The Evolution of Sales Leadership
By:
Alexandra (Adamson) Beal
Recent years of blitzscaling have resulted in many startups with dysfunctional GTM organizations. As many startups now rebuild their leadership teams, it is important for founders and investors to approach each search with clarity and foresight.
After scaling 900+ GTM organizations in the past decade, we’ve seen sales leadership transitions in every innovation sector. To help board members and founders align their leadership strategy, we crafted a one-pager visual defining the common sales leader archetypes at each stage of growth.
From Founder Selling to CRO
The journey of sales leadership begins with founder selling, characterized by a hands-on approach to building demand and closing deals. As startups mature, the transition to first sales hires, Heads of Sales, VPs of Sales, and ultimately Chief Revenue Officers (CROs), reflects a strategic shift towards structured, scalable growth. Each stage introduces new challenges and requires new competencies, from creating initial demand to integrating multi-functional teams and driving global market expansion.
Key Insights and Industry Perspectives
In addition to defining each archetype of leadership, it’s also important to consider the transition process itself. We polled partners at leading venture funds and share anecdotes from GTM partners at Gradient Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Radian Capital.
Download the full Evolution of Sales Leadership framework to gain deeper insights into each sales leadership archetype and best practices to navigate these transitions from top GTM operating partners.