The Brief
A Series B B2B SaaS company had been searching for a VP Sales for over four months. Two retained search firms had been engaged, and both had failed to produce an accepted offer. The role was revenue-critical: the company had strong product-market fit and needed a sales leader who could build a repeatable enterprise motion from a $2M ARR base.
The CEO contacted Majhi Group after a board member referral. The brief was clear: close this search in under 60 days or the company would miss its Series C fundraising timeline.
Search Parameters
Phase 1: Brief Reconstruction (Days 1–3)
Diagnose why the previous searches failed
Before sourcing a single candidate, we conducted a structured intake to understand what the prior firms had presented. In both cases, the shortlists had included VP Sales candidates from companies 5-10x larger — enterprise motion specialists who were fundamentally incompatible with a build-from-scratch $2M ARR environment. The brief itself was the problem, not the sourcing.
Rewrite the profile criteria
Working with the CEO and CRO board observer, we rebuilt the profile from scratch: a builder profile who had taken a company from $1-5M to $10-20M ARR, with demonstrable experience running an outbound motion and a close partnership with Product. Stage fit became the primary filter. See: Founder-VP Fit Model.
Validate the compensation structure
The prior search had advertised $240K OTE — below market for the stage-matched profile. We restructured the package to $275K OTE with a 50/50 base/variable split and front-loaded equity refresh to compete with later-stage opportunities. Compensation was fixed before sourcing began.
Phase 2: Targeted Sourcing (Days 4–14)
With a rebuilt profile, we went directly to passive candidates — VP Sales profiles at $2-15M ARR SaaS companies who were not actively looking but whose trajectory suggested they were likely 12-18 months from a natural transition. According to our analysis and industry data, 70-80% of the strongest VP Sales candidates are passive at any given moment. A search that relies on job boards has structurally excluded most of the market.
The Passive Candidate Principle
The strongest VP Sales candidates are almost always passive. They are succeeding at their current role. The outreach must open with their situation — their plateau, their ceiling, the challenge they haven't solved yet — not ours. We lead with insight, not opportunity.
Phase 3: Shortlist and Assessment (Days 15–28)
We presented a shortlist of four candidates within 14 days of beginning active outreach. Three met the stage-fit criteria exactly; one was a stretch case we included for comparison. The CEO's approval rate on the shortlist was 75% — versus a 38% baseline we had inherited from the previous searches. See: Startup Leadership Scorecard.
Assessment focused on three dimensions: (1) evidence of building from ambiguity at the relevant revenue stage; (2) outbound motion design and team structure philosophy; (3) founder alignment on the pace and autonomy of the role.
Phase 4: Offer and Close (Days 29–41)
The finalist candidate received a competing offer from a Series C company during our process. Rather than treating this as a threat, we managed it as a decision framework: the Majhi Group equity narrative preparation helped the candidate compare the two opportunities on expected value, not just cash. The offer was accepted on day 41. Counter-offer was declined within 48 hours.
See: How Equity Framing Converts Passive Candidates and Counter-Offer Management.
What Made This Search Different
- Brief reconstruction first: We didn't source against the inherited brief. We rebuilt it before touching the market.
- Passive-first sourcing: No job boards. Direct outreach to non-looking candidates who matched the rebuilt profile.
- Compensation fixed before sourcing: The comp structure was validated against market before the first outreach — not discovered at offer stage.
- Stage fit as primary filter: Brilliance at $50M ARR is a liability at $2M ARR. We filtered on stage first, function second.
Related: State of Startup Hiring 2026 | Why Startup Executive Searches Fail
"41 days. A $275K search. Two firms failed in 60+ days. That's not luck -- that's a different system."
-- Majhi Group placement record. Read the full process anatomy