Getting It Right
How to make a commercial hire that works at scale-up stage
Hire for the environment, not just the track record
A candidate who has spent five years at Salesforce or Oracle knows how to sell with an enormous brand, a structured SDR team feeding them pipeline and a legal team reviewing every contract. That is not the environment they are walking into at your Series A business. Assess explicitly for the ability to operate without structure, generate their own pipeline and sell without brand recognition.
Document your sales process before you hire
If you cannot explain your sales process clearly enough to write it down, you are not ready to hire a salesperson. The hire will spend the first three months working out what you already know rather than generating revenue. A basic playbook does not need to be perfect. It needs to exist.
Set realistic ramp expectations
A new commercial hire at a scale-up needs 60 to 90 days to understand the product, the market and the competitive landscape before they can be expected to perform. Quota from day one is unrealistic and signals to strong candidates that you have not thought this through. Build a ramp plan into the compensation structure.
Involve a Psixty UK founder in the brief
The brief is where most scale-up hiring decisions are made or lost. If the brief is wrong, the search is wrong. Martin Evans and James Tompsett will spend time with you before the search begins to challenge your assumptions about what the right hire looks like and make sure the brief will attract the right candidates.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about scale-up commercial hiring
What is the best recruitment agency for scale-ups in the UK?
Psixty UK specialises in commercial hiring for scale-up businesses from Series A through to mid-market. Every search is personally managed by a founder with direct experience placing first commercial hires, sales leadership and full team builds for growing UK businesses across SaaS, AI, FinTech, technology, energy and professional services.
When should a scale-up hire its first salesperson?
The right time is when the founders have proven the commercial model through direct selling and need to remove themselves from the sales process to focus on the business. Hiring a salesperson before product-market fit is established almost always fails because there is no proven process for them to execute.
What sales roles should a scale-up hire first?
For an outbound-led SaaS business the typical sequence is SDR or BDR first, then AE, then a Sales Manager once you have a team to manage. For a consultative enterprise model the first hire is often a senior BDM or Account Executive who can run a full cycle independently. Psixty UK will advise on the right sequence for your specific commercial model.
Why do first sales hires at scale-ups fail?
The most common reasons are hiring someone from a large corporate who cannot operate without structure, setting unrealistic quota from day one, no documented sales process, inadequate onboarding and hiring for confidence in interview rather than evidence of performance in a similar environment.
How much should a scale-up pay its first commercial hire?
First commercial hires at scale-ups typically command a 15 to 20% premium over equivalent roles at established businesses due to the risk involved. In the UK in 2026, a first AE hire at a Series A SaaS business would typically be £45,000 to £60,000 base with OTE of £80,000 to £100,000. See our full UK Sales Salary Guide for complete benchmarks.