Contingency vs retained search for early sales hires at Seed-stage startups

Contingency: no fee until start. Retained: you pay a portion up front whether or not the search closes on your timeline. At Seed, that retainer competes directly with product runway and sales tools budget you need to actually onboard the AE you're hiring.

Traditional contingency shops still price at 25 to 30%. Startup-focused contingency negotiated 20–33% of first-year base (20% floor) keeps spend forecastable and aligns incentive: the recruiter only wins when you get a seller who starts and ramps.

Use retained for a VP Sales or CRO search after your founding AE has proven the motion, for board-driven confidential leadership replacements, or for roles so specialized that you need exclusive dedicated capacity over months.

Do not default to retained for your first or second AE, your founding SDR, or any sales IC seat. Those seats are contingency-native when you have a clear job description, a defined sales motion, and an interview loop that includes a mock call exercise.

Ask for pay-on-start, weekly pipeline updates, and a written replacement window. A 90-day replacement guarantee is a concrete alignment mechanism that contingency firms can offer, and that founders hiring their first AE should demand.

For sales seats specifically, require that candidates are vetted through structured pre-screens and a live mock cold call before they hit your calendar. If a firm cannot describe its quality gate, it's a résumé forwarding service with a high headline fee.