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Oct 27, 2022 · 25m · saastr

CRO Confidential: Sales Comp, Quotas & Recruiting with Jason Lemkin and Sam Blond of Founders Fund

Sam Blond · 14m spoken Jason Lemkin · 8m spoken
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SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin and Founders Fund partner Sam Blond discuss modern sales strategies for software and fintech companies, focusing on aligning quotas with gross margins, navigating macroeconomic headwinds, and recruiting top sales leadership.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Jason holds 37.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Jason as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 4.3 Guest disagreement 1.7 Jason pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:0020:000:05–12:30 · Jason as informed peer 7/10 Introducing Sam Blond and Announcing CRO Confidential Jason and Sam discuss shifting from ARR to gross profit quotas for companies with sub-70% margins. Jason displays deep domain expertise on SaaS unit economics and historical software margin playbooks while probing Sam on Brex's specific compensation mechanisms.12:31–19:05 · Jason as informed peer 6/10 Macroeconomic Realities, NRR Slowdowns, and Value Positioning Sam reframes the macroeconomic narrative by showing that slowdowns stem from lower NRR and headcount-driven expansion rather than dead new customer acquisition. Jason synthesizes and validates these insights regarding how account executives must align pitches with buyer cost-cutting goals.19:06–24:27 · Jason as informed peer 5/10 Core Strategies for Recruiting Top Sales Leadership Sam lays out a three-part framework for hiring sales leadership, dispelling the common mistake of prioritizing specific domain experience over a proven track record. Jason chimes in with supportive color commentary about VC recruiting claims and candidate vetting.0:05–12:30 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Sam Blond and Announcing CRO Confidential Jason and Sam discuss shifting from ARR to gross profit quotas for companies with sub-70% margins. Jason displays deep domain expertise on SaaS unit economics and historical software margin playbooks while probing Sam on Brex's specific compensation mechanisms.12:31–19:05 · Guest teaching 5/10 Macroeconomic Realities, NRR Slowdowns, and Value Positioning Sam reframes the macroeconomic narrative by showing that slowdowns stem from lower NRR and headcount-driven expansion rather than dead new customer acquisition. Jason synthesizes and validates these insights regarding how account executives must align pitches with buyer cost-cutting goals.19:06–24:27 · Guest teaching 4/10 Core Strategies for Recruiting Top Sales Leadership Sam lays out a three-part framework for hiring sales leadership, dispelling the common mistake of prioritizing specific domain experience over a proven track record. Jason chimes in with supportive color commentary about VC recruiting claims and candidate vetting.0:05–12:30 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Sam Blond and Announcing CRO Confidential Jason and Sam discuss shifting from ARR to gross profit quotas for companies with sub-70% margins. Jason displays deep domain expertise on SaaS unit economics and historical software margin playbooks while probing Sam on Brex's specific compensation mechanisms.12:31–19:05 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Macroeconomic Realities, NRR Slowdowns, and Value Positioning Sam reframes the macroeconomic narrative by showing that slowdowns stem from lower NRR and headcount-driven expansion rather than dead new customer acquisition. Jason synthesizes and validates these insights regarding how account executives must align pitches with buyer cost-cutting goals.19:06–24:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Core Strategies for Recruiting Top Sales Leadership Sam lays out a three-part framework for hiring sales leadership, dispelling the common mistake of prioritizing specific domain experience over a proven track record. Jason chimes in with supportive color commentary about VC recruiting claims and candidate vetting.0:05–12:30 · Jason pushing back 3/10 Introducing Sam Blond and Announcing CRO Confidential Jason and Sam discuss shifting from ARR to gross profit quotas for companies with sub-70% margins. Jason displays deep domain expertise on SaaS unit economics and historical software margin playbooks while probing Sam on Brex's specific compensation mechanisms.12:31–19:05 · Jason pushing back 2/10 Macroeconomic Realities, NRR Slowdowns, and Value Positioning Sam reframes the macroeconomic narrative by showing that slowdowns stem from lower NRR and headcount-driven expansion rather than dead new customer acquisition. Jason synthesizes and validates these insights regarding how account executives must align pitches with buyer cost-cutting goals.19:06–24:27 · Jason pushing back 2/10 Core Strategies for Recruiting Top Sales Leadership Sam lays out a three-part framework for hiring sales leadership, dispelling the common mistake of prioritizing specific domain experience over a proven track record. Jason chimes in with supportive color commentary about VC recruiting claims and candidate vetting.

speaking balance: gold is Jason, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Jason 66.4% · guest 33.6%0:00 · Jason 66.4% · guest 33.6%3:00 · Jason 48.2% · guest 51.8%3:00 · Jason 48.2% · guest 51.8%6:00 · Jason 42.3% · guest 57.7%6:00 · Jason 42.3% · guest 57.7%9:00 · Jason 38.6% · guest 61.4%9:00 · Jason 38.6% · guest 61.4%12:00 · Jason 48.2% · guest 51.8%12:00 · Jason 48.2% · guest 51.8%15:00 · Jason 13.8% · guest 86.2%15:00 · Jason 13.8% · guest 86.2%18:00 · Jason 31.4% · guest 68.6%18:00 · Jason 31.4% · guest 68.6%21:00 · Jason 1.6% · guest 98.4%21:00 · Jason 1.6% · guest 98.4%24:00 · Jason 54.6% · guest 45.4%24:00 · Jason 54.6% · guest 45.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:29 Pushing back on the budget-cut narrative

Sam pushes back against the widespread excuse that potential customers simply are not buying, asserting that core new acquisition remains steady.

 Hardest push from Jason ▶ 19:02 Jason calls out VC recruiting claims

Jason candidly dismisses venture capital claims about recruiting support, arguing that most VC talent arms provide zero actual value to founders.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:07 Explaining the root cause of NRR contraction

Sam educates the audience and host on how macroeconomic slowdowns directly compress NRR via hiring slowdowns and reduced usage rather than upfront pipeline destruction.

 Jason holds their own ▶ 3:14 Jason details historical software gross margin economics

Jason demonstrates deep industry mastery by contrasting traditional 90% CD-ROM software margins with lower-margin modern fintech models.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicJason as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementJason pushing backWhy
Introducing Sam Blond and Announcing CRO Confidential 7413 Jason and Sam discuss shifting from ARR to gross profit quotas for companies with sub-70% margins. Jason displays deep domain expertise on SaaS unit economics and historical software margin playbooks while probing Sam on Brex's specific compensation mechanisms.
Macroeconomic Realities, NRR Slowdowns, and Value Positioning 6522 Sam reframes the macroeconomic narrative by showing that slowdowns stem from lower NRR and headcount-driven expansion rather than dead new customer acquisition. Jason synthesizes and validates these insights regarding how account executives must align pitches with buyer cost-cutting goals.
Core Strategies for Recruiting Top Sales Leadership 5422 Sam lays out a three-part framework for hiring sales leadership, dispelling the common mistake of prioritizing specific domain experience over a proven track record. Jason chimes in with supportive color commentary about VC recruiting claims and candidate vetting.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Blond: Brex shifted sales quotas to gross margin dollars
“At Brex, we changed the quotas from sort of like a revenue-based quota to a like gross margin dollars-based quota.”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 5:32
Insight
Blond: Sub-70% margin companies should report gross profit internally over ARR
“What Rex did, and what I'm recommending to founders, again, depending on the business, let's just say businesses that are less than 70% gross margins, instead of at the all hands and having the headline number be, we're at ten million, a hundred million, whate…”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 9:13
Disclosure
Blond: Brex sales reps each drove several million dollars in revenue
“Fortunately for Rex in Rex's case, the sales reps were driving several million dollars of top line revenue.”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 11:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blond: 2022 SaaS slowdown not driven by budget cuts on new sales
“I am not seeing much influence on a company's ability to sell their product, to acquire new customers. And I am not hearing, you know, one of the biggest Problems today in our business is that potential customers are cutting budget, and they're not able to buy…”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 13:41
Insight
Blond: Headcount slowdowns are compressing SaaS net dollar retention
“Companies are hiring less today. And so the net dollar retention for within a customer base for a company that licenses software and their revenue is sort of directly influenced by the headcount growth or something like that of their customers, that is slowing…”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 14:25
Opinion
Lemkin: Most venture capitalists provide zero value in executive recruiting
“Most VCs think they can help you with recruiting and they provide zero value. I literally think of all of the companies I've invested in, I may be the only investor that ever introduced an actual VP, including you to Parker. No one does. Everyone talks big or …”
Jason Lemkin Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 19:08
Insight
Blond: Domain experience is largely irrelevant when hiring tech sales leaders
“The reality is, I think that with few exceptions, the domain experience largely becomes irrelevant over time. And Smart people learn businesses. And so actually solving for like a track record of performance into quality hire over someone with this specific ty…”
Sam Blond Oct 27, 2022 ▶ 20:25
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