Jason M. Lemkin argues that the biggest early-stage startup mistake is hiring salespeople (or a VP of Sales) before founders have proven they can acquire initial customers themselves. He recommends founders personally secure the first ~10–30 customers; only once a small "engine" is working is it useful to bring in sales leadership to scale and refine the process.
So. So I'll keep it short, but the biggest mistake folks make when it's early is they hire salespeople to get them sales. That. That's the biggest mistake. If, as a founder, you can't find a way to get customers, at least 10 customers, 15, 20. In the early days, yourself. Let's go back in time. And I've written. I've written probably about this a thousand times, but maybe obliquely, a VP of sales, all she or he will do is improve what works a little bit. If you don't have the tiniest engine going, if you're. If you haven't closed 10 customers, 20 customers, 30 customers, you, you're. I know. We're gonna talk about frills. Frills up. You are not ready for a VP of sales. What a VP of sales does is come in and hire more good people. Closes, leads faster. Closes, leads better. Adds urgency to your sales process. Ask LinkedIn. Linked it in. Okay. It ain't gonna work. It ain't. Who asked for a million when you've only asked for 100k? If you expect someone you found out of again off the ether to go get you 10 customers, when as a founder, you can't get the first 10, it's.
