GTM Hiring Resources

Practical guides for SaaS founders and revenue leaders hiring their first GTM team.

Hiring Guides
Who to hire, when, and what to look for

How to Hire Your First AE at a SaaS Startup

Most founders hire their first AE too early, pay too much, or pick the wrong profile. Here is what actually works.

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How to Hire a VP Sales at a Startup

What separates a VP Sales who scales a team from one who stalls out, and how to tell the difference before you make the offer.

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How to Hire a CRO at a Startup

A practical guide to hiring a Chief Revenue Officer, what the role actually involves, when you need one, and what to look for.

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How to Hire Your First SDR

When to bring in your first SDR, what to pay them, and how to set them up to succeed instead of churn in 90 days.

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How to Hire Your First Customer Success Manager

What a CSM actually does at a startup, when to make the hire, and how to structure the role and comp from day one.

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Is Your Startup Ready to Hire a Sales Rep?

A simple framework for knowing whether you are ready, and what has to be true before the first sales hire has any chance of working.

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GTM Strategy & Knowledge
Understanding the go-to-market landscape

What Is GTM Recruiting?

A plain-English explanation of go-to-market recruiting and why it requires a different approach than general-purpose hiring.

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SDR vs BDR, What's the Difference?

The titles are often used interchangeably. Here is what each role actually means and how to know which one you need to hire.

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PLG vs Outbound, Which GTM Motion to Hire For

Product-led growth and outbound sales require completely different hiring profiles. Here is how to match your motion to your team.

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How to Build a GTM Team at a Startup: The Right Hiring Sequence

The right order for building your go-to-market team, who to hire first, second, and third, and the mistakes to avoid at each stage.

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What Is RevOps? A Guide for Startup Founders

Revenue Operations explained, what it is, what a RevOps hire does, when a startup needs one, and what to look for.

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Recruiting & Comp
Fees, salaries, and how to run a search

AE, VP Sales & CSM Salary Benchmarks 2026

Up-to-date base salary, OTE, and equity benchmarks for every GTM role at US SaaS startups with 5–1,000 employees.

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What Does a Recruiting Agency Charge?

A transparent breakdown of how recruiting fees work, what is typical for GTM roles, and how to evaluate whether the cost is worth it.

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Contingency vs Retained Recruiting: Which Is Right for You?

Plain-English breakdown of both models and exactly when each one makes sense for an early-stage SaaS company.

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How to Write a Sales Job Description That Attracts Top Reps

Most sales JDs repel the candidates you actually want. Here is how to write one that attracts A-players from the first line.

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How to Structure Sales Compensation for an Early-Stage SaaS Startup

Base, OTE, accelerators, quota multiples, how to design a comp plan that attracts top performers without burning runway.

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How to Retain Your First Sales Hire When Equity Is Thin

When your equity package is not the main attraction, here is how to keep your first sales hire engaged and committed for the long term.

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Hiring Guides
Onboarding, process, and the SDR vs AE decision

The 30-60-90 Day Ramp Plan for a New Account Executive

What your new AE should accomplish in each phase, and the milestones that tell you the hire is on track before it is too late to course-correct.

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When to Hire Your First SDR vs. Your First AE

The answer depends entirely on where your pipeline comes from today. A practical framework for making the right call at the right stage.

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What a VP of Sales Should Accomplish in Their First 90 Days

The milestones that tell you a VP Sales hire is working, and the early warning signs that it is not, before the window for correction closes.

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How to Build a Sales Interview Process That Does Not Lose Top Candidates

Most startups lose great candidates to a slow or disorganized process. Here is how to evaluate well and move fast enough to compete.

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Avoiding Mistakes
The decisions that derail GTM hiring

CRO vs VP Sales, Which Do You Hire First?

Two titles, very different roles. Here is how to decide which one is right for your stage, and why getting it wrong is an expensive mistake.

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The Real Cost of a Bad Sales Hire

Salary is the smallest part of the damage. Here is the full breakdown of what a mis-hire actually costs, and how to reduce the risk before you start.

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Red Flags to Watch For When Interviewing Sales Candidates

Polished interviewers are not always strong sellers. Here are the signals that predict underperformance, and how to surface them in any interview.

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5 Mistakes Startups Make With Their First Sales Hire

The most common mistakes founders make when hiring their first salesperson, and exactly how to avoid each one.

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When to Hire a CSM vs Keep Doing CS Yourself

The signals that tell you it is time to stop handling customer success yourself and bring in a dedicated hire, before churn forces the decision.

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