when gtm hiring gets hard in scale-up saas

GTM hiring in scale-up SaaS can work very well. We’ve seen teams build strong sales functions quickly when there’s clarity around the role, the environment and what success actually looks like.

This blog is for the moments when it feels harder than it should.

After 45 plus years combined hiring GTM talent in SaaS, we’ve noticed that when teams run into challenges, it’s rarely because people don’t know what they’re doing. More often, it’s because a few small points of friction compound over the course of the search.

If any of the situations below sound familiar, you’re not alone. They’re common, and they’re fixable.

One of the most common situations we see in GTM hiring is a steady flow of candidates, but very few that feel like a clear yes.

In our experience, this usually points to a lack of clarity around the hiring persona rather than a lack of talent in the market.

It helps to be aligned early on:

• The environments this person has already succeeded in

• How they operate when there’s limited structure or support

• What actually motivates them in tougher moments

• How success will be measured in the first 12 months

This matters just as much when hiring ICs or first-in-region roles as it does for senior hires. Without this clarity, searches tend to drag while teams wait for something to click.

If candidates start engaged and then lose momentum, it’s often a sign of uncertainty rather than disinterest.

Candidates want to understand how your GTM motion works today, not just where you hope it will be in the future.

From what we see, momentum tends to drop when candidates are unclear on:

• How leads are generated

• How deals move through the funnel

• Where friction exists

• What is likely to change over the next 6 to 12 months

You don’t need perfect answers, but consistency and honesty matter here.

Hiring into unstructured environments is always more nuanced.

When first hires or first in region roles feel difficult to close, it’s often because expectations haven’t been made explicit enough early on.

Clarity around autonomy, decision making, support and what success looks like without an existing team can remove a lot of friction on both sides.

Late stage drop outs are frustrating, but they’re rarely random.

In most cases, there are early signals such as slower responses, fewer questions or a noticeable change in energy.

Staying close to candidates throughout the process and addressing concerns as they arise often makes the difference between closing a hire and losing them late on.

Candidates quickly pick up on misalignment between founders, GTM leadership and finance.

When expectations or success metrics differ between interviewers, confidence drops and decision making slows.

From our experience, alignment on ownership, success measures and decision authority before interviews begin makes the process smoother for everyone involved.

For GTM roles in scale-up SaaS, the hiring process is often a candidate’s first real insight into how the company operates.

Clear communication, well defined stages and timely feedback go a long way in building confidence.

When the process feels unclear or drawn out, candidates often read that as a signal rather than an isolated issue.

Across hundreds of SaaS GTM hires, the pattern is consistent.

When GTM hiring becomes harder than expected, the root cause is usually upstream. Once clarity improves around the persona, the GTM motion and internal alignment, searches tend to move forward more predictably.

If GTM hiring feels tougher than it should right now, it doesn’t mean something is fundamentally broken.

In our experience, small adjustments made early can remove a surprising amount of friction later.

If any of the situations above resonate and you want a second opinion, we offer a GTM Hiring Health Check to help identify where friction may be creeping in and how to address it before the next hire.