Startup CXO

Chapter 55Hiring the Right People

In the beginning, as you're discovering more about your product and solution, you'll go on calls with the CEO and others at your company and eventually, you'll do that yourself. Once you validate your model, you might think that you're ready to hire, but I would set a reasonable stretch goal in the beginning, like 25 customers using the product within three months, or even ten customers. You are the first salesperson, of course, and you won't be able to hire additional people until you really understand your products and customers. So, while you might believe that you can hire a salesperson quickly, I would err on caution and make sure you're very clear on your product, solution, competitive alternatives, pricing, and customer benefits before hiring your first salesperson.

Once you hit that target, you'll be ready to hire salespeople to help you, but who do you hire, and how do you figure out if they will be good at sales, especially if you're in a new market? You might think that hiring someone fresh out of college is the way to go, that a young person will grow with the business. Certainly, there are a lot of talented people with college degrees from first‐rate universities, and I appreciate what it takes to get into a highly competitive university, the intelligence and work ethic required. But for a startup, it's more important to find people who understand the nuance of selling, who can listen, who can understand other people, and who can ...