We were at 283% of target. Investors wanted to double down. We got additional hiring budget to expand into new territories — and almost no time to do it well.
of target
two quarters, no pipeline
I hired four experienced salespeople. I failed miserably. This is what took me too long to admit.
How the hiring actually happened
A fast hire under scaling pressure usually follows the same shortcut I took. "Let's hire fast, Rohan." HR and I put together a job description, mostly copied from the web. Shortlisted résumés came in. I hired four experienced salespeople who had sold before, recruited from established companies — while we were a scrappy startup.
I did the onboarding properly, or thought I did. Induction, coaching, training. Several days in the field showing them how to sell our products and how to handle objections.
Two quarters in: four salaries, and I was still waiting for pipeline while competition was closing deals
The 283% was never a system
The result I was trying to scale was produced by me, not by a repeatable process. It was me, three salespeople, and a motion only I knew how to run.
The four new hires came from places where leads arrived on their own, the brand opened doors, and marketing filled the top of the funnel. None of that existed with us. They were good at a job that had a system around it. We handed them a job with no system around it at all.
I did not hire four wrong people. I hired four people into a job that had never been done by anyone except me
What to ask before hiring into an unbuilt motion
The interview question that matters is not whether someone hit target, but what system helped them hit it. Match the question to the job you actually need done.
Match the Question to the Job
If you expect them to prospect
Ask how much of their previous pipeline they created themselves — not how much they closed.
If you expect them to open a new territory
Ask whether they have done it without an established brand behind them opening the first door.
If you expect them to hustle in ambiguity
Find out how much structure existed around their previous success — process, tooling, management, support.
Then go one level deeper and ask what actually produced their past results. Was it the brand? Inbound leads? SDRs booking meetings? Existing accounts handed over? Channel partners? A strong manager? Or opportunities they created themselves?
You are not hiring their previous company's sales system. You are hiring the person, without that system attached.
Hiring fast relieves pressure. It does not create a motion
If the sales motion is not repeatable yet, adding people tends to scale confusion rather than revenue. A hire made fast will release the pressure for that quarter. A hire made into the wrong operating environment costs you three.
Better to manage an open territory for one more quarter than carry the wrong operating fit for three