A SaaS company is starting to see increased ARR and NRR past 80%. They're finally ready to "do marketing right." They post a remote Marketing Manager role. 1,000 applications roll in. After weeks of screening, they hire someone with a great resume who says all the right things.
Three months later, nothing's working. The new hire seems overwhelmed, scattered. The founder's frustrated. By month six, they're starting over.
What went wrong?
The founder didn't know what problem they were actually solving. They saw a big bucket labeled "marketing" and hired for a title, not a specific need. They wrote a job description listing twenty-four responsibilities because everything felt urgent. They interviewed for "startup mentality" instead of asking: can this person actually fix our positioning problem? Or generate 50 qualified leads per month? Or build a content engine?
The new hire could tell something was off in week one. The company probably needed someone with more product marketing chops but hired a marketing generalist. Or the founder needed demand gen but kept talking about brand building during the interview process. Three months after the new hire starts, everyone's miserable.
This is likely a familiar story with many early-stage SaaS companies, and there's a simple reason: founders don't do the hard thinking before they hire.
If you can't answer these specifically, you're not ready to hire.
Get specific.
Is it - "Prospects don't understand what our product does, even after a 14 day trial”?
Is it - "We're shipping features but customers don't know about them and sales can't explain what's new”?
Is it - "Website traffic is decent but nobody's converting"?
Is it - "Sales needs 50 qualified leads per month and we're delivering eight"?
Is it - "We have zero organic presence and no one's heard of us"?
Pick one. The most critical problem. Everything else is secondary for this hire. Most founders list all five and expect one person to fix them. And the reality is that person likely doesn't exist at your budget.
Write the specific outcome.
If it's positioning - "Differentiated positioning that our sales team can articulate in discovery calls. Messaging that shows up consistently across our site, pitch deck, and demo. Win rate increases by 15% because prospects finally understand what we do."
If it's demand gen - "Predictable pipeline of 200 MQLs per month with 15% conversion to SQL. Documented playbooks for LinkedIn and Google ads. Attribution model that shows which channels actually work."
If it's content - "Publishing 2 high-quality pieces per week. 5,000 organic visits per month. Sales team actually uses the content in deals. Three pieces ranking top 3 for our target keywords."
If you can't picture what "done" looks like, you can't evaluate candidates. And you definitely can't tell if they're succeeding three months in.
This is where you get honest about what you need.
Positioning/messaging problem → Product marketing strength
Someone who can interview customers, synthesize insights, craft narrative, pressure-test messaging with sales and prospects. Budget: $105-135K for someone with 5-7 years experience who can own this.
Pipeline problem → Demand gen strength
Someone who understands funnel mechanics, can run experiments across paid and organic channels, knows when to double down and when to cut. Budget: $95-130K depending on seniority and market.
Content/awareness problem → Content marketing strength
Someone who can establish voice, execute SEO strategy, create assets that sales and customers actually use. Budget: $85-115K for someone who can balance strategy and execution.
Then hire for that strength. Yes, they'll wear multiple hats. Yes, they'll do other things. But their core competency must match your core problem.
Sometimes this exercise reveals that you can't afford the specialist you actually need.
A product marketer who can also run demand gen, write all your content, manage agencies, AND do customer marketing doesn't exist at $85K. Or if they do, they're not good at any of those things.
When you realize this, you have three options:
Wait and use contractors
Get to $1M ARR first. Use freelancers for specific projects (content, ads, design). Don't hire full-time until you can afford the right person. A bad hire wastes more money than waiting three months.
Fractional specialist for strategy + execution help
Bring in a senior product marketer or demand gen lead fractionally (2 days/week, $6-8K/month) to build strategy and frameworks. Then either they execute or you hire a mid-level person to execute their plans.
Caveat - This only works if the fractional person is truly senior and can own strategy independently. And you need to commit to at least 6 months.
Admit you need two people, just not yet
If you have both a positioning problem and a pipeline problem, maybe you need both a product marketer and a demand gen person. But you can't hire both today.
So hire the product marketer first, use a paid ads agency for pipeline for 6 months, then hire the demand gen person to scale what the agency proved works.
Or hire the demand gen person first, the founder owns positioning for 6 months, then hire the product marketer when revenue allows.
What usually doesn't work is hiring one marketing manager hoping they'll somehow solve both problems. They'll likely thrash between them and solve neither.
Here's what different budgets actually get you in 2025-26:
$70-85K: Typically gets you 1-4 years experience. In high-cost markets or for specialized skills, this may only attract true juniors. In lower-cost markets or with strong equity, you might find solid mid-level talent. Expect to provide direction and strategic oversight..
$85-110K: Solid mid-level (4-6 years). Can own one function with less handholding. Right fit for $1-3M ARR companies who need a specialist in one discipline.
$110-135K: Senior (6-10 years). Can own strategy and execution. Mentors others. Works independently. Right fit for $3-10M ARR companies or complex problems.
$135K+: Very senior (10+ years). You're competing with well-funded companies. Only worth it if you're $5M+ ARR and hiring senior leadership.
You're in a hurry. Marketing's been a bottleneck for months. The board keeps asking about it. Competitors are out-marketing you. You just want someone in the seat.
We get it.
But here's what happens when you skip this:
Month 1-3: New hire is ramping, learning the product, "getting up to speed." They seem busy. You're optimistic.
Month 4-6: Nothing's really working. You're not sure why. They're producing output but not outcomes. You start to worry.
Month 7-9: You realize they're strong in the wrong areas. They're a content person but you needed demand gen. Or they're a demand gen person but your messaging is broken so ads don't convert. You're frustrated.
Month 10-12: You're having hard conversations. Maybe they leave. Maybe you let them go. Maybe you move them into a different role and start over.
You've spent $80-100K, a year of opportunity cost, and you're back to where you started. Except now your team is gun-shy about the next hire. Three weeks of hard thinking up front would have saved you a year.
The job description is the easy part. The hard part is being honest about what problem you're solving and whether you're set up to solve it.
Most founders skip this because it's uncomfortable. It means admitting you might not be ready to hire yet. Or that your budget is too low. Or that you need two people but can only afford one.
But a mis-hire doesn't just fail to solve the problem. It creates new problems. They build systems around their strengths instead of your needs. They hire for their gaps. Six months in, you're unwinding work instead of building momentum.
Do the hard work now. It's cheaper than fixing it later.
Need help thinking through these questions? That's exactly what our consultation calls are for - we help SaaS founders get clarity on what they actually need before spending a dime on recruiting. Schedule a 45-minute strategy session and we'll work through your specific situation together.
Specialized recruiting partner for growing SaaS companies needing marketing talent that drives real results
