Snowflake hired its first salesperson pre-revenue not to sell, but to get the product into customers' hands to break it. This person acted as a de facto product manager, gathering critical feedback that led to a core architectural change, proving the value of a GTM hire before product-market fit.
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Embed engineers directly with customers to hear feedback and ship solutions, often on the same day. This radical structure eliminates layers of communication (Product Managers, Customer Success) and scales the 'founder energy' of talking to users and immediately building what they need.
Contrary to the belief that deep-tech startups should be purely technical, ElevenLabs prioritized distribution early. Their first 10 hires included 3 people focused on go-to-market and growth, enabling both self-serve and sales-led motions from the start alongside foundational research.
Vercel COO Jean Grosser's litmus test for a great salesperson is that engineers shouldn't be able to tell they aren't a PM for at least 10 minutes. This requires deep product knowledge, enabling sales to act as an R&D function by translating customer feedback into valuable product signals.
In the pre-product-market fit stage (the first ~20 deals), the sales leader's primary role is not just closing revenue, but acting as a product manager. They must be in every meeting to gather objections, find pockets of value, and translate raw market feedback into actionable insights for the engineering team.
At the $1-10M ARR stage, avoid junior reps or VPs from large companies. The ideal first hire can "cosplay a founder"—they sell the vision, craft creative deals, and build trust without a playbook. Consider former founders or deep product experts, even with no formal sales experience.
A pre-product CRO conducts thousands of market conversations to validate demand and guide the product roadmap. This de-risks development by ensuring you build a product that customers will actually buy, a task more suited to a sales expert than a founder.
Don't expect the parent company's sales force to sell your nascent product. Their focus on core business means they will ignore emerging tech. An internal incubator must have its own dedicated go-to-market team to find new personas and develop sales plays before a handoff.
To launch new products and compete with agile startups, embed a small "incubation seller" team directly within the technology organization. This model ensures tight alignment between product, engineering, and the first revenue-generating efforts, mirroring the cross-functional approach of an early-stage company.
