Peet: Recruiting competitor reps for domain knowledge yields weak sales teams
Chad Peets · 20Sales: Why the Best Sales People are F**** in the Head | Why Remote Work is BS | Why Europe is a Nightmare for Recruiting Sales Teams | How to Build a Sales Machine | What Everyone Gets Wrong Today in Sales with Chad Peets · Jan 9, 2026 · at 19:20
Chad Peet, veteran sales executive, argues against founders recruiting sales reps directly from competitors based solely on domain expertise.
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“Your competitors likely have a bunch of C players, so you want to go hire C players simply because they know the space? Ok, that's a short-term solve. Basically what you're solving for is you want to reduce ramp time, you want them to be able to get enabled faster because they know the domain. Fine, problem is nine months from now, I got a bunch of shitty fucking salespeople. Versus, let me go hire for talent and things I can't train. Fine, maybe my ramp time takes longer, but a year from now, I've got a world-class sales organization.”
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