Ershad Jamil’s Post

Why did Taylor get fired, and why did Alex get a pay rise? Alex: He sees his deals churn at 50% every year Year 1 New business: $1,000,000 Year 2 NRR of that new business: $500,000 Year 3 NRR of that new business: $250,000 Total value of year 1 deals to the business end of year 3: $1,750,000 Taylor: She sees her deals compound at 130% every year Year 1 New business: $750,000 Year 2 NRR of that new business: $975,000 Year 3 NRR of that new business: $1,267,500 Total value of year 1 deals to the business end of year 3: $2,992,500 Add your take in the comment, And most importantly share your solutions We'll highlight the best to our 2,000+ newsletter subscribers in next week's newsletter 👊🏼 #sales #saas #startups #venturecapital #GTMdebt

When you step in as a new VP of Revenue at an early-stage startup, you’re often inheriting a company with $2-3M ARR after their Series A. You’ve promised to 3x that ARR in 12 months, going from $3M to $9M+ ARR. But here’s the real question: Is the market big enough to sustain those expectations? The first thing any VP of Revenue needs to do when joining is build a clear point of view on the market. Too many execs jump into execution mode, chasing deals without first verifying if the opportunity is big enough to deliver. Here’s how you do it: For the first few weeks, you need to go all in—we’re talking 12-hour days, 5+ days a week. You have to talk to customers, analyze competitors, and validate the market’s total addressable size. Your goal? Prove that the market can support the $9M+ ARR growth you’ve promised. At RVNU, we’ve seen new VPs of Revenue succeed by asking: 1. Is the problem you’re solving big enough to command enterprise-level budgets? 2. Are there enough customers in this market to sustain your growth to $9M, $15M, and beyond? 3. Does your pricing reflect the value you’re delivering, or are you underpricing? 4. How well do you understand your competitors—and can you differentiate? 5. What’s the feedback from your first 50 customer conversations—are they seeing measurable value? And yes, it’s a grind. For those first few weeks, expect long days and to give up some weekends. Customer calls, market research, and team alignment. But this grind is the difference between hitting the ground running or spinning your wheels with no clear strategy. In my experience leading revenue, I’ve seen that if you don’t do this upfront work, you could be running fast in the wrong direction. Want to ensure your market can sustain aggressive growth? Take our free GTM Debt Self-Assessment to evaluate if your opportunity is big enough before you burn valuable time & resources. You got this 👊🏼 #sales #saas #startups #venturecapital #GTMdebt

This is the most passive aggressive move known in sales: Announce to the office that you "don't need marketing because you'll just work everyone's 'closed lost' deals..." Anyone beat that?... Actually, I can: Add "..and because my personal CAC is lower than everyone else's I'd like a more generous comp plan. If they get 10% I'll take 12%. Please. Thanks." (Note: this is not sales attitude/culture advice, well, actually the bit about working closed lost is, just not the being a douche about it) #sales #saas #startups #GTMdebt #venturecapital

As part of Sales Primer's expanding foray into the United States, we’re especially excited to deliver our Sales Primer “Sales-Readiness” introductory workshop for a motivated cohort of Founders at gener8tor OKC this Friday.  gener8tor is a nationally ranked American accelerator with influence across 42 communities, 1300+ startups, and $2B in funding placement. Many thanks to Kristen Gibbs for the invitation to present, and a similar "shout out" to Matt Waraich with Cortado Ventures for the introduction.  We’re really pleased to provide our kick-off session on… BUILDING FOUNDATIONS for SCALABLE SALES Founders leading early-stage start-ups struggle to gain “traction.”  They need it.  Investors want to see it.  Repeatable, predictable sales are the foundation of viable ventures.  But how do you engineer “traction?”  Start by conducting a step-by-step “Sales-Readiness” assessment. Learn the critical components of an effective B2B (or B2B2C) sales model.  Establish performance benchmarks.  Get comfortable with the numbers.  And build a customized sales program for your business, including:               Sales Goals — Set realistic sales goals aligned with your budget and revenue targets. And track key performance indicators to make it happen. Sales Process — Design a sales process that minimizes cost-effort and maximizes conversions. Sales Effort — Estimate the activities and hours necessary to properly execute and manage your sales and marketing program. Sales Team — Understand the talent, timing, and compensation of key hires for your sales team. Sales Spend — Determine the financial investment required in your team, resources, and system elements to reach your revenue target. Can’t wait to meet this new cohort of entrepreneurs.  Can’t wait to share best practices in winning “Customers and Cash!” And always remember... "Without Sales, All Else Fails!" https://salesprimer.ca https://www.gener8tor.com https://cortado.ventures #sales #salesmodeling #salesexecution #growth #fundraising #startup #venture #scale #businessdevelopment #gotomarket

As part of Sales Primer's expanding foray into the United States, we’re especially excited to deliver our Sales Primer “Sales-Readiness” introductory workshop for a motivated cohort of Founders at gener8tor OKC this Friday.  gener8tor is a nationally ranked American accelerator with influence across 42 communities, 1300+ startups, and $2B in funding placement. Many thanks to Kristen Gibbs for the invitation to present, and a similar "shout out" to Matt Waraich with Cortado Ventures for the introduction.  We’re really pleased to provide our kick-off session on… BUILDING FOUNDATIONS for SCALABLE SALES Founders leading early-stage start-ups struggle to gain “traction.”  They need it.  Investors want to see it.  Repeatable, predictable sales are the foundation of viable ventures.  But how do you engineer “traction?”  Start by conducting a step-by-step “Sales-Readiness” assessment. Learn the critical components of an effective B2B (or B2B2C) sales model.  Establish performance benchmarks.  Get comfortable with the numbers.  And build a customized sales program for your business, including:               Sales Goals — Set realistic sales goals aligned with your budget and revenue targets. And track key performance indicators to make it happen. Sales Process — Design a sales process that minimizes cost-effort and maximizes conversions. Sales Effort — Estimate the activities and hours necessary to properly execute and manage your sales and marketing program. Sales Team — Understand the talent, timing, and compensation of key hires for your sales team. Sales Spend — Determine the financial investment required in your team, resources, and system elements to reach your revenue target. Can’t wait to meet this new cohort of entrepreneurs.  Can’t wait to share best practices in winning “Customers and Cash!” And always remember... "Without Sales, All Else Fails!" https://salesprimer.ca https://www.gener8tor.com https://cortado.ventures #sales #salesmodeling #salesexecution #growth #fundraising #startup #venture #scale #businessdevelopment #gotomarket

A lot of start-up founders fall into this one big trap which ultimately delays growth.... Over preparing... There will always be 1 MORE THING you can fix, work on, or add to be ready. But ultimately the only thing you need to do is start... Start calling/emailing/messaging prospects to get your first couple of meetings. From doing that you'll understand a lot more about the current market you're in and who your true prospects are going to be. Just start selling... Business is about money in and with no money in, you have no business. #startup #founder #business #gyms #SaaS

Dear John, I trust this finds you well. As the year winds down, it was another filled with highs and lows. One of the greatest lows was missing out on the opportunity to partner with you/your business. Tough loss for sure. I'm writing you to say THANKS for the learnings - specifically around A & B. In short order I was able to reposition A & B for a tremendous win with Company ABC. Maybe I had to lose your business to gain theirs. Though, I'm still a bit sore!! In the 1 in a million chance...an opportunity should present itself - I'd love to show you how I put these learnings into practice. Wishing you and yours the best for the Season & New Year! **Thank the losses too!! I've seen those pay dividends... #sales #salesteams #salesculture #salescoaching #salesstrategy #enterprisesales #saas #saassales #startups #startupsales #founders #software #softwaredevelopment #revenuegrowth #humility #learning #postiveattitude #ae #bdr #sdr #gratitude #fiscalyear #2024 #salesquotas #salestips #salesprocess

Hierarchy of founders Level 1: Actively sabotages the work of the VP of Sales Level 2: Set top-down targets without the counsel of the VP of Sales Level 3: Distracts the VP of Sales with random obligations, ideas, etc that have to be fended off Level 4: Hands-off, trusting, clears the decks for the VP of Sales to succeed Level 5: Contribute in big ways in key deals as directed by the VP of Sales Level 6: Proactively engages with the market daily, directly delivering qualified inbound opportunities to the pipeline (h/t Jack Altman for the inspiration) PLEASE tag your level 6 folk in the comments. They deserve high praise! #sales #saas #startups #GTMdebt #venturecapital

Moving beyond Founder-led sales to a team-led approach at B2B SaaS companies takes one never-ending habit... Having oversight of the commercial activities ensures that momentum and movement are always maintained. It's not easy, as there are so many moving parts across #sales and #marketing at #startups. But let's be honest, if you are not the driver then you'll never hire a driver to replace you, it's a simple as that. It's clear what your standards are and what others who replace you in the commercial team will need to be like to succeed. This is a question of setting standards that others can follow.

If you're in SF this Monday 9th Sept, I want to make a bet with you: In the space of 30 minutes I'll unlock revenue growth for your startup FREE If not, the coffee, pastry (whatever) is on me. 🥐☕️ Two minor conditions: - You must me a B2B SaaS Founder - You must be at $1m+ in ARR That's it. Drop me a DM Let's do this 🚀 PS: That's my brother-in-law mid a 15km run the day after he landed in SF. He never thought it was possible to run that distance in his then shape. Great things happen to those that have the courage to try! #Sales #SaaS #startups #GTMdebt #VentureCapital