Insights
Field notes from the GTM trenches.
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Forward Deployed Engineers Are Eating the Solutions Engineer Market Most SaaS Sales Teams Haven't Noticed
Forward Deployed Engineer postings are up more than 700% year on year and OpenAI just built a whole company around the role. Here's what the FDE boom means for how SaaS companies hire Solutions Engineers
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The Noncompete Map Just Shifted Here's What It Means for Your Next SaaS Sales Hire
Washington just banned noncompetes outright while the federal ban stays dead. Here's what the new state by state patchwork means for hiring and retaining SaaS sales talent in 2026.
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Defence Tech Just Became a SaaS Hiring Market
European defence tech funding went from under €500M in 2021 to over €4BN in 2025, and the sales hires these companies need look almost nothing like a standard SaaS AE. Here is what actually works.
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Most SaaS Companies Are Still Hiring AEs Like It's 2021
AI Overviews and AI BDR agents are quietly switching off both of SaaS's traditional pipeline engines at once. Here's the AE profile that survives, and why most hiring managers are still screening for the wrong one.
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AI Is Now Screening Your Sales Candidates Your Best Ones Are Opting Out
AI interviewers are screening SDRs and AEs before a human ever gets involved, and data shows a third of candidates are walking away because of it
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The SaaS Roll-Up Wave Just Hit Sales Teams Here's Who Gets Kept
Private equity is consolidating SaaS companies at a record pace, and sales orgs are the first thing that gets merged. Here's who survives the integration, and what hiring managers keep getting wrong.
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The First APAC Hire: Why US and European SaaS Companies Keep Getting Asia-Pacific Wrong
The country manager you just hired might be solving the wrong problem entirely. Here's what SaaS companies actually get wrong about their first Asia-Pacific hire.
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Microsoft, Atlassian and Salesforce Just Flooded the Market With Enterprise AEs (Most Scale-ups Will Hire the Wrong Ones)
2026's AI-driven layoffs and private equity take-privates have put thousands of enterprise AEs on the market. Brand pedigree is the wrong screen. Here's what actually predicts whether they'll succeed at a scale-up.
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Why Your Next Great AE Might Be in Bogotá, Not Boston
Salesforce and HubSpot just made flagship bets on Latin American sales talent. Here's what that means for SaaS hiring managers still treating the region as a discount SDR pool.
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The First EMEA Hire: Why US SaaS Companies Keep Getting Their European Expansion Wrong
US SaaS companies are rushing into London and Dublin in 2026, but most first EMEA leadership hires fail within two years. Here is why, and what the right hire actually looks like.
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The AI Cheating Crisis Skipped Sales Hiring Most Hiring Managers Still Don't Know Why
A new report found AI interview cheating hit 48% in technical roles but only 12% in sales. That gap isn't luck, it's structural, and most hiring managers are about to waste the advantage.
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The Sales Enablement Hire Every SaaS Company Delays Until It's Too Late
Ramp time, not win rate, is the metric killing SaaS pipeline growth, and most companies still have nobody owning it. Here is when to make the first enablement hire and what good actually looks like.
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Return to Office Mandates Are Splitting the SaaS Sales Talent Pool in Two
Salesforce, Dell, and Bank of America have pulled sales staff back into the office, and the data shows it is costing them their best people Here is what the RTO divide means for hiring AEs, SDRs
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The Fractional CRO Boom is Real so is Where It Breaks
Fractional CRO and VP Sales hiring is booming across B2B SaaS companies chase the gap between a $4K a month contractor and a $400K executive
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Usage-Based Pricing Broke the AE Playbook Here's Who Actually Wins Now
Usage-based pricing now touches more than half of public SaaS revenue, and it's quietly rewriting what a winning AE looks like. Here's the hiring profile that actually performs in a consumption-based model.
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The Expansion Hire SaaS Companies Keep Skipping
Net revenue retention is deciding SaaS valuations in 2026 most companies are still asking Customer Success Managers to sell expansion instead of hiring for it Here's why that's a hiring mistake, not a strategy problem
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The True Cost of a Bad AE Hire in 2026 (And Why Ramp Time Is the Number Nobody's Watching)
Quota attainment is down, ramp time is up 32% since 2020, and a bad AE hire now costs six figures before you've banked a single commission. Here's what the data means for how SaaS companies should actually be hiring
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The Product Led Growth Myth Is Dead: Here's When SaaS Companies Actually Need Their First AE
Product-led growth was never supposed to need salespeople. By 2026, hybrid PLG-plus-sales motions are beating pure self-serve on retention, and hiring managers keep getting the first sales hire wrong.
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The First US AE Hire: Why European SaaS Companies Keep Getting It Wrong
European SaaS companies are crossing the Atlantic faster than ever, but most get their first US AE hire wrong. Here's the profile that actually works and the mistakes hiring managers keep making.
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The AI SDR Bubble Just Popped. Here's What SaaS Companies Should Hire For Instead.
AI SDR tools promised to replace outbound headcount. 2026 data shows most companies reverted to hybrid models instead, and the SDR hiring bar just moved higher, not lower.
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Why Great AEs Aren't Moving in 2026 (And What It Actually Takes to Pull Them Out)
Offer decline rates for tech sales roles hit 41% in 2026 and time-to-fill on enterprise AE roles has nearly doubled since 2023. Here is why good AEs are staying put, and what actually moves them.
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Partnerships Isn't a Side Project Anymore: When SaaS Companies Actually Need a Dedicated Hire
Partner-sourced revenue now sits at a median of 24% of SaaS revenue, yet most companies still run partnerships as a part-time side project. Here is the trigger that actually signals it is time to hire.
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The GTM Engineer Is SaaS's Fastest-Growing Title. Most Companies Still Don't Know What to Hire For.
Job postings for GTM Engineer have more than doubled in a year and the top payers are now offering over $250K. Here is what the role actually does and how to hire for it properly.
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Build or Buy: The First CRO Decision Every Series B/C SaaS Company Gets Wrong
Promote the VP Sales who got you here, or go outside for a CRO who has run revenue at scale? Here is how to make that call without wasting a year and half a million dollars.
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The Solutions Engineer Bottleneck: Why Technical SaaS Sales Can't Hire Fast Enough
Solutions Engineers have become the hardest hire in SaaS sales, with AI-specialised SEs pulling six-figure premiums and a candidate pool too thin to keep up. Here's what the data shows and what good actually looks like.
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The Founder-Led Sales Ceiling: When (And How) to Hire Your First AE
Most founders hire their first AE too early or too late, and new research says 68% fail the handoff. Here is the signal that actually matters, and the profile that survives it.
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The SaaS Comp Plan Rewrite: What OTE Actually Buys You in 2026
SaaS AE OTE has climbed past $195,000, but quota attainment has fallen to 46 percent industry wide. Here is what top candidates are actually negotiating on in 2026, and what it means for who you should be hiring.
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RevOps vs Sales Ops: The First Hire You Get Wrong
Every SaaS founder wants to hire RevOps before they've earned it. Here's the ARR threshold that actually matters, and what to hire instead if you're not there yet.
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Enterprise AE vs Mid-Market AE: Why Hiring Managers Keep Getting This Wrong
Enterprise and mid-market AE are not the same job with a bigger number attached. Here is why the skillsets do not transfer, and what hiring managers keep getting wrong when they promote or poach across the line.
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Vertical AI Sales Hiring: Why the Horizontal SaaS Playbook Doesn't Work
Vertical AI sales hiring in healthcare, fintech and manufacturing needs a different AE profile than horizontal SaaS. Here's what's changing and what hiring managers keep getting wrong.
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Why Legal AI Is Now the Hottest Market in SaaS
Legal has been the most change-resistant profession in professional services for decades, some firms are still printing everything and running processes built around a fax machine.
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This is Why You're Not Getting Promoted to Account Executive (And Exactly What to Do About It)
Moving from SDR to AE externally rarely works. Learn why internal promotion is the stronger route, which skills actually get SDRs promoted and how to build a case your manager cannot ignore.
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The Real SaaS Account Executive Salary Market 2026 In The UK
UK SaaS AE compensation has shifted. See current base salaries, realistic OTEs, equity expectations and what strong candidates assess before accepting an offer.
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The Interview Mistakes That Are Costing You Your Best AE Candidates (and How To Fix Them)
An AE looking for a new role is in 3 processes at once. Your 6 week timeline is not a process. It is an elimination round. Here is what great AEs are actually watching for in your hiring process.
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This Why You're Hiring The Wrong SDRs
The SDR market has changed. Volume led hiring briefs produce volume led results. In 2026 the best SDRs are selective, technically literate, and harder to find than your application volume suggests.
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The SaaS Sales Promotion Trap: Why Every Step Up Requires Starting Over
Most SaaS sales promotions create worse performers, not better ones. Here's why every step up the GTM ladder requires unlearning what made you good, and what the best people do differently.
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Why Most SDR to AE Promotions Fail (And What Nobody Tells You Before It Happens)
One in four SDRs promoted internally fail as AEs. For external moves that number rises to 41%. The data has been there for years. So why are companies still getting this wrong?
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What SaaS Hiring Managers Actually Look For In Senior Sales Interviews
Most senior SaaS sales candidates prepare for the wrong interview. Hiring managers are not assessing knowledge of sales frameworks. They are assessing whether you can still perform when conditions become difficult.
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Why Your GTM Hire Fell Through (And How to Stop It Happening Again)
Most hiring managers send a brief based on the last person who left. By the time it reaches a recruiter, the market has moved. Here is where SaaS hiring processes quietly break down.
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The Two Career Jumps That Break Most SaaS Sales People
SDR to AE. AE to Enterprise AE. Both transitions look natural on paper. Both remove more people than they promote. Here is what actually changes at each level and why most people underestimate it.
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The State of SaaS GTM Hiring: A Full Market Breakdown
Tech layoffs are up. VC funding is still flowing. The SDR role is bifurcating. GTM Engineer is the fastest growing title in SaaS. Here is what is actually happening in the market right now.
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How to Hire Your First SDR: A 2026 Playbook for SaaS Founders
Your first SDR will set the cadence, tone and expectations for every salesperson who follows. Here is what to look for, what to pay, and the mistakes that cost founders eighteen months to unwind.
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Three Years as an SDR Is Not Experience. It Is a Ceiling.
Most SDRs who are three years into the role believe they are building experience. They are not. They are reinforcing a ceiling. And in most cases the system is letting them do it.
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Why the SDR to AE Pipeline Is Broken (And Who's Paying the Price)
The clean SDR to AE model was built for scale. Most SaaS teams do not operate at scale. Here is where the pipeline breaks, who pays for it, and what the best hiring managers are doing differently.