When to Hire a Fractional VP Sales or GTM Leader?

The Problem

If you’re new to the concept, start with what a fractional VP of Sales actually is. Below are ten reasons companies should consider hiring fractional sales and GTM leadership:

Cost and Experience Gap: “You need sales and GTM experience but just found out how much full-time tech salespeople get paid.” This addresses the financial reality of hiring experienced talent.

Building Scalable Systems: Organizations with initial market validation need to transition from ad-hoc sales to “a repeatable, scaleable sales engine.”

Burn Rate Management: In current economic conditions, controlling spending has become critical for survival.

Time and Bandwidth: Fractional leaders provide both expertise and dedicated hours focused on revenue generation.

Market Expansion: New products or markets require GTM strategy development, ICP definition, channel setup, and sales motion establishment.

Revenue Optimization: Converting struggling pipelines requires expert diagnosis of underlying issues.

Speed of Leadership: Hiring permanent heads of sales typically requires six months; fractional arrangements provide immediate impact.

Coverage Needs: Fractional models address parental leave and other temporary gaps.

Operational Flexibility: The model adapts to specific business requirements without long-term commitment.

Investor Appeal: Demonstrable sales traction strengthens fundraising narratives.

The Solution

Fractional GTM and sales leadership addresses these challenges through a flexible, cost-effective, and immediately impactful engagement model.

Many of these scenarios overlap with what I call the Sales Valley of Death, the dangerous gap between founder-led sales and a scalable revenue engine. If you’re a founder still running sales yourself, that’s often the right move early on. Here’s why founders must always lead the first sales.