someoneinsales

Director of Sales

What should a first sales hire get for Base + Variable?

What should the base pay be for a first sales hire? What should overall OTE be and the split?

Context: I was approached by a CEO of a new start up (1 paying customer) in a crowded security space. He is looking for someone to come onboard to build their sales process, team, best practices, plans etc. Head of Sales type role with the expectation to sell for the first 6 months then hire a team to expand.

What is the market value for a first sales hire?

Space is Cloud Security

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14 comments

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

idk what the market value is but you could check RepVue but here are my thoughts about a situation like this:

1. not quota. its insane to think you can have a number you are responsible when there is only 1 customer.
2. The comp should be 100% base and make that base really aggressive. no way i am risking my income on a product that doesnt have PMF yet. this can change over time.
3. also the fact that the founder/CEO has only sold 1 deal is a HUGE red flag. if you are in the early days like this, you are selling on a vision mostly. if the founder cant do that, then you will struggle.

someoneinsales

Tycoon

Director of Sales

All great points. Totally understand what I would be walking into. He is going for his seed round right now for about $5M.

Lots of ifs, but if he is willing to pay me a shit ton of equity, a base that I can live off knowing comish will be slow and ability to build the sales, might be a good risk

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah its of course totally up to you. i would take a really high base and equity that is respectable haha.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Don't join a company with 1 customer in a crowded market

someoneinsales

Tycoon

Director of Sales

I’ve done it in the past. Made a lot of money. They have an open source solution to up sell enterprise sales. Their 1 paying customer is Dish Networks and it’s over $500K

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

400k ote, 50/50 split, 10% commission (assuming SaaS) and a shit load of equity

someoneinsales

Tycoon

Director of Sales

That is what I was thinking. With starting equity negotiations at 5%

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

But honestly in this economic climate I still wouldn't go to a company at this stage.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I mean 🤷‍♀️

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

$300k OTE minimum - but don’t expect to find someone who’s “done it before” for this type of role on that budget. This role should be for an up and comer - find a middle manager somewhere who’s thirsty to “build it themselves” to prove all their previous shitty bosses wrong. That’s the person who crushes what your CEO is looking for.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

What @TennisandSalesand @braintanksaid seem right.

sisepuede

Member

Area Director

Just ask yourself, are they paying you to sell or to build out the sales process?

A solid company can delineate such and will/should compensate you for both.

EndTheFed

Valued Contributor

Sales Development Representative

lol Can i get Hired for this offer?

Kmoney

Valued Contributor

Account Exec

You said it yourself, the market is crowded. And your expectations are to sell within the first 6 months.

The seed is promising but it’s hard to say not knowing what company and what solution.

I’d ask for STRONG base with ability to renegotiate after 1 year. Give yourself a smaller commission rate.

OTE is made up and the points don’t matter when it’s a startup and a singular customer.

If the company grows and product sells, you win. If it doesn’t, you still win.

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someoneinsales

What should a first sales hire get for Base + Variable?

14 comments

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