Insights from SaaStr Europe 2022 (2/3)→ VP has to bring good folks!

Recently I had a chance to participate in the SaaStr Europe conference in Barcelona. #SaaStrEurope. I listed some key slides and insights myself from this great event.?Slides cannot transfer the whole learning experience, but I am sharing them anyway:)

Insights from SaaStr Europe 2022 →? VP has to bring good folks!? (by Jason Lemkin)

                     Hiring VPs is brutally hard!        

Hiring VPs is hard, not just VP level, but also any other leadership level in your startup.

They need to have experience building a team and delivering results! Building experience is rare but crucial!

Building experience in the same organizational stage you are at and a stage ahead of yours. Not three stages ahead. That kind of experience will not bring you value.

The 'building' consists of setting up a team.?

Bringing great people, learning from them, and coaching them to succeed. That is the only way!

If you are a leader in a startup, and you have an attitude that an HR team will bring those folks, sorry to say, but you will fail!

A good HR team can support your efforts greatly, but if you take a VP responsibility without understanding who you need in your team for the stage you are now, that will be a problem:/.

One of the insights from SaaStr Europe, and one of Jason Lemkin's presentations is that great VPs bring first results in one sales cycle. Brutal!

Often their first move is to bring great people to the team…

(And this is valid not just for Sales VPs but also other roles as well)

Therefore Jason's advice is to ask a?critical question during the interview:?

Who will you bring with you if you join our company?

And if there is no answer, the person is not (ready) for the role!

Thanks, Jason for a great presentation!