      SaaStr · 2022-10-17
      · 1326d
    

Hiring Your First 2 Sales Representatives: Critical Criteria for SaaS Startups

Jason Lemkin outlines two essential criteria for hiring the first sales reps at a SaaS startup: (1) you would personally buy from them, and (2) they have 18-24 months of proven SaaS sales experience on quota. A bonus third criterion is that their previous sales role was harder than the current opportunity. Domain expertise is explicitly de-emphasized as a hiring factor.

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Metrics in this report

Example Customer ACV

150-350$k

range

mentioned example customer segment

First Sales Rep Failure Rate if Not Trusted

93.4%

estimated

when founder would not personally buy from the rep

Minimum SaaS Sales Experience Required

18-24months

minimum

for first two sales hires

Scaling Threshold for First Sales Rep Model

1$m ARR

target

before hiring VP of Sales

Success Rate of Domain-Expert Hires Without Sales Skills

5%

inverse

out of 100 domain experts hired without sales track record

Time to Domain Expertise Acquisition

60days

typical

for competent sales reps