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Lawrence: Hire a VP of Sales at $8M to $10M ARR

Jennifer Lawrence · How to Hire a Great VP of Sales with SaaStr + Duo Security · Sep 19, 2019 · at 31:07

Sales executive Jennifer Lawrence explains the optimal ARR milestone for hiring a top-tier VP of Sales.

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“Like, I have an opinion. It should be between eight to 10 in ARR. If you want a really solid VP of sales, they're gonna want to come in. They don't want it to be too scrappy, and they don't want it to be too far ahead”

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