Excel Data exemplifies a modern global startup structure. With three of four co-founders based in India, they built their core tech team there to leverage the big data talent pool. Meanwhile, the CEO relocated to the Bay Area to establish the go-to-market and sales functions, capitalizing on both regions' strengths.

For its $5k average deal size, SkillVari found a direct US sales model unviable, as travel costs could erase profits. Instead, they built a network of 10 regional resellers, incentivized with commissions up to 20%, to provide local, hands-on demos and support.

On a $2M ARR, Dresma’s largest customer pays $500,000 annually, representing 25% of their total revenue. This validates that a pure usage-based pricing model, without seat-based or feature-gated upsells, can successfully land and expand large enterprise accounts, demonstrating a clear path to significant customer lifetime value.

A new generation of AI application companies are being run with extreme leanness and efficiency. They are achieving revenue-per-employee figures between $500K and $5M, dwarfing the public software company average of ~$400K and signaling a fundamental shift in scalable operating models.

Bali structures its AE compensation with a 4:1 ratio of new ARR to on-target earnings. AEs with a quota of about $1M in new ARR can earn $250k ($75-100k base + $150k commission). This model ensures the sales function is a profitable growth engine for the bootstrapped company.

Jason Lemkin's company, SaaStr, transitioned from a go-to-market team of roughly 10 humans to just 1.2 humans managing 20 AI agents. This new, AI-driven team is achieving the same level of business performance as the previous all-human team, demonstrating a viable new model for sales organizations.

For its first three years, Read AI closed enterprise deals without salespeople. When IT departments inquired due to massive bottom-up adoption, the company provided self-service admin tools and automated volume discounts, often avoiding sales calls entirely.

Fueled by massive inbound demand, some AI B2B companies scale to $50M ARR with sales teams of five or fewer. This represents a 20x reduction in sales headcount compared to the traditional SaaS playbook, which would require over 100 reps to achieve the same revenue milestone.

Brands are shifting to a new model: one senior US-based leader for strategy, supported by one or two offshore team members for execution. This structure leverages the US lead in marketing strategy while efficiently scaling operations and keeping headcount costs low.