This is a recorded conversation (YouTube) featuring Jason M. Lemkin and others about hiring and the role of a VP of Sales in scaling SaaS companies. Main claims in this excerpt: a VP of Sales does not magically create growth from nothing; their job is to sustain and accelerate existing growth (e.g., take working early sales motion and improve win rates, deal size, and sales cycles); founder-led sales typically breaks as the company scales (the panel suggests founder-led sales will break somewhere between ~$4M and $12M ARR without a VP); the difference between growing ~60% versus ~80–100% annually compounds significantly over years. The speakers caution founders against seeking a "magician" VP who will instantly transform a low-growth business.
Chapters
If your VP doesn't work out in.
Six months, you could be behind setback for years.
For years.
For lose half your team if they, if they liked her. Right? Yeah.
And so. But yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you.
That's great advice though because I think people are looking for tactics, right. On how to hire the right vp. I know that's probably, I don't know if you break down your web traffic, but I bet there's a big, big chunk of that pie chart that's going for how to hire a VP on Saster. Right? Reading all that content, still true.
It's evolved over the years, but it is still true that like the number.
One question founders of just as they hit traction is how the hell do.
I find this magical VP of Sales? Right. That's part of the fun of the early days of Sasser that you'll remember.
People understand this better than they did.
Back then when it really seemed like almost a sorcerer type position. But yeah, it's still number one. It's still the number one angst and.
Founders fewer founders than in the old days.
But founders continue to make the mistake that they think a VP of Sales is going to solve their problems. Right.
What a VP of Sales is going to do is let you continue your growth and tilt it. Right. But they're not.
Repeat that one more time.
Yes, a VP of Sales is going.
To do one or both things. Like they're going to let you, if.
You'Re growing very quickly, they're going to.
Let you maintain that growth because founder led sales is always going to break.
Down after two A's or three or four AES.
So if you don't hire a VP.
Of sales, even if you're growing like.
A rocket, your growth will always plateau.
Somewhere between 4 and 12arr. Depending on how quickly you're growing without a VP of sales.
So job one is just feed the engine, hire great. It's really ultimately hiring great people and.
Putting systems and processes in place. If you don't do that and you're.
Growing quickly, you'll fail. If you're growing more moderately, let's make up a number.
60%, right.
What a VP of sales can do is help you grow 80% or 90%.
And SaaS we talked about compounding the.
Difference between growing 60% a year and 80% or 90 or 100.
It's profound.
Over four or five years. Right.
But what a VP of sales can't.
Do is take a company that's not.
Growing and magically create growth.
A VP sales can't take a company.
That'S growing 10% a year and turn it into a unicorn.
Right? That's not her job. That's not their job. Their job is to take what works.
With two AES or even one and a half AES sometimes and make it.
Work with 10 and actually make it work better.
Make it work better by spending every day working on this and every hour.
Driving down sales cycles just by talking.
To customers more and driving deal size.
Up by not being scared to break.
Deals and just basic stuff, but not.
To create sales out of an environment.
With no product market fit or leads. Right?
And that's that. That's, that's still most founders aren't looking.
For a VP of sales today too early because they don't feel like they can afford it.
