When’s the Right Time to Hire a VP of Sales?

SalesCrunch sat down with Steve Blank, the “father of customer development,” and asked him when a startup should hire a VP of sales. Here’s a look at Steve’s advice:

A Founding Member Needs to Make the First Sale

Steve says that if a founding member of the startup doesn’t make the first few sales, the company runs the risk of becoming dependent on a new hire who may or may not “get it.” The goal is to find and create a functional, repeatable sales model, and then look for external help.

It May Not Be Who You Think

In Steve’s experience, it’s not the VP of sales from another, bigger company that makes the best one for startups, but rather something more along the lines of a Regional Manager…

“…who’s smart, who’s still aggressive who hasn’t been ruined by filling out the 400 pages of budget and plans at IBM or Microsoft or somewhere else, who still wants to nail it.”

For a closer look at finding the perfect sales process, and a video of SalesCrunch’s interview, check out the full story.