We were recently engaged by a client to conduct a search for their first VP Sales. Our client is a Canadian based, Series A funded, B2B SaaS vendor selling their platform to enterprise customers across multiple industries.

Their ideal candidate would need to have experience driving revenue as well as hiring and managing sales teams in a high growth startup environment.

Our client prioritized the need for an executive who was able to initially driving revenue, in an individual contributor sales role, while also building out a growth strategy and scaling a team.

We presented a range of candidates to our client:

The Serial Startup Builder: $225K base + $450k OTE + equity

• Twenty years of experience building sales teams for startups and was looking for an opportunity to do it again.
• Taken organizations from 0 to 5 million in revenue three times; most recently with a company that was acquired for $220 million.
• Currently running a Global Account program with a team of 30 sales representatives.

The Big Company Executive: $300K base + $600k OTE

• Back on the market after driving a digital transformation strategy within some of the largest global accounts in a large multinational.
• A sales leader for one of the largest software companies.
• Managed sales organizations of 50+ resources but was also very engaged with the front lines and drove the discipline around account management, sales call plans, Top-2-Top meetings, big deal reviews, etc.

The Rising Star: $210K base + $420k OTE + equity

• Promoted four times in the last seven years and is a rising star within the company.
• Joined their current employer at 140 employees but has worked for companies as small as 60.
• Promoted to a leadership role very quickly, running a mid-market sales team before taking on a national leadership role with a team of 12. 

The Hire: $175k base + $350k OTE

• Was running a central region sales team for a software company startup that sells a similar product to our client and had just entered the market due to a company-wide reduction.
• Managed teams of 5-6 Account Managers with a target of $16 million.
• Excels at getting in front of customers and is excited about the opportunity to be the company’s first sales hire.

To attract and land this candidate, our client offered a $180k base plus a very competitive commission and significant equity.

As you can see, compensation for these candidates varies significantly based on the length and scope of experience, as well as their ability to thrive in similar environments.

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For organizations and job seekers alike, it can be challenging to understand what a particular position should pay. Often, it’s a calculation between salary surveys that lack all context, what a person has earned in the past, and ad hoc conversations with others in the field.

We’re sharing market insights into current compensation packages for key roles in the tech industry. Our recruiters conduct targeted searches on behalf of our clients, seeking out candidates who fit the requirements of the role and diligently qualifying them to present only the very best talent. These posts are meant to highlight the contextual elements that makeup compensation, and to help our clients and candidates better understand the current market forces that affect earning potential.