When can a B2B startup afford its first salesperson?
Usually once monthly revenue holds above €15,000–25,000 and the founder has closed enough deals to hand over a repeatable process, not just a contact list.
Revenue is only one of the signals. Our guide on when founders should hand over sales puts first hires at a stable €15,000–25,000 a month and adds a second trigger: sales taking 40–50% of the founder's time. Below that level, a hire usually burns cash while the founder is still learning what actually makes customers buy.
The ramp matters as much as the salary. A new salesperson typically needs 4–6 months to reach founder-level performance. Take a fully loaded cost of €5,500 a month and a five-month ramp: you will have spent around €27,500 before the hire sells at full speed. You need either the revenue or the runway to carry that.
Hiring too early has a typical symptom: the salesperson asks for a playbook and there is none. If you cannot explain who buys, why they buy and how a deal moves from first call to signature, a hire will not fix the pipeline, and training a new rep will take your time instead of freeing it.
Signs you are ready to hire
- Stable revenueMonthly revenue has stayed above €15,000 for at least three months, not one lucky quarter.
- A repeatable pathYou have closed 10 or more customers yourself and can write down the steps from first call to signed deal.
- Founder time maxed outSales take 40–50% of your week and product or delivery is starting to slip.
- Meetings to hand overThere is a steady flow of first conversations. A new hire with an empty calendar spends months prospecting before closing anything.
Rule of thumb: hire when revenue, a repeatable process and your own calendar all say yes, not when only one of them does. Check how long a small B2B deal takes to close too, since a long cycle stretches the ramp further.