Sales hiring for VC-backed startups
Sales hiring after a Series A raise
By Arshnoor Kohli, Founder, Vektor
Last updated
Published · 7 min read
Direct answer
After Series A, prioritize sellers who can run your motion, not a VP who will rebuild it from scratch. Deepen founding AE capacity, add SDRs only when outbound is repeatable, and delay Head of Sales until you need a coach for a small team. Use the first 90 days post-raise for fills that protect pipeline, not org charts.
What to hire in the first 90 days after Series A: founding AE depth, SDR timing, and why a VP Sales too early is expensive.
Series A cash creates pressure to look like a sales org. Boards ask for a Head of Sales. Founders post VP roles. The companies that actually hit the next round usually hire more AEs who can sell the current motion first.
In the first 90 days, map seats to bottlenecks. If founders still close most revenue, hire another founding-caliber AE. If the AE is buried in prospecting, hire SDR support. If you already have three to five sellers with inconsistent coaching, then a Head of Sales starts to make sense.
Avoid the classic miss: a senior sales leader who needs six months of enablement, ops, and a team that does not exist yet. At Series A, you still need people who pick up the phone.
Fee and timeline math matter when burn is watched. Contingency with pay-on-start keeps cash aligned. Retained search is rarely the first tool for AE seats at this stage. See the contingency vs retained spoke and Pricing on the homepage.
If you are mid-raise or just closed, book a call. We can sequence AE, SDR, and leadership seats against your board plan without inventing a fake sales org.
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