in their previous company they sold success software, and then with your company, they’re going to sell MarTech.

Sales Hiring 263

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Product Marketing Startup 263

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

379: From how many reps to hire, to compensation models, here are the top 10 mistakes founders make when hiring their first sales teams and how to avoid them. Announcer: In today’s SaaStr Insider, SaaStr CEO and founder, Jason Lemkin, shared the top 10 mistakes founders make when hiring their first sales team.

Sales Hiring 240

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Sales 240

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

David’s first foray into SaaS was in 1999 when he joined a startup that would become PayPal, starting as the product leader and later as the COO. In 2008, he founded Yammer, an enterprise software company that David grew to 500 employees and $60 million in sales. Head of Sales. VP Sales (45 Employees). Founder/CEO.

CTO Hire 291

CTO Hire Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting CTO 291

SaaStr

MAY 31, 2024

1: How Sales and Marketing Have Shifted Since 2020 Expectations and the types of people working in SaaS have shifted over the past few years, and much more in sales, marketing, and customer success. . #1: But this is software. Why am I selling insurance software while my neighbor saves lives at the ER?

Sales Hiring 307

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Marketing Scale 307

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

GTM 120: Avoid the AI Sales Skills Atrophy Trap with Peter Kazanjy Pete Kazanjy is a serial founder, and seasoned early stage Saas executive, advisor, and investor. He currently leads Atrium, makers of sales performance management software to help organizations measure and improve sales performance.

Scale 112

Scale Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring AI Search 112

SaaStr

JULY 12, 2024

Plus, some of the best software in the world was being created by geographically distributed teams working in an async manner. Back then, remote first was a recruiting advantage. Their goal was to build really popular open-source software and a community, yet the goals of open source vs commercial ambitions are in stark contrast.

Scale 298

Scale Scaling Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting 298

How To Buy Saas

MAY 21, 2025

Whether youre a startup , an SMB , or a global enterprise , the right ATS can streamline your recruitment process, save time, and help attract top talent in a competitive market. Recruitee Best Collaborative Recruiting ATS Pricing: Key Features: Ideal Use Case: 4. What ATS is best for small businesses or startups?

Systems Review 52

Systems Review Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Technical Review 52

SaaStr

JULY 25, 2021

They talked about product adoption, sales alignment, freemium models and lessons they have learned throughout their successful SaaS careers. As two CEO who love the art of sales and scaling, this one really was special. And then some track record of execution either as the new startup or in the past. Dev Ittycheria : Thank you.

Sales Recruiting 265

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale VP of Engineering 265

SaaStr

JUNE 15, 2023

This is the reason 70%+ of SaaS companies that IPO are just new version of old, successful things: About 70% of SaaS Unicorns Are New Versions of Existing Categories of Software | SaaStr But … but … Small markets can grow into large markets if you change the market or there is otherwise disruption in the market. One of the best sales people.

Sales Recruiting 246

Sales Recruiting Marketing Sales Hiring Market Segmentation 246

SaaStr

OCTOBER 26, 2023

Co-founder and CEO at Greenhouse, Daniel Chait, sits down with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin to share what’s new at Greenhouse, a successful recruiting software company at $200M in ARR today. Getting off the ground is one thing — an easy pitch of being an HR tech startup focused on improving hiring. Not quite yet.

Sales Hiring 287

Sales Hiring AI SMB Scale 287

Kellblog

JUNE 27, 2020

I’ve worked with several startups that fell into the following pattern: Selling a SaaS application at a healthy price (e.g., If you sell: A recruiting app, running your first recruiting campaign. A sales enablement app, it’s training your first reps. 100K to $200K ARR). They’re worth it.).

Consulting 144

Consulting Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Startup 144

SaaStr

AUGUST 8, 2023

Accountants are responsible for ensuring the company has clean financial statements and data. This function can be outsourced in the early days of a startup, but it is usually brought in-house after Series B. This role can be recruited through headhunters or your network. Build a culture of data-forward thinking from day one.

Scale 239

Scale Finance Outsourcing Services Sales Recruiting 239

Sales Hacker

OCTOBER 18, 2024

As Hayes Davis (Co-Founder & CEO of Gradient Works) emphasizes, the next wave of smarter software will be able to synthesize data more effectively, offering deeper insights by combining different pieces of information to infer context. Link to GPT. Link to GPT.

Sales Recruiting 105

Sales Recruiting Software Review Scale AI 105

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 14, 2019

Since writing The AI Agency: A Novel GTM for Machine Learning Startups , I’ve been meeting many companies who operate this way. These startups use machine learning to disrupt an industry traditionally dominated by agencies: law, accounting, recruiting, translation, debt collection, marketing…the list is long.

AI 203

AI Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team Machine Learning 203

SaaStr

JULY 1, 2021

PlanGrid builds beautiful, simple software for the construction industry. What’s worked for us is that we’re here to build beautiful productivity tools for an industry of field workers who have never seen great software before, and we believe that they deserve it. Tracy Young : Hi, my name is Tracy Young. Talk is cheap.

VP of Engineering 300

VP of Engineering Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Underperforming Technical Team 300

The Angel VC

JUNE 25, 2015

For most SaaS startups, the VP of Sales (along with the VP of Marketing) is one of the most crucial hires they need to make. Unless you have a no/low touch sales model and you're growing virally (a.k.a. hunting rabbits or deer ) or a field sales team (a.k.a. hunting rabbits or deer ) or a field sales team (a.k.a.

Sales Hiring 185

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Headcount 185

SaaStr

APRIL 7, 2022

We’re in the business of robots, software robots, an industry … There was a great presentation earlier, you all probably heard with the category awareness, category urgency, and I’d add one more, company urgency. I’m really thrilled to hear a bit more of their story together with the audience. Bobby: Yes.

Sales Hiring 280

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Outsourcing Services 280

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

It’s an approach that’s served him well along the road to building the HubSpot sales team, where he was CRO for nine years. That experience led to his bestselling book, The Sales Acceleration Formula. Yet in Mark’s experience working with and mentoring startups, he’s found that many entrepreneurs go with intuition over information.

Scale 226

Scale Scaling Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring 226

SaaStr

JULY 1, 2020

An open discussion with Sam Blond, CSO at Brex, and Kristen Habacht, VPS at Atlassian, about adjusting their sales process during Covid-19. Kristen Habacht runs EDR sales at Atlassian, which I got a check today, $40 billion-$50 billion company. She manages a huge global team. Four, people in the sale? Jason Lemkin: None.

Merchant Services 266

Merchant Services Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 266

The Angel VC

AUGUST 10, 2011

Today I'd like to tell you a bit more about what we at Point Nine Capital are looking for in SaaS startups (other sectors are something for another blog post). One could almost say that CAC and CLTV are for a SaaS company what wholesale price and sales price are for a retailer. along the way.

Sales Recruiting 155

Sales Recruiting Startup Customer Lifetime Value SaaS 155

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

I got my start in software 25 years ago. I was sitting in high school and I had this idea to build some shareware software, so like any enterpriser in 9th grade, I wrote some code, put it on America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy at the time, and a random stranger from Idaho emailed … Or, sent a check in the mail for $12.95

Sales Recruiting 202

Sales Recruiting Scale Outsourcing Services Sales Hiring 202

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Tech startups write a ton of code. They are the skeleton of the startup. In AdSense operations, the average account manager supported more than 10,000 customers (!) Like Google, startups build many of these tools in house. In either case, these essential supporting cast members enable startups to grow much faster.

Sales Recruiting 100

Sales Recruiting Scale Software Travel 100