Jason Lemkin, founder of SaaStr, emphasized the importance of recruiting and managing a small sales team as the key step to becoming a great VP of Sales. In a recent post, Lemkin advised against jumping directly from being a top individual sales rep to a VP role without prior team-building experience. He highlighted that 95 times out of 100, this leap leads to failure, underscoring the need to build a team first before taking on VP responsibilities.
Lemkin explained that many CEOs make the mistake of hiring the #1 sales rep from a hot startup as their VP of Sales, hoping to capitalize on their selling skills. However, he warned that being a great seller does not equate to knowing how to recruit and build a team, which constitutes about half of a VP of Sales' job. He also cautioned against promoting sales directors who have not recruited their own teams directly to VP roles, as this often results in failure.
The advice reflects a broader understanding of sales leadership challenges in startups and SaaS companies. Recruiting and managing a team requires different skills than individual selling, and Lemkin’s guidance aligns with best practices in sales leadership development. His stance serves as a corrective to common hiring missteps that can undermine sales organizations, reinforcing the need for proven team-building experience before assuming VP-level sales roles.
Lemkin’s post on SaaStr was published on October 7, 2026, and included a tweet summarizing his key point: CEOs should never hire a VP of Sales who hasn’t successfully recruited at least two to three reps hitting quota. This guidance offers a concrete benchmark for startups aiming to build effective sales leadership.