Introduction

Jason Lemkin explains the right time and order to hire as your SaaS business grows from $0 to $10M ARR - because hiring too early burns cash, but hiring too late stalls growth.

What’s the Problem It Solves?

Founders often don’t know when to bring in senior leaders or teams. They either hire too soon and waste money, or too late and choke growth. This guide breaks down exactly when and who to hire at each growth stage.

Quick Summary

In the earliest stage ($0-$1M ARR), founders must lead nearly everything. You need to close the first 10-20 deals yourself to master the pitch. Hire a few scrappy helpers for lead gen or customer onboarding, but you remain the driver. The focus is proving product-market fit, not scaling.

At $1M-$3M ARR, the goal shifts to building repeatable systems. Once two sales reps consistently hit their goals, it’s time to bring in your first VP of Sales. Marketing should get its first real leader too - a VP of Demand Gen or Marketing who can scale lead flow. If churn is hurting or customers are getting larger, a VP of Customer Success can make a big difference here.

By $3M-$10M ARR, the business enters scale mode. You’ll need a bigger sales team (10-20 AEs) supported by sales ops and enablement. Marketing expands into specialized roles like content, paid acquisition, and events. Customer Success turns into a full department handling onboarding, renewals, and upsells. This is also the time to add VPs of Engineering and Product to manage complexity and guide growth.

The key, Lemkin stresses, is to hire slightly ahead of the curve. Waiting until you’re overwhelmed with leads or churn means you’re already too late. Each hire should deliver value within months, not years.

Key Takeaways

• Founders should sell the first 10-20 customers themselves.
• Hire VPs (Sales, Marketing, CS) around $1M-$3M ARR to build structure.
• Scale fast between $3M-$10M ARR with full functional teams.
• Always hire just before the pain hits - not after.
• Avoid mediocre hires. Stretch hires are fine if they’re 90% likely to succeed.

What to Do

• Lead sales yourself until you close at least 10 customers.
• Add scrappy doers early - not big titles.
• Around $1M ARR, bring in experienced VPs to build repeatable systems.
• Start scaling teams and adding ops roles between $3M and $10M ARR.
• Hire ahead of demand, not in reaction to it.
• Every new hire should be accretive within months - measure this closely.

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