Brendon Cassidy (VPS TalkDesk, EchoSign, LinkedIn), Sam Blond (SVP Zenefits) and Emmanuelle Skala (VPS Influitive) join Jason Lemkin to explore the thing that first time founders always get wrong - hiring the first VP of Sales at SaaStr Annual 2016 held in San Francisco Feb 9-11th. www.saastrannual.com

1. BRENDON CASSIDY
VPS HACKERRANK, TALKESK,
ECHOSIGN, LINKEDIN
SAM BLOND
VPS ZENEFITS
EMMANUELLE SKALA
VPS INFLUITIVE
HOW TO HIRE A GREAT (FIRST) VP OF SALES

2. THE FIRST “VP SALES” PROBABLY HAS TO BE YOU
You Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps.
The First “VP Sales” Probably Has to Be You
You Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps.
You You + 2 Reps Hire VP Sales

3. Hire ASAP Once you Have
a Repeatable Process
• Before a repeatable process =
exercise in frustration
• But just as importantly – if you
wait even one month afteryou
have Initial Traction – you are
wasting time
• Wasted time = wasted leads & lost
2nd order revenue,delay in getting
to Scale
TOO LATE IS—ALMOST—AS BAD AS TOO EARLY

4. Note Which One Comes Last
TOP 5 THINGS A SAAS VP OF SALES REALLY DOES
• #1 Recruiting the Team
• You’re going to need a team,
and a good one. Quickly.
• Player-Coach sounds great — but at
best, will be quickly obsolete as a role.
• #2 Backfilling and Helping
His/Her Sales Team
• #3 Sales Tactics
• #4 Sales Strategy
• #5 Creating and Selling
Deals Him/Herself

5. Source: Boston Search Group 2011
http://bit.ly/v2Sbgi
• A mediocre VPS is a cost center.
Feels very expensive.
• But a Great VPS is Accretive
• Key: Great VPS Raises
Revenue Per Lead
CHANGE YOUR THINKING: A GREAT VPS IS ACCRETIVE

6. WAYS YOUR VPS WILL INCREASE REVENUE PER LEAD
• Ask.
• Close.
• Hire.
• Sale.
• Position.
• Go Upmarket.
• Better.
• Fun.
For the Most $$$ Per Lead.
Closing is an Art – and a Science.
Better / Different Than You.
More Reps, More Quickly.
Give Prospects Right Context.
Drive to Highest Practical Deal Size
Great VPS Makes Your Product Better.
Great VPS Makes Your Product Better.

7. Hint: You Don’t Need New
Prospects or Customers.
• Upgrade the Team to Proven
Closers. ASAP.
• Get the Most Out of the Inherited
Team – And Get Rid of the Ones
That Aren’t Working.
• Get Outbound Going.
• Close Faster & Better.
• Know How to Compete and Win.
PLAYBOOK TO MATERIALLY INCREASE SALES IN 60-90 DAYS

8. • You Should Know Subjectively In
Just a Few Months—Just 50% of
The Way Through Your Average
Sales Cycle
• Numbers Should Increase in 1
Sales Cycle—with Keen Focus
on Revenue Per Lead
• First Few Hires Should be Clear
Upgrades—and made quickly
+ seemingly effortlessly
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’VE MADE A MISTAKE

9. The Costs of a Bad Hire
▪ Leads Doubled in Year of Hell
▪ Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue Per
Lead Declined.
▪ Whose Fault?
• Leads Doubled in Year of Hell
• Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue
Per Lead Declined.
• Whose Fault?
THE COSTS OF A BAD HIRE

10. Hire Wrong, and You’re Set Back a Year
• A Bad Hire Can Be Far Worse
Than No Hire at All—It’s True
• A Bad Hire Isn’t Just Hard Costs—It Involves
Huge Soft Costs As Well
• A B-level VP Sales Hires a B-/C+
Team Under Him/Her
• Revenue Per Lead can actually
go down dramatically
• Wastes Precious Leads, Wastes Time,
Loss of Second-Order Revenue
• You’ll Lose a Year – At the Worst Possible Time
• A Bad Hire is Often Made Just
as Things AreTaking Off
THE TOUGHEST HIRE OF ALL IN SAAS

11. YOUR VPS IS ALSO FEEDING SECOND-ORDER REVENUE
Wrong Hire = No Second Order Revenue,
Not Just Suboptimal Sales That Year

12. • Hard to Get Stage Perfectly
Right in Early Days
• Few Truly Scale Across > 1.5 Stages.
Hence, Most SaaS Cos. End Up with
Multiple VPS
DIFFERENT STAGES OF VPS. OFTEN, A DIFFERENT HIRE.

13. Hire ASAP Once you Have
a Repeatable Process
• Sold at Next Year’s Target ACV –
Controls for a Lot of Variables
• Sold at Next Revenue Stage (ARR)
• Similar Competitive Selling
Background
• Outbound vs. Inbound Ratio
• First 3 People You’d Bring With You
• Less Important: Domain Expertise
KEY SCREENINGS FOR VPS

14. • It May Be Tempting to Hire a
Placeholder VPS – especially if
You Haven’t Done It Before
• But You’ll End Up With a Crummy
Team, and Lost Opportunities.
• Start Early. Start Now.
SO, AS HARD AS IT IS—YOU CAN’T SETTLE

15. • Great Sales Teams Have Low
Turnover—They Want to Stay
Together
• Great Sales Teams Feed
on Themselves
• Great Sales Teams Energize
the Rest of the Company
• You Just Need a Great VPS
to Bring it All Together
WHEN IT’S GOOD—IT’S REALLY GOOD