Ian Illig’s Post

I’ve been the first sales hire 2x. Here are 4 things i've learned: 1. Impact from Day One: In an early-stage startup, every single employee plays a crucial role in shaping the company's direction and success. In Sales, your contributions will directly impact the company's growth trajectory, making your work feel incredibly meaningful and rewarding. 2. Unmatched Learning Experience: A startup environment means wearing multiple hats and being exposed to various aspects of the business. You'll not only hone your sales skills but also gain invaluable insights into product, marketing, and overall business operations. 3. Rapid Career Progression: In a startup, ton of opportunities for growth and advancement. With hard work, dedication, and a hunger for learning, you can quickly climb the ranks and take on leadership roles. 4. Ownership and Autonomy: Unlike larger companies, where processes are rigid and have red tape, you have more autonomy and freedom to execute ideas. You'll be able to take ownership of your projects, experiment with new ideas, and make decisions that directly impact your success. What do you think the cons are? Comment below 👇

Stop hiring salespeople because you “like” them. Last week I spoke with a first-time sales manager at a $450M health tech startup. She was starting her first hiring-cycle as the decision maker and didn’t know where to start. Unfortunately, the leadership team didn't give her a lot of help when it comes to hiring…. So, I dug into the last 4 sales hires the company made: - 1 was great - 2 were middle of the pack - 1 is no longer with the company Not a great success rate. I learned that their org was completely improvising the interview process, didn’t have a process, and wasn’t sure what they were actually testing for. This is a recipe for disaster. You ultimately hire people who went to a similar school, love the same sports team, have a hobby in common, or, worst of all, someone "you want to have a beer with”. This is dangerous. Here's a better way: Agree on the must-haves, nice-to-haves, and what you are trying to test for. Then build a rubric and assume that people haven’t done enough interviewing to know what great looks like. That's the trick. If you want the rubric and structure I’ve used to hire over 60+ people, like this post and comment RUBRIC below.

Hiring the right person is really hard. According to leadership IQ and Thomas International, 60% - 80% of new hires don’t make it. This is compounded when the hire is the founding sales hire. 92% of of the time, those don't make it 12 months. The new hire ends up fired or quitting, has a sour taste in their mouth, and literally no one wins. Startups need to be better at understand the wife variety of skills that is required from a founding sales hire: GTM Strategy Find PMF Create Messaging Build decks Execute Omni-Channel outbound Close new business Manage Customer service Solve for world hunger..... Like, it's wild to expect one single person to execute on all of this at a high level. Let's be better!

🌟 Excited to share my latest blog on hiring GTM professionals! In today's dynamic market, the demand for top-tier GTM talent is high. As businesses navigate rapid digital transformations and evolving consumer behaviors, having the right expertise to craft and execute effective go-to-market strategies is paramount. Whether you're a startup scaling or an established enterprise looking to stay ahead, hiring the right GTM professionals can make all the difference. Check out my blog to learn more 👇🏻

You know what sucks? Hiring your first sales person. It's scary. It's confusing. You never know if you are ready. You never know if it is too late. You can't just go off of fit. You can't go just off of experience. Here are a couple of questions to ask before you hire: - Are my expectations reasonable? - If I boiled it down to 2-3 key activities, what do I need from them? - Have I spent the time necessary to prepare for this role so they have what they need? - Do I have an onboarding plan in place that will set them up for success? Thinking about hiring? The Revenue Rocket team put together a Sales Onboarding playbook that will make your life 1000% easier. Comment "hit me" below and we will DM you the link.

🎯 🚀 At Vollardian, we’ve spotted a trend of fast-scaling startups often entertaining the idea of hiring an “ex-[insert big tech name]” sales leader, thinking this will solve all their sales challenges 🤔 But there's a smarter way! Discover how to build a strong, value-aligned sales team that grows with you sustainably and avoids the pitfalls of high-profile hires. ✨ Scale your sales operations the right way with us! 👉 Read more here: https://buff.ly/3x76ln3

What The Hell Are We Doing? Shocking tidbits from the field. Spending 200+% of Sales & Marketing for every Net New ARR Dollar Believing you'll recruit Unicorn candidates from Job posts Requiring twelve-plus year Sales Director candidates to perform a discovery call in an interview panel Not coaching and mentoring employees who deliver less than 20% of plan/ productivity and/or not replacing them. Spending exorbitant marketing dollars chasing ecosystem partners at user conferences when your solution needs to be integrated and partner-approved in their marketplace, ........hoping scanned leads will buy. Fabricating Use Case(s) that don't exist. Seriously... Boards and CEOs must manage the ships and hire better to accelerate your efficient, profitable growth and expected return.

Beware, there are 3 distinct types of companies hiring for sales right now: 1. (10%)Pre-PMF: A new-ish company where only the founders have sold before. Looking for their first sales hire(s). Generally a very desirable opportunity, though does carry some risk of course. Freshly funded, high equity stake, paint on a blank canvas. 2. (10%) PMF: Hypergrowth companies that have nailed their product and GTM strategy, just need to scale as fast as humanly possible. This is the most desirable opportunity (think Rippling, OpenAI, etc) but your equity upside is limited as these companies already worth Billions. 3. (80%) Post-Failed-PMF: Companies that already know they DONT have PMF, multiple years of failed sales leaders + reps, desperately running out of cash, flat/no revenue growth, mediocre product, poor marketing, trying to sucker salespeople into saving their dying business. I refuse to recruit for anyone in Door 3. That's why our Talent marketplace / # of open roles grows much slower than many other job boards or recruiting firms. Why we have fewer open roles and a much lower match %. Because I will only place Members of our community at companies in Door 1 or Door 2. Play long term games, win long term prizes. 🫡 And be careful out there, lots of fools gold in the market.

I'm all for making great hires early, but Founder-led wins (closing lots of deals) need to happen first. When Founders ask me if they should be hiring, I recommend considering: - Clarity on why they are hiring: Are you hiring because it has been hard to find product-market fit, or because you have found some wins and are ready to scale? - If you are ready, do you know who the ideal candidate is? How do you know this? - Based on your current needs, what key attributes will you test for to make the right hire? https://lnkd.in/g9HzDKtp

The # 1 issue faced by my clients is hiring sales talent. Hiring great salespeople is super hard. You need a very strong instinct for this. This is honed over years and years. Here is the structure I implement for my Clients: • Build a Customized Job Description that captures the Client’s DNA. • Use LI & Social Media to attract suitable candidates. • Conduct a 2–Step Interview & Screening Process. • Set up a robust Incentive and Compensation Structure that enables the salesperson to keep pushing boundaries. • Execute a 30-day granular Onboarding Plan that reduces the gestation period. I just hired and onboarded 4 New Salespeople on 2 different Continents for a LogTech Startup. If you are looking to set up your sales team, you can DM me on Linkedin.