3 mistakes early-stage startups make when building a sales team and how to avoid them

1. Hire the best salesperson out there.

In one of my first leadership roles at a startup, I was tasked with building a new team and proudly hired one of the best salespeople in the industry. I was convinced we had our game-changer. Then the first RFP came in, the AE asked me who to send it to. I told them we’d have to answer that RFP together. "I haven't done one in years" was the response. You can probably guess how that working relationship ended.

Like me, many leaders in startups believe hiring a "rockstar" salesperson - someone with an impressive track record at a big-name company - will instantly drive revenue. However, the best salesperson in an established company often struggles in a startup/scale-up where resources, brand recognition, and sales cycles are non-existent or constantly changing.

🚫 How to avoid: Instead of chasing résumés, focus on hiring for fit...someone who thrives in ambiguity, can build pipeline from the ground up and hunt. Look for traits like adaptability, curiosity, and resilience instead of their past quota attainment or industry knowledge.

2. More Salespeople ≠ More Revenue

It's such an easy trap to fall into...I've made that mistake. Why? Because it is easy. You simply take your Revenue Target, divide it by the quota for your Salespeople and that equals the number of salespeople to hire.

The challenge is hiring more salespeople doesn’t mean revenue will grow at the same rate. It’s not a simple math equation where each new hire directly translates to more closed deals. In fact, I believe, without the right foundation additional sales hires can actually create inefficiencies, increase costs, and dilute focus.

🚫 How to avoid: Instead of assuming adding headcount will drive proportional growth, focus on optimizing the sales motion, productivity, and market fit first. Growth comes from scalability and efficiency, not just more salespeople.

3. No processes or ICP

The third mistake is throwing a salesperson into the field without a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) or structured sales process. It's like asking them to hit a target while blindfolded. Without knowing who they should be selling to or a repeatable process to follow, they'll waste time on bad-fit prospects, struggle with messaging, and fail to build predictable pipeline.

🚫 How to avoid: Define your ICP upfront. Pair this with a documented sales process, from discovery questions to deal qualification, to ensure consistency and scalability. It may change, but that's ok. You now have processes and ICP to build on.

Don’t fall into these three common traps when building your initial sales team. Focus on hiring for fit, setting up the right processes, and defining your ICP to create a scalable, repeatable path to revenue growth. Are you setting your sales team up for success, or just hoping a superstar hire will figure it out?