CROs are often blamed for missed targets, but the root cause is often a flawed hiring plan from the CEO. Rushing to hire reps without adequate ramp time leads to B-player hires, immense pressure from managers, a toxic "horse whipping" culture, and ultimately, missed numbers.

When a company consistently misses sales goals, the root cause may not be the sales strategy but a failure in the hiring pipeline. A high employee churn rate combined with an inefficient screening process starves the sales team of the necessary manpower to hit its targets.

Businesses invest heavily in recruiting top talent but then micromanage them, preventing them from using their full cognitive abilities. This creates a transactional environment where employees don't contribute their best ideas, leaving significant value unrealized.

Firms invest heavily in sourcing candidates but fail at onboarding. The crucial first 90 days, when an executive is most vulnerable, are often neglected, treating the hire as a 'done deal' instead of the beginning of a critical integration phase.

A powerful demand signal is when a company repeatedly tries to hire a person for a specific role but fails due to high turnover or an inability to get the job done. This indicates they are willing to spend significant money on the problem and that the human-based solution is flawed, creating a perfect entry point for software.

Businesses often get bogged down by tactical feature requests, especially commitments for a single customer. This consumes precious capacity that should be allocated to strategic initiatives, allowing competitors with a clear vision to gain an advantage.

Founders often chase executives from successful scaled companies. However, these execs can fail because their experience makes them overly critical and resistant to the painful, hands-on work required at an early stage. The right hire is often someone a few layers down from the star executive.

Hiring someone with a prestigious background for a role your startup isn't ready for is a common mistake. These hires often need structure that doesn't exist, leading to their underutilization and boredom. It's like using a "jackhammer when all we needed was a sturdy hammer."

Hiring external executives is risky because the best talent is rarely looking for a job. A better strategy is to promote hungry internal candidates, even if they seem underqualified, and support them with rented expertise from executive coaches and advisors.