Most founders wait too long to make their first sales hire or worse, they hire the wrong one.

In this episode of Sip & Scale, I sat down with Mafalda Johannsen, a sales hiring expert who’s worked with early-stage startups across Europe and the US. We talked about why founders struggle with sales (especially if they’re product people), the top mistakes made in the hiring process, and why great onboarding is the difference between your first rep thriving or ghosting you after month two.

Mafalda also shares what founders should actually do before hiring—like validating your offer, cleaning up your CRM, and understanding who your real customer is. Oh, and we got into why conference sales often flop (hint: no prep), how founders should think about remote and global hiring, and what a strong sales process actually looks like.

What You’ll Learn:

👉 You don’t need a sales background to succeed—transferable skills can be just as powerful.
👉 Founders should lead sales early on to truly understand their customers and validate the product.
👉 Interviewing potential customers is a critical first step before scaling your sales team.
👉 You should only hire sales reps when sales starts pulling you away from high-impact work.
👉 A strong hiring process includes a case study before interviews to evaluate real-world skills.
👉 Effective onboarding cuts ramp-up time and sets your sales hires up for success.
👉 Knowing your ideal customer profile (ICP) makes onboarding and sales training way easier.
👉 Delegation is key—when your time gets stretched thin, it’s time to start handing things off.

Whether you're a founder, sales leader, or hiring your first AE, this one’s packed with gems. Tune in!

Stay tuned for more episodes!
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