Very helpful. Examples like this "Napkin Math: usually, if you’re planning to hire 1 employee/mo, it’s worth it to hire a recruiter in-house." that end up helping make decisions are priceless. Not being scared to give a guidance like that instead of 'it depends' - it always depends, but here's a general rule of thumb.
I do have many specific thoughts but like all things in startups...there's always exceptions! :) Plus, size of company and who you have on the team matters. At Pardot, we outsourced IT until we had 100+ employees because we had a great firm and no one in-house to do it. I know another early stage company doing it in-house because they have someone over-qualified to do it (who is working on other things too).
I love to hear your thoughts on fractional, which I think is starting to fill a huge need for startups who need the high level strategic expertise, but can't afford the big paycheck. What I love about working fractionally is that I am truly a part of the teams I build with for as long as they need me, and we do the work together. It's a much more tactical role than a consultant, and fills a real need.
From what I've seen, the effectiveness of a fractional role can vary wildly. Depends on the person, what the startup needs are, and how tactical vs high level the fractional hire is. Some are amazing, some are a resource-drain. I think if the founder has worked with the fractional exec previously, it can be especially good. Sounds like you're one of the good ones and it's worked out really well for both sides!
I haven't seen it work well. I think you're better off hiring some smart, hungry folks early in their sales career (or interns even). Low base, high commission. Let them test a bunch of different messaging, strategies, customer profiles, etc.
But that only works AFTER the founder has sold the first customers. If the founder can't sell the product, it's not a matter of "scaling up GTM," there's more learning/iterating to be done!
Very helpful. Examples like this "Napkin Math: usually, if you’re planning to hire 1 employee/mo, it’s worth it to hire a recruiter in-house." that end up helping make decisions are priceless. Not being scared to give a guidance like that instead of 'it depends' - it always depends, but here's a general rule of thumb.
I do have many specific thoughts but like all things in startups...there's always exceptions! :) Plus, size of company and who you have on the team matters. At Pardot, we outsourced IT until we had 100+ employees because we had a great firm and no one in-house to do it. I know another early stage company doing it in-house because they have someone over-qualified to do it (who is working on other things too).
I love to hear your thoughts on fractional, which I think is starting to fill a huge need for startups who need the high level strategic expertise, but can't afford the big paycheck. What I love about working fractionally is that I am truly a part of the teams I build with for as long as they need me, and we do the work together. It's a much more tactical role than a consultant, and fills a real need.
From what I've seen, the effectiveness of a fractional role can vary wildly. Depends on the person, what the startup needs are, and how tactical vs high level the fractional hire is. Some are amazing, some are a resource-drain. I think if the founder has worked with the fractional exec previously, it can be especially good. Sounds like you're one of the good ones and it's worked out really well for both sides!
Question - how about outsourcing for lead generation?
I haven't seen it work well. I think you're better off hiring some smart, hungry folks early in their sales career (or interns even). Low base, high commission. Let them test a bunch of different messaging, strategies, customer profiles, etc.
But that only works AFTER the founder has sold the first customers. If the founder can't sell the product, it's not a matter of "scaling up GTM," there's more learning/iterating to be done!
VERY helpful!! Thank you. That's the route we are taking.