SaaS Hiring Roadmap: From $0 to $10M ARR

Building a successful SaaS company requires strategic hiring. From $0 to $10M Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), each hire significantly impacts your trajectory. This roadmap outlines the key hires at each growth stage.

$0 to $1M ARR: Founder-Led Growth

  • Sales: Founders should initially lead sales efforts, understanding customer objections and refining the sales pitch. Hire 1-2 sales development representatives (SDRs) or account executives (AEs) once you've proven the sales process, but founders should close the first 10-20 customers.
  • Marketing: Focus on product-market fit. A growth hacker can assist with demand generation. A strong VP of Demand Generation/Growth can be impactful even early on if there's a base of demand.
  • Customer Success and Support: Hire 1-2 individual contributors for onboarding and support. Prioritize customer success, especially for larger accounts. Hire dedicated support once you have two large customers.

$1M to $3M ARR: Building the Foundation

  • Sales: Hire a VP of Sales once two reps consistently hit quota (around $1M-$1.5M ARR). This role is crucial for scaling the sales team and establishing a repeatable process.
  • Marketing: Bring on a VP of Demand Generation or Marketing around $1M ARR (or earlier if you find a strong candidate). Even a 20% increase in qualified leads can significantly impact revenue.
  • Customer Success: If churn or renewals are a concern, hire a VP of Customer Success around $2M-$3M ARR to focus on net revenue retention.

$3M to $10M ARR: Scaling the Team

  • Sales: Aggressively hire AEs under your VP of Sales. Implement Sales Operations and Sales Enablement as the team grows.
  • Marketing: Build a complete marketing team, including content marketing, paid acquisition, and events. Consider a growth hacker for funnel optimization if targeting SMBs.
  • Customer Success: Establish a full customer success team to manage onboarding, renewals, retention, and upsells. A dedicated Head of Support may be needed with increasing support tickets.
  • Engineering: Consider a VP of Engineering to manage growing complexity, technical debt, and integrations.
  • Product: A hands-on VP of Product is essential to manage the increasing product complexity.

Key Milestones to Watch

  1. $1M ARR: Hire VP of Sales and VP of Marketing.
  2. $2M-$3M ARR: Hire VP of Customer Success.
  3. $5M ARR: Implement Sales Ops, Enablement, and specialized marketing roles.
  4. $10M ARR: Aim for a 40-50 person team with fully built-out Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering teams.

Proactive hiring is essential. Don't wait until you're overwhelmed with leads, churn, or technical issues. Hire ahead of the curve to ensure sustainable growth.