Jason M. Lemkin argues startups should not assume their first VP must be a VP of Sales. Instead, hire any exceptional VP early (marketing, customer success, product) once there is some revenue engine; modest improvements (e.g., 50% more qualified leads, small retention/upsell gains) can more than pay for such hires and accelerate growth.
I know when you finally hit an inflection point. A million in revenue, 2 million, half a million, everyone gets excited about hiring that magical VP of sales. Someone that's going to figure it all out for you because you don't really know sales and she's going to drive you to the next level. And if you can find her, hire her. Of course, that VP of sales you love. But bear in mind many of the top revenue candidates these days are waiting a little longer. Why not join at 5 million instead of 1 million or 10 million instead of 3 million if you can get the same equity and more cash? There's just so many startups. So assuming your first VP will be your VP of sales will hold you back instead. Instead, hire any great VP you can hire once you have a bit of an engine. For example, you can hire your head of marketing really early, even at say 20k in MRR. Why? Well, imagine you've got 40 qualified leads a month as it is, and she just gets you to 60. Not 10x, not 400, just 50% more qualified leads. And let's say each of those Leads is worth $10,000, $5,000. She'll more than pay for herself. Even if those extra 20 leads are only worth $1,000 each, that's $20,000 a month in incremental revenue. So you really can't lose very early with demand. Jan. Same with customer success. Let's say you can't find that head of sales, but you find this amazing head of customer success and you're doing a million in revenue. And let's say by driving NPS up and going out and meeting with those customers, she turns that 1 million into an extra just 100,000, 200,000. She gets that little bit of extra upsell and retention by going there again, more than paid for themselves or gets more viral referrals. Your VP of customer success will also be accretive at a million or even less. Same with product. As soon as your product gets confusing, as soon as you have 100 enterprise or bigger customers, maybe even 50, your product gets so confusing. What if someone could deal with the customers and manage that product complexity from day one? You'll close that extra customer and it'll more than pay for itself. So hire any great VP when you find them. Don't just wait for the VP of sales.
