Paradigm: How do we recruit BD?
Do not prematurely change the sales model led by the founders.
Author: Nick Martitsch
Compiled by: Shenchao TechFlow
In the crypto space, the job market for early growth leaders is exceptionally competitive.
Due to the lack of defensive barriers in open-source software, distribution becomes a key competitive factor for decentralized protocols and their platforms. Hiring the right BD leader at the right time can significantly influence the project's direction.
As a member of Paradigm's market expansion team, I work with talent lead Dan McCarthy to help founders recruit top growth leaders in the industry. Here are some recommendations we provide to founders regarding hiring their first BD leader.
Do not change the founder-led sales model too early.
Transform initial flexible strategies into scalable solutions.
Require candidates to have a high degree of autonomy and a deep understanding of crypto technology.
Focus on tactical execution.
Evaluate performance through auxiliary metrics.
1. Do not change the founder-led sales model too early
Founders are often the best salespeople for their own products. It is crucial to maintain a founder-led sales strategy during the process of attracting the first customers and developing the MVP for several reasons:
You are more likely to close the first deal. For startups that have not yet launched their product, buyers primarily value the founder's ability to realize their vision rather than the current state of the product. Founders are best positioned to effectively communicate the technical details, product vision, and overall enthusiasm, persuading customers to be the first to try an unproven solution.
It helps optimize the product. In the early stages of a company, sales and product development should proceed in tandem. Founders should maintain a close feedback loop with early customers to refine the product roadmap. Introducing new employees at this stage may cause unnecessary friction and communication barriers.
Typically, you can consider hiring the first BD leader when you have confirmed the needs of your initial user base and are ready to take the product to a broader market. If your project requires building a wide external ecosystem before launch, this process can be expedited; but generally, it is best to wait until you have a loyal customer base.
2. Transform initial flexible strategies into scalable solutions
The BD leader should convert the "flexible strategies" used by the founder to acquire the first customer into a scalable, replicable sales model to attract more customers. Here are some sales processes that this position should be responsible for in the early stages:
Choose a CRM system (such as Excel, Salesforce, Copper, etc.) that can scale with the company’s growth and populate it with data from the entire target market.
Filter inbound leads, send external information to new customers, and involve the founder to help close the most important deals.
Hold weekly sales pipeline meetings to keep leadership informed about market penetration and bottlenecks in the sales process.
Create sales materials, such as customer case studies, product updates, onboarding guides, etc., and test which sales points effectively drive potential customer conversions.
Act as an internal representative of customer feedback in the product roadmap decision-making process, guiding the product team to develop key features and capabilities.
In summary, finding a BD leader who can both build sales infrastructure and manage the full sales process is crucial. It is not enough to excel at just one of these.
3. Require candidates to have a high degree of autonomy and a deep understanding of crypto technology
We have found that the best first BD leaders are often former startup founders or early employees who built departments from scratch in their previous companies. They understand that the responsibility lies with them and have a strong sense of accountability for achieving the company's goals.
In addition to basic communication and organizational skills, a background in crypto technology should be a core consideration in hiring. Here are some soft skills that can help assess whether your BD leader can persist through multiple market cycles:
Adaptability------ Early sales in the crypto space differ from sales roles in mature industries. In the crypto industry, market conditions and narratives are constantly changing, and growth leaders need to be able to respond flexibly, developing new sales strategies, as effective methods in a bull market may not work in a bear market, and vice versa.
Resilience------ Due to the cyclical nature of the industry, candidates need to have a strong motivation for the mission of the crypto industry and not be easily discouraged by delayed results. Successful business development strategies are often found after multiple failures, learning, and iterations. Candidates motivated solely by short-term financial gains will be eliminated during market downturns.
While it is challenging to find candidates who meet all requirements, having a highly autonomous BD leader with a background in crypto technology will lay the foundation for your success.
4. Focus on tactical execution
Most crypto startups focus too much on strategy and neglect tactics in their growth efforts. I investigated several applications regarding their technology choice decisions and found that responsiveness is often a determining factor, such as responding to inbound inquiries, timely follow-ups after calls, or the ability to resolve complex technical issues.
The cumulative effect of good tactics is key to creating long-term success, so it is essential to prioritize candidates who can execute orderly processes to ensure leads are not overlooked. Here are some interview questions that can be used to assess a candidate's effectiveness in actual sales:
How would you categorize inbound inquiries as low, medium, and high priority? How does the sales process differ for each case?
What questions would you ask in an initial call to determine if a potential customer is a good fit for us?
Do you think it is appropriate to browse a presentation while speaking with a potential customer? How do you typically guide a sales call?
How quickly would you follow up with a potential customer after the initial sales call? What information do you usually send them?
If a potential customer loses interest, what strategies would you try to re-engage them?
If a potential customer enters the implementation phase, how would you adjust your communication style, frequency, and approach with them?
The BD leader will still need to assist in formulating the company's distribution strategy, but if they cannot execute effectively on the daily details, that strategy will struggle to take effect.
5. Evaluate performance through auxiliary metrics
In emerging industries like crypto, many external factors can affect the achievement of traditional growth goals, such as revenue, TVL, customer count, or transaction volume. These growth targets are the results of the business development process, and while tracking these targets is important, it is equally important to measure the quality of the process that leads to achieving these goals.
Founders should set clear objectives for business development based on market signals obtained from early sales. They should also establish a set of secondary metrics to evaluate performance in response to unforeseen market changes, regulatory shifts, or other macro events.
Here are examples of goals that founders might set for business development positions:
- Core Objective: Achieve $5 million in annual recurring revenue by year-end.
Key Metrics:
Number of new paying customers.
Average contract value per customer.
Auxiliary Metrics:
Number of deals entering the evaluation stage.
Number of new leads added to the sales pipeline.
Number of initial calls completed with potential customers.
Amount of external information sent to potential customers.
With this framework, you will be able to mitigate some of the external influences in the crypto industry and ensure that the business development process remains efficient.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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