[bushido]

Both can be important and it really comes down to who your customer is.

For B2B (SME+) - Absolutely invest in Sales. Worth mentioning that it isn't too hard hiring seasoned sales professionals, with existing relationships who are trying to find their next career move etc. They'll often agree to a higher commission payout in-lieu of a base salary. This doubles up as a good way to get feedback from the market.

For B2C or smaller B2B - Definitely invest in marketing and customer experience if you would like the main driver behind your business to be product-led growth or some form of a self-signup/self-onboarding.

[jahbrewski]

Could you provide any further advice on how to hire sales professionals? I'm starting to feel comfortable hiring tech roles, but hiring for sales still feels like a black box!

[bushido]

Sales can definitely feel like that. Without more context on your market, decision maker personas etc. the one piece of advise that I can give confidently is this:

Start with Senior Sales Leadership. Ideally someone with experience in your target market.

Reach out to a few individuals, in your network or on LinkedIn or similar. Ask them for advice, see the type of advice they provide. If you like them, ask them to recommend someone – the hope is they recommend themselves.

[GordonS]

B2B sales is an area I'm going to need help with quite soon. Solo-bootstrapping a startup means that money can be tight though.

Do you think it would be possible to get part-time help using the approach you describe? Alternatively, do some sales professionals work on a commission-only basis?

Also, do you have any idea what typical commission is expected?

[bushido]

On sales leaders: I personally know some sales leaders who mentor/advise other start-up founders. This includes getting on some client calls.

However it's tricky, in that they wouldn't do it if there was a conflict of interest of any kind, they'd be more likely to do it once they know these people a bit more. There is also the WIIFM factor.

All that to say, it is possible to get help.

--

On sales reps: As others have mentioned the biggest factor here will be how long it takes to close a deal. If you have quick close cycles (typical in the small to mid-market), a higher commission component or commission only is possible.

Typically, I've seen commissions in B2B to be about 7-10% of Annual Contract Value (ACV) for the first year. Mind you this is highly generalized, based on my experience.

Most sales compensation plans aim for sales reps to earn 1x base as commissions if they meet target. So a base of $60K, would result in $120K in income if they performed.

Based on this you could try finding reps on 14-20% ACV on a commission only basis, paid out on paid invoices.

To be candid, I wouldn't try doing commission-only positions for my own ventures. That said it's worth a try if there are constraints that make it hard to pay a base.

[acruns]

Getting part-time help in sales is going to be hard. It will depend on how long your sales cycle is too.

Sales reps will happily work on commission only if they see a huge market for your product. Which might be difficult to show with a new product.

The commission rate is negotiable at the hiring point. If they are great at sales and know there is a big market they will want a lower base with a higher commission. You should also set a commission cap at some point as your variable costs increase your profit will drop and you could end up at a point where the sales team is making more than the company.

[aledalgrande]

+1 here - sales dominant in B2B, but brand >> product in B2C, look at all the most successful B2C companies

[halfmatthalfcat]

What about D2C?