Before hiring a VP of Sales or other key role from outside, Jason M. Lemkin says to develop internal candidates first. External hires can waste time and demoralize existing leaders if they're a poor fit. Evaluate and develop people already at your company in parallel to any outside search.
Step 5 look for in house solutions. So as I've been in this business longer and longer, you know, it certainly there is a mindset for a startup or a founder or CEO to just make the hire, right? Like hey, you may not have the perfect candidate, you may not have anyone that you would hire on your best day, but like just make the hire and hire fast, fire fast, et cetera, et cetera. But reality is that can actually cause, you know, a lot of harm and damage to the company. The least of which is you're going to potentially commit a year to somebody that shouldn't be your VP of sales. But you can also take a director of sales or head of sales in the company that maybe is doing great work for you. Maybe you don't think they are the future of sales leadership in your company. Maybe you're not sure if they can become a VP of sales yet. But the reality is if you have, if you have something working, and the reality is if you're going to hire a VP of sales, something probably is working, you've found some formula, some product market fit, some growth to justify making that higher. Look long and hard at that internal candidate and say, is that a better person to lead us in the short term then make a hire out of expediency? Make a hire that's a stretch, a stretch fit for you. And I would pursue that track in parallel to everything else you do. And I think it's often bringing in a VP of sales that's a non fit topping your head of sales. Maybe your founding head of sales or director of sales often ends up having negative impact on the company. So.
