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When and How to Hire and Build your GTM Team

Chris Gannon · Captivate Talent

Published September 6, 2024
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What you’ll learn

Chris Gannon outlines when a startup is ready to build its go-to-market team. He warns against premature full-time hires, argues for founder-led recruiting, and explains the full cost of a hire.

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All right hi everyone my name is Chris Ganon…

“all right hi everyone my name is Chris Ganon I'm the founder of a company called Captivate Talent um my first little bit of advice today is if you're a founder and you just started take a picture now because that's what you look like at the beginning this is the after six seven years of it you age a little bit quicker than you think um so real quick Captivate Talent we focus on building go to market teams and hiring Executives for startups and over the next 20 minutes we're going to teach you ab”
Watch at 00:04

Coincidentally after the ae's ramp ramp out he quit…

“coincidentally after the ae's ramp ramp out he quit sales plummeted they had no sales because the AE didn't have any help or support the founder got bumped out by the board he's now the CTO and they put a CEO in place because they lost faith in him really really dangerous if you're this small to make a full-time hire that's my business to make full-time hires for you and I'm telling you do not do this do not call me if you're this small figure out how to get a little bit bigger work with some co”
Watch at 03:27

Right we'll summarize it real quick so this is…

“right we'll summarize it real quick so this is Rebecca price she's a head of talent for primary Ventures um her advice is her Founders if they are not spending onethird of their time every week recruiting and On hiring they're going to fail series A and B companies a Founder profit people vision is what they should be doing people being one of those that third of the time so if you're a founder and you're getting ready to hire look at your calendar right now do you have 15 20 hours a week”
Watch at 06:46

Need to be somewhere in the middle you can't…

“need to be somewhere in the middle you can't have it all uh this is the cost of a higher um you know salar is a really funny number because you say you're paying 100K to somebody you're actually as an employer paying closer to like 140 as an employee they're probably getting closer to like 70 so salary is really just a fake number that we throw around um there's a lot of hidden costs in here this is without using somebody like me as a”
Watch at 10:10

Assessing sales readiness

“Conviction in ICP, repeatable sales motion, demand Don’t lose deals due to pitch or capacity constraints Do you have PMF? Do you have EPMF? Step 1: Assess your readiness I’m going to show you EVALUATE SALES PROCESS AND ENVIRONMENT SALES EXPERIENCE AND CAPACITY KEY METRICS”
Read slide 6

An early hiring mistake

“When is The Right Time to Hire? Example Challenge: Technical founder,didn’t know how to put together a GTM strategy. Relied on outside consultant for only “strategy.” Decision: Based on budget hired an AE. Result: AE needed support and hand-holding, was only in it for the paycheck. AE left after 7 months, didn’t feel they had any support, sales didn’t accelerate. Founder was moved to CTO role.”
Read slide 8

The GTM fit check

“GTM Fit Check Founders need to sell (longer than you want to) Your current process should have iterated Are your “customers” just pilots? Is your team AND product ready to expand Prep steps to complete before hiring Readiness Checklist”
Read slide 11

First-sales-hire ramp plan

“Ramp Plan for First Sales Hire Prep Onboarding Results Create a soft landing Use consultants to build infrastructure and enablement Understand your metrics and data Generate demand Time in = Success Build a checklist Block 25-50% of your week to onboard Involve your team and customers Expectations Leader should be ramped in 3-4 months Contributor 1-2 months”
Read slide 16

Understanding the cost of a hire

“Cost of a Hire Standard salary + OTE recommendation 75% Healthcare 10-20% 401k 1-3% Taxes 7.5-10% Software 1-5% Technology 1-3% Location Premium 5-10% T&E 2-5% Cost of time spent to hire 20% 100k Base Salary = 140k in cost”
Read slide 18

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  • When and How to Hire and Build your GTM Team - Slide Deck

About the speaker
Chris Gannon

Chris Gannon

Founder · Captivate Talent

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Chris Gannon is the Founder of Captivate Talent, which helps place top revenue talent at early-to-growth stage SaaS companies. Before starting Captivate Talent, Chris built out recruitment for two high-growth startups as their Head of Talent Acquisition he helped grow one from nationally from 75 to 250 and the other from 275 to 350 globally. Outside of growing a business, Chris is on an ongoing quest to find the world's best pizza.

Company revenue
$1M

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Slide text

Find a passage in the slides and open the original deck.

25 passages

Building an early GTM team

  1. Slide 1Open deck

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 When and How to Hire and Build your GTM Team Chris Gannon Founder, Captivate Talent

  2. Slide 2Open deck

    Over the next 20 minutes I’m going to show you ASSESSING YOUR READINESS Evaluate current sales process and environment Sales experience and capacity PMF, EPMF and other key metrics before hitting go PREPARING FOR THE RIGHT HIRE Minimize ramp time and obstacles Picking the right seniority-level hire Understanding the cost of a good or bad hire FINDING THE PERFECT HIRES TO GROW What to expect from senior hires What to expect from junior hires How to align your interview with your growth stage culture and job

  3. Slide 3Open deck

    500 Early GTM Hires Made From 15,000 Candidates Interviewed

  4. Slide 4Open deck

    $60M+ in Revenue Generated off 2 Hires

  5. Slide 5Open deck

    Why When and How are Important Doing it right can yield huge revenue multiples

Assessing readiness

  1. Slide 6Open deck

    Conviction in ICP, repeatable sales motion, demand Don’t lose deals due to pitch or capacity constraints Do you have PMF? Do you have EPMF? Step 1: Assess your readiness I’m going to show you EVALUATE SALES PROCESS AND ENVIRONMENT SALES EXPERIENCE AND CAPACITY KEY METRICS

  2. Slide 7Open deck

    When is The Right Time to Hire?

Hiring-stage examples

  1. Slide 8Open deck

    When is The Right Time to Hire? Example Challenge: Technical founder,didn’t know how to put together a GTM strategy. Relied on outside consultant for only “strategy.” Decision: Based on budget hired an AE. Result: AE needed support and hand-holding, was only in it for the paycheck. AE left after 7 months, didn’t feel they had any support, sales didn’t accelerate. Founder was moved to CTO role.

  2. Slide 9Open deck

    When is the Right Time to Hire? Example Challenge: Founder was selling on his own for quite a while establishing product market fit, had never sold in SaaS before. Decision: Hire a consultant to sort out the sales operations piece and hire someone who had managed teams before, but was an IC in last role with strong network. Result: Hired VP of Sales who is creating repeatable wins in the market and are getting traction, ~1 year in. Crossed 1M barrier.

  3. Slide 10Open deck

    Example Challenge: Handful of AE’s determined strong product market fit, needed a leader to optimize process. Decision: Hired an ”up and comer” leader that had worked for a bigger company with more resources. Result: Though team performed, they felt like there wasn’t enough separation, came back and hired a true VP of Sales to scale. When is the Right Time to Hire?

  4. Slide 11Open deck

    GTM Fit Check Founders need to sell (longer than you want to) Your current process should have iterated Are your “customers” just pilots? Is your team AND product ready to expand Prep steps to complete before hiring Readiness Checklist

  5. Slide 12Open deck

    GTM Fit Check Prep steps to complete before hiring Readiness Checklist

  6. Slide 13Open deck

    GTM Fit Check Prep steps to complete before hiring Readiness Checklist

Preparing a hire for success

  1. Slide 14Open deck

    How to make sure your new hire is set up for success before you even hire How to make sure you hire the right profile How to understand the cost of a hire and cost of a bad hire Step 2: Prepare to hire I’m going to show you MINIMIZE RAMP UNDERSTANDING TITLES BAD HIRES

  2. Slide 15Open deck

    Time Spent on Recruiting

  3. Slide 16Open deck

    Ramp Plan for First Sales Hire Prep Onboarding Results Create a soft landing Use consultants to build infrastructure and enablement Understand your metrics and data Generate demand Time in = Success Build a checklist Block 25-50% of your week to onboard Involve your team and customers Expectations Leader should be ramped in 3-4 months Contributor 1-2 months

  4. Slide 17Open deck

    Budget and Expectations for Hire VP-level $375-500k OTE Director-level $300-375k OTE IC-level $120-300k OTE A strategic leader that can Scale teams Improve process Strategize through pricing/product improvements A player-coach that can Open doors and help close deals Help build an infrastructure Manage a small team A contributor that can Manage demand/leads Move deals through pipeline Close deals/revenue

  5. Slide 18Open deck

    Cost of a Hire Standard salary + OTE recommendation 75% Healthcare 10-20% 401k 1-3% Taxes 7.5-10% Software 1-5% Technology 1-3% Location Premium 5-10% T&E 2-5% Cost of time spent to hire 20% 100k Base Salary = 140k in cost

  6. Slide 19Open deck

    Cost of a Bad Hire

Finding the right profile

  1. Slide 20Open deck

    What to expect from senior hires What to expect from junior hires How to align your interview with your growth stage culture and job Step 3: Find the Perfect Hire I’m going to show you HIRING VP OR C-LEVEL HIRING DIRECTOR / HEADS / AES STAGE AND CULTURE FIT

  2. Slide 21Open deck

    Leadership Hire Job Spec VS IC Hire Job Spec

  3. Slide 22Open deck

    Matching Hire With Revenue Stage IC Director VP CRO

  4. Slide 23Open deck

    Core Competencies Worksheet Competencies Worksheet Coaching Emotional intelligence Mission orientation Hiring Planning and organization Accountability for others Strategic thinking Accountability for others Planning and organization Conscientiousness Coaching Hiring Emotional Intelligence Coachability Curiosity Grit Resourcefulness Planning and organization Adaptability Learning agility Achievement Emotional intelligence Director or Head of Sales VP of Sales Individual Contributor (AE / SDR)

  5. Slide 24Open deck

    Over the last 20 minutes… I showed you: HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST REVENUE LEADER HIRE Start by assessing your current sales process and environment Do the founders have extensive sales experience? Do you have PMF? Do you have EPMF? MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN MAKING YOUR FIRST REVENUE HIRE Don't hire a junior salesperson if you need help building out your sales strategy Don't hire too senior because you won't get enough support on closing deals Look at candidates experience at a similar size, scale, and budget to yours THE RIGHT TITLE TO HIRE FOR A FIRST SAAS SALES HIRE When to hire a leader When to hire a contributor How to align your interview with your growth stage culture and job

  6. Slide 25Open deck

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 Thank you! [redacted email] Chris Gannon Founder, Captivate Talent