Founders often think their first sales hire should be a high-powered VP of Sales. But here’s the truth: without a clear process, no sales leader — no matter how senior — can perform miracles. If you don’t know what’s working, who to target, or how to talk about your product, you’re not ready for a VP. You’re ready for a repeatable sales process.
Why This Happens
Most founders are builders, not sellers. That’s normal. But when sales stall or plateau, panic sets in. The instinct is to “bring in a closer.” So you post a job for a senior sales leader — hoping they’ll bring the playbook and the pipeline.
Here’s the problem: in early-stage companies, there is no playbook yet.
Hiring a VP too early means paying executive-level comp to someone who’ll spend the first 6 months doing founder-led tasks: identifying ICPs, cold emailing, tweaking messaging, and building first-touch campaigns.
What You Need First
Before bringing on leadership, you need clarity around:
- Who your ideal customer is (and why they buy)
- What messaging actually lands in outbound
- How long your sales cycle is
- What your win rate looks like
- What objections come up most — and how to handle them
- Where deals are getting stuck
That means running experiments, having 50+ customer conversations, and documenting the early signals. It means building a process, not just hiring a person.
What a VP of Sales Should Walk Into
A VP of Sales should inherit:
- A defined pipeline
- Messaging that’s been tested and iterated
- A CRM with real data
- A clear understanding of where the founder is hitting limits
- Early proof of product-market fit
When they have this foundation, a VP can do what they’re best at: building and scaling a team, refining the process, and driving predictable growth.
So What Should You Do Instead?
If you’re pre-revenue or early traction:
- Run founder-led sales for longer than feels comfortable.
- Use contractors or fractional sales pros to test your messaging and validate your ICP.
- Document everything that works — and what doesn’t.
Then, when you’re ready to scale what’s already working, that’s the time to bring in a VP. Not before.