Send me a text (I will personally respond)
Are you wrestling with the decision of when to bring on your first sales leader? Wondering if your startup has achieved enough product-market fit before scaling the sales team? Curious about common pitfalls and best practices in building a sales function that can take you from zero to millions in ARR? This episode tackles the pivotal transitions every cybersecurity startup faces when growing its go-to-market engine.
In this conversation, we discuss:
👉 How and when to hire your first sales leader, and whether founders should lead sales for as long as possible
👉 Building a sales team for scale: transitioning from a few “hunters” to team structures and leadership as you reach new growth stages
👉 Essential onboarding, metrics, and operational insights for minimizing risk and accelerating sales velocity
About our guest
Tony Surak is the Partner focused on GTM at DataTribe, a unique cyber startup foundry where he invests in and co-builds cybersecurity companies aiming to deliver generational leaps in the field. Drawing from his experience as a multi-time sales leader, operator, and go-to-market advisor, Tony has deep expertise in guiding early-stage companies through formative sales and marketing transformations.
Summary
Listen in to tap into Tony Surak’s battle-tested advice on founder-led sales, strategic sales leadership hires, and building a revenue machine in cybersecurity startups. Whether you’re debating your first sales hire or scaling beyond your founding team, Tony shares actionable frameworks and candid lessons learned. Don’t miss this episode if you’re serious about accelerating your go-to-market motion!
Connect & Resources
Follow me on LinkedIn for regular posts about growing your cybersecurity startup
Want to grow your revenue faster? Check out my consulting and training
Need ideas about how to grow your pipeline? Sign up for my newsletter.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.