Eric GilpinScaled GTM org to 400+ people and delivered $650M sales

“Eight months usually means you're shopping for a unicorn instead of deciding what job actually needs doing. I'd lock the impact you need in the next 12 months, list the jobs to be done, then hire for the team you have, not a perfect resume.”

Glenn RachlinBuilt GTM orgs from zero at Blockaid and Alchemy

“The role stays undefined because own GTM is three different jobs pretending to be one. At Blockaid I split it: one person to close the first ten deals, another to build the pipeline machine, a third to figure out positioning. If you can't name which of those you need first, no candidate can save you.”

Ahmed AhresCo-founded Nativ, a16z Speedrun-backed

“We spent months at Reactor trying to define our first GTM hire before I took the role myself, and the real problem was that we kept writing a job description for a person who could do everything instead of deciding which one of us was already doing the most painful thing.”

Robert GilbreathFounding CMO of ShipStation

“Eight months usually means you are trying to hire someone to make decisions the leadership team has not made yet: who we are for, why we win, and what we will stop doing. I would stop the search for a month, answer those three questions, and the role will write itself.”

BJ LarsenBuilt ClickUp’s GTM ops org that scaled to a $4B valuation

“Eight months tells me you're not hiring for one job; you're trying to hire someone to resolve a fight between sales, marketing, and product about who owns what. I'd stop writing the JD and first write down the three decisions this person actually has to own: forecast methodology, territory carve, and the lead-to-op handoff.”

Kyle NortonCRO at Lassie

“We spent months trying to hire a GTM AI lead at Owner and the real problem was exactly that: we couldn't agree on what good looked like, so nobody looked good enough. I'd freeze the search for a week, write down the three outcomes this person actually owns in year one, and only then decide if it's one hire or two.”

Basten HeutinkChief of Staff at Delphi

“Eight months usually means you're trying to hire a title before you've decided what winning looks like. At Clipbook I had to own GTM, CS, and RevOps as one job because the company needed revenue, not a neat org chart; start by writing the three things this person must make true in year one, then interview candidates against those outcomes instead of their previous title.”

Peter FogConsultant | Fractional Partnership Leader at Peter Fog LLC

“I spent thirty years watching companies hire a sales guy with a rolodex to own GTM, then wonder why nothing changed. The real cost is eight months of drift while leadership avoids answering what motion actually creates pipeline. I'd stop recruiting and first write down the one repeatable deal path, then hire someone who has already built that path, not someone who inherits your ambiguity.”

Vishveshwar JatainExpert at U of Digital

“Eight months tells me you are not hiring for one role, you are trying to hire someone to resolve a disagreement you have not had yet. I would stop writing the JD and first decide whether the next six months demand pipeline, positioning, or a working funnel, because own GTM means a different person for each.”