Wrong hire = $200K gone and 18 months lost. Right hire = the engine that gets you to Series A.
I've been that hire. Here's how to get it right.
It's not lack of budget. It's not lack of candidates. It's that the wrong call is catastrophic — and most founders don't know how to tell the difference.
Base salary, OTE, equity, benefits, recruiter fees. A bad VP of Sales hire burns six figures before they close a single deal.
6 months to realize it's wrong. 3 months to exit them. 6 months to find the right person. Your competitors didn't stand still.
A sales leader who can't sell, or a rep with no playbook — either way you miss your number and reset investor trust.
"I was the first sales hire at Whip Around — one of four people on the founding team. Zero US presence. Zero revenue. I built the sales function from scratch and stayed through a $100M acquisition. I know exactly what that first hire needs to look like because I was that person."
— Michael Flournoy, Founder, GSD Associates
Most founders get this wrong. They hire a VP when they need a rep, or a rep when they need a leader. Here's how to tell which one you actually need right now.
A senior individual contributor who can close deals without a manager. They're a hunter, not a builder — but the right one will help you prove the model.
Hire a Founding AE when:
Watch out for:
A sales leader who builds teams and systems. The wrong VP at the wrong time is your most expensive mistake. But the right one at the right moment changes everything.
Hire a VP of Sales when:
Watch out for:
Still not sure which one you need?
In 30 minutes I can tell you exactly which hire to make, what to pay them, and what the first 90 days should look like.
Book the Free Hiring Assessment →Most founders hand a new sales hire a Notion doc and call it onboarding. That's how you lose $200K in six months. Here's what a real handoff looks like.
This is what I build before the hire starts.
Not after they've been there 3 months and you're wondering why nothing is working.
Build Your Sales-Ready Package →This isn't consulting from a distance. I'm embedded in your process until the hire is ramped and producing.
We map your current revenue, sales motion, and bandwidth. I tell you whether you need an AE or a VP, what to pay them, what success looks like at 90 days, and where most founders go wrong at your stage. No ambiguity.
I write the job description, define the scorecard (what skills actually matter vs. what sounds good), and build the interview process. Most founders interview for the wrong things. We fix that before the first call goes out.
I review your top candidates and flag the landmines — the "big company VP" who's never built from zero, the AE whose numbers look great but came from a 200-person support team. I join final-round calls on request.
30/60/90 plan. Talk tracks. Objection bank. Pipeline review rhythm. CRM setup. Comp structure. Everything they need to ramp without burning three months trying to figure out what they're supposed to be doing.
I stay embedded for the first 90 days. Weekly pipeline reviews. Deal coaching. Early-signal checks at 30 and 60 days so you know whether you hired right before you've lost another six months finding out the hard way.
One bad sales hire runs $200K+ and 18 months. Three months of me working alongside you costs a fraction of that — and de-risks everything.
Starter
Hiring audit + decision framework. Best if you're 6–12 months out from the hire and need a clear roadmap now.
Growth
Full hire support from decision through Day 1. Best if you're actively recruiting now.
Full Embedded
End-to-end support from decision through first 90 days ramped. Best for high-stakes first hires with board visibility.
All engagements are month-to-month. No long-term contracts. Typically 3–5 months total.
In 30 minutes I'll tell you exactly who to hire, what to pay them, and how to onboard them. Free assessment.
No pitch. No slide deck. Just the answer.
Book the Free Hiring Assessment30-minute call · No commitment · Calendly link