For founders whose team is closing deals without them, and who need someone to lead it.
Hire a VP of Sales after the motion works and your AEs are closing deals you did not run. The order is motion first, then sellers, then a leader. If the motion still needs building or you still need someone to carry deals, hire an AE first. The trigger is a team and a motion worth leading.
I would not start with revenue. I would start with who is selling, and whether the sale repeats.
The order matters. The motion comes first. Sellers come next. A leader comes after both.
These are the signs I look for.
Most of the companies I work with are B2B SaaS under $10M ARR. Revenue is context here, not the trigger.
In the VP Sales trap section of why first sales hires fail, I said to get a few reps producing before you bring in a VP.
I would not hire a VP of Sales to do a seller's job.
A VP with no team becomes a very expensive seller. Neither of you gets the job you signed up for. If that is where you are, hire an AE first. Start with how to hire your first AE. If the motion itself still needs building, you may want to consider fractional (see below).
Most founders who ask me about a VP need one of four things. I sort them using the leader, player-coach, and executor types from my hiring framework.
| Option | What they do | Fits when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| VP of Sales | Sets the sales plan, hires and builds the team, and owns the forecast | The motion repeats, there is a team to lead, and there is budget to grow it | Expecting them to carry a full quota with no support |
| Sales manager or player-coach | Still sells, and coaches a small team of reps | The motion repeats, and the team is still small | Loading VP expectations onto a manager's scope |
| Another AE | Carries deals and runs the process you built | The constraint is still closing capacity | Using a second seller to hide a motion that does not repeat yet |
| Fractional sales leader | Builds the motion and the process part time, and can step into live deals | The process needs building before anyone leads it full time | Nobody owning the team day to day once the engagement ends |
Titles blur at small companies. Some founders call this seat Head of Sales. The scope matters more than the title. If the job is mostly planning, hiring, and the forecast, it is a VP seat, whatever you call it.
A first VP owns the team and the number. They do not own everything with sales in its name.
| What they own | What good looks like | What they should not be handed |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring and ramping sellers | They can tell you who they would hire next and why | A hiring plan with no budget behind it |
| Coaching and deal reviews | Reps get better, and you stop being the default reviewer | Closing every big deal personally |
| The forecast and pipeline reviews | A number you can take to the board without rebuilding it the night before | Building the whole CRM and reporting system. That is a RevOps hire |
| The written sales process | It stays current as the buyer changes | Inventing the ICP from scratch |
| What counts as a qualified meeting, agreed with marketing | Sales and marketing use the same definition, and the handoff works | Creating the pipeline alone. That is a demand gen hire when it is the real gap |
If the ICP is still a guess, the motion is not built yet. A VP is the wrong hire for that problem.
This is the call I would make before I look at a single resume.
A builder VP has built or rebuilt a team at a company your size. They hired the reps themselves. They can still run a deal when it matters.
A big-company VP often inherited a playbook, an SDR team, enablement, and ops support. That can still fit. They have to show what they built without it.
A strong title from a large sales org is weak proof for a small team.
I use the same four checks on every GTM search. They carry extra weight here.
I want one story, told in order.
I do not ask for sample dashboards. I ask for the story, and then I test it.
Strong sales leaders will interview you hard. They will ask about the motion, the team, and how much room you will give them. Here is what great GTM candidates look for.
I would not open a VP search to build the motion. That is a different job.
If the sale does not repeat yet, or you are not sure the team is ready to be led, I would start with fractional help. Hannah at SALT works as a fractional Head of Sales for B2B SaaS startups. She helps founders move past founder-led sales, and she steps into live deals herself. You can find her on my partners page.
For senior roles and first department hires, Premium Search is usually the right fit, since it starts with a strategic role definition session. You can compare the search options, fees, and the guarantee, or start with a single search.
You work with me, Kim Talarczyk, on every search.
There's no hand-off to a junior recruiter or an account team. I spent about 20 years in operations, management, and agency work, and five years inside B2B SaaS growth. I've worked inside B2B SaaS companies through growth phases, stalls, and the run-up to an exit, so I understand what founders and GTM leaders are carrying when they need their next hire.
Often, for a while. With a small team, a leader who still runs some deals stays close to the buyer and keeps the reps' respect. If most of the job is still closing, though, you are hiring a player-coach, and the title and the comp plan should say so.
Ask what problem they are trying to solve. A VP needs a motion that works and sellers to lead. If the ask is a forecast they can trust or a plan to add sellers to a sale that already repeats, a VP may be right. If revenue is behind and you are still the one closing, a VP will not fix that. Hire an AE first, or bring in a fractional sales leader to build the motion.
Look at the team before the number. In the first few months the forecast should get more honest, reps should be getting coached by someone other than you, and the next hires should be planned. Judge revenue once a full sales cycle has run with the team they shaped.
Tell me where things stand, and I'll reply within one business day.
Book a free consultationStill need a seller first? See how to hire your first AE. If the forecast and the CRM are the real problem, see how to hire a RevOps lead. For the order I usually see, read the first 5 GTM hires.
Helping B2B SaaS founders and GTM leaders hire the sales, marketing, and RevOps people who move growth forward.
