Founding Sales
Your first AE, SDR or sales leader. The hire that defines your revenue trajectory — we've done this over 50 times.
Specialist early-stage SaaS recruiters
We hire your founding GTM team.
GTM People is the specialist recruitment partner for early-stage SaaS companies building their first go-to-market teams. From founding AEs to first sales leaders — we find the talent that turns traction into revenue.
Market map
360 sellers approached. Specifically for your role.
No job board blasts. No CV farming.
Screen & qualify
Screened against your brief, not a keyword list.
Curated shortlist
3–5 fully briefed candidates. Typically within 5 working days.
Offer & close
One hire. Backed by a 3-month replacement guarantee.
- 0+GTM & Sales placements
- 0+ yrsSpecialist experience
- 0+SaaS & Tech clients
- 0 daysTo first shortlist
What we do
Every GTM hire, covered.
We specialise in placing go-to-market talent at SaaS companies from Seed through to Series C — the critical growth stage where the right hire changes everything.
Account Executives
Closers who thrive in ambiguity. Mid-market and enterprise AEs at every stage, from first quota-carrier to senior enterprise.
Customer Success
Retention-obsessed CSMs and AMs who turn customers into advocates. Net revenue retention starts with the right people.
Sales Development
Pipeline machines. SDRs and BDRs who create qualified opportunities from scratch — outbound, inbound, and hybrid.
GTM Leadership
CROs, VPs of Sales, and Heads of Revenue who've scaled a function before and know what good looks like at your stage.
Revenue Operations
The system thinkers who wire your GTM engine for scale. RevOps, SalesOps, and Marketing Ops specialists.
Marketing
Demand gen, product marketing and growth hires who build pipeline and position you to win.
GTM Engineering
The new breed wiring Clay, outbound and AI into pipeline systems — rare, and easy to hire wrong.
Pre-Sales & Solutions
Sales engineers and solutions consultants who win the technical sale and de-risk the deal.
How it works · for clients
From brief to shortlist. Five days.
At Seed to Series C, every week without the right person costs revenue. Our process is built for speed without cutting corners on quality.
- 01
Deep Brief
A 60-minute onboarding call. We go beyond the job spec — your stage, culture, ICP, what the last hire got wrong, what great actually looks like in this role at your size of business.
- 02
Market Map
We build a targeted longlist from our active GTM network and run a structured headhunt. No job board blasts. No CV farming. Every candidate is approached specifically for your role.
- 03
Screen & Qualify
We screen candidates against your brief, verify track record, check motivations are genuine, and prepare a written summary on each. You only see people who are truly in play.
- 04
Curated Shortlist
You receive 3–5 fully briefed, motivated candidates — typically within 5 working days. Each comes with a summary, salary expectations, and our assessment of fit.
- 05
Interview Support
We manage scheduling, prep both sides, gather structured feedback after each stage, and keep candidates warm so you don't lose them to a competitor offer while you deliberate.
- 06
Offer & Close
We handle the offer, negotiate on your behalf, and manage the counter-offer risk. 7 in 10 candidates who accept a counter-offer leave within 9 months — we coach through this carefully.
30 / 60 / 90 day check-ins
After every placement we check in with both the client and the candidate at 30, 60, and 90 days. If something isn't working, we want to know — and fix it — before it becomes a problem. Every placement carries our 3-month replacement guarantee.
TaaS clients: ongoing partnership
For Scaleup and Unicorn tier clients, we run a monthly hiring review — pipeline updates, market intelligence, upcoming role planning. Your talent partner stays embedded so you're never starting from scratch on the next hire.
For candidates
- 01
Register
Apply for a specific role or register your interest in being considered for future opportunities. We review every submission personally — no black hole.
- 02
Intro Call
A consultant calls within 48 hours. We want to understand your motivations, not just your CV — what stage you want to join, what kind of mission matters, what you're actually looking for next.
- 03
Matched to Roles
We match you to live roles that fit your profile. We'll only put you forward for roles where we genuinely believe you're a strong fit — not to fill a quota.
- 04
Supported Process
We brief you fully on the company, coach you through the interview stages, manage feedback in real time, and handle offer negotiation so you go in with full information.
“Revenue is a hiring problem. We fix it.”
About GTM People
Built by someone who's been in the seat.
GTM People was founded by Ian Harwood — a specialist GTM recruiter with over 20 years of experience placing sales, marketing, RevOps, and CS leaders across the UK and Europe.
After over two decades placing GTM talent — first at generalist agencies, then building a specialist SaaS-focused recruitment desk — Ian saw the same problem repeated with every early-stage client: they were getting a generalist recruitment process applied to a highly specialist hiring challenge.
Early-stage SaaS hiring is different. The profile that succeeds at a 30-person Series A looks nothing like the person who thrives at a 300-person Series C. The motivation, the risk appetite, the skills that matter — completely different. Most recruiters don't know the difference. We do, because we've spent over 20 years in it.
GTM People was built to solve that. Specialist knowledge, a warm active network, and a subscription model that aligns our incentives with yours — not just with the next placement fee.
- 01
Stage Specialists
We understand what great looks like at Seed vs Series A vs Series C — and hire the right person for the right stage, not just the best CV.
- 02
Network First
Our candidates are warm, vetted, and motivated. We know who's actually open to a move before we ever pick up the phone.
- 03
Speed Without Compromise
Day-one feasibility report. Five-day shortlist. Because your pipeline won’t wait.
- 04
3-Month Guarantee
Every placement carries a 3-month replacement guarantee. We back every hire we make — no small print, no excuses.
- 20+Years specialist GTM recruitment
- 5Days to first shortlist
- 7/10Counter-offer hires leave in 9 months
- Seed–COur focus. 100% SaaS GTM.
- 3moReplacement guarantee on every placement
- UK·US·EULondon-based, placing globally
Open roles
Current GTM opportunities.
All roles are confidential — company names are disclosed at shortlist stage. Apply once and we'll match you to relevant opportunities as they come in.
25 roles · Company names disclosed at shortlist stage · snapshot 2026-10-06
Not seeing the right role? Register your interest →
Why TaaS?
Traditional recruitment has the wrong incentives.
A traditional agency gets paid once — when you make the hire. That means their interest ends the moment the contract is signed. TaaS flips the model.
Traditional agency
GTM People TaaS
Per-hire fee creates pressure to fill fast, not well
Monthly retainer means we care about long-term quality
No incentive to care what happens after placement
Your talent partner stays embedded in your team
Candidates often oversold to get the fee
Candidates are briefed fully — no surprises after joining
Every search starts from scratch
Pipeline always warm — next hire is faster than the last
You're a transaction, not a relationship
3-month guarantee on every placement
Talent as a Service
Flexible recruitment built for startup economics.
Choose a model that fits your hiring volume and budget — from a single founding hire to an ongoing talent partnership.
Intelligence adds competitor watchlists, comp benchmarking & market reports — a flat +50% at every tier.
Launchpad Per hire
£500/mo
£5,000 / year
- Dedicated search & active headhunt
- 3–5 curated candidates per role
- Quarterly talent report + competitor watchlist
Everything in the plan
- No included placements · 20% per hire
- 3-month replacement guarantee
Most Popular
Scaleup Monthly retainer
£1,000/mo
£10,000 / year
- Dedicated talent partner embedded with your team
- Competitor watchlist + compensation benchmarking
- Priority sourcing & market mapping
Everything in the plan
- 1 included placement / year (up to £75k base)
- Then 17.5% · 6-month guarantee
Unicorn Strategic partner
£2,500/mo
£30,000 / year
- Full GTM talent partnership + executive search
- Salary benchmarking & market data
- 2 included placements / year (up to £100k base) — or 3 up to £75k
Everything in the plan
- Then 15% · 12-month rolling guarantee
- On-market talent alerts across up to 10 target companies (competitors, similar sales motions)
Partner Embedded
£8,500/mo
Monthly · min 3 months
- A GTM recruiter embedded in your team, full-time
- Unlimited hiring within capacity
- Same flat price whatever tier you're on
Everything in the plan
- Fractional option: £4,500/mo, 2 days a week
2026 Salary Guide
What does GTM talent cost at your stage?
UK market rates for B2B SaaS go-to-market roles. Ranges reflect Seed to Series C benchmarks — London-weighted, based on live placement data.
Need a detailed benchmark for your specific role, stage, and geography? We'll send you a custom comp report.
Request a salary benchmark →Common questions
Everything you need to know about hiring GTM talent.
Answers to the questions we get asked most often by founders and hiring managers at early-stage SaaS companies.
What is GTM recruitment?
GTM (go-to-market) recruitment is the specialist hiring of sales, marketing, customer success, and RevOps professionals for B2B SaaS companies. It covers Account Executives, SDRs, BDRs, Customer Success Managers, RevOps specialists, and GTM leaders from Head of Sales to CRO.
When should a SaaS startup hire their first salesperson?
Most early-stage SaaS companies should hire their first dedicated salesperson once they have 5–10 paying customers and repeatable product-market fit signals. At Seed stage, founders typically carry the first sales motion before making a first commercial hire between £1M–£3M ARR. Hiring too early — before PMF — is the most common costly mistake.
What's the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
An SDR (Sales Development Representative) typically handles inbound lead qualification — responding to people who've raised their hand. A BDR (Business Development Representative) focuses on outbound prospecting to target accounts. At early-stage SaaS startups, the roles are often combined, with the hire focused on building pipeline from scratch using both motions.
What does a SaaS GTM recruitment agency charge?
GTM People operates on a Talent as a Service (TaaS) model — a monthly or annual subscription giving you a dedicated talent partner without per-placement fees. For lower-volume hiring we also offer retained search, structured in thirds: on instruction, shortlist, and placement. TaaS clients making 3+ hires per year typically save 40–60% compared to traditional per-hire agency costs.
How long does it take to hire an Account Executive?
Working with GTM People, we typically deliver a first shortlist within five days. Without specialist support, most in-house teams take 60–90 days to hire. The biggest factors are comp-package competitiveness and clarity on the ideal candidate profile.
What should I pay a Series A SaaS Account Executive?
UK: a mid-market AE at Series A typically earns £55,000–£75,000 base with 50/50 OTE (£110,000–£150,000 total); London and enterprise sit at the higher end (£80,000–£100,000 base, OTE to £180,000+). US: expect roughly $120,000–$150,000 base with $240,000–$300,000 OTE for a comparable mid-market AE, higher in the Bay Area / New York and for enterprise. Under-paying by more than ~10% vs. market means you'll lose candidates at offer stage.
Do you work with companies outside the UK?
Yes — while GTM People is based in London, we place GTM talent globally. We regularly support SaaS companies hiring across EMEA (Germany, Netherlands, France), as well as US-based companies expanding into the UK and Europe. We can also help with US-based GTM hires for companies in the Americas.
What if the hire doesn't work out?
All GTM People placements come with a 3-month replacement guarantee as standard — if the hire doesn't work out within the first 3 months, we'll rerun the search at no additional fee. Scaleup and Unicorn TaaS clients benefit from extended 6–12 month guarantee periods. The guarantee does not apply if fees are unpaid.
Partners & perks
The tools, training & services we trust to help you scale.
We partner with best-in-class providers so our clients and candidates get preferential access, discounts and support — well beyond the placement itself.
- R
RemoFirst
Global hiring & EOR — Compliant international hiring in 185+ countries, at partner rates.
- P
Pocket
AI meeting & call notes — An AI device that captures your meetings and calls and turns them into instant transcripts, summaries and action items — ideal for sales teams and founders.
- A
Apollo.io
Sales intelligence & engagement — All-in-one sales intelligence & engagement — verified B2B contact data, email sequences and a dialler in one place.
- A
Amplemarket
AI outbound platform — AI-powered outbound for B2B sales teams — prospect data, multichannel sequences and AI copilots to book more meetings.
- C
Claap
AI call recording & coaching — AI call recorder and sales-coaching tool — captures meetings without a bot, summarises calls and helps managers coach reps.
- A
AI Accounts
Accounting & finance for founders — Startup-savvy, AI-led accountants who genuinely get early-stage SaaS — cash visibility, forecasting and finance support for founders and their new hires.
- C
Close
Sales CRM for startups & SMBs — A CRM built for startup and SMB sales teams — calling, email, SMS and pipeline in one place so reps sell instead of doing admin.
- T
Tellent
HR & recruiting (Recruitee ATS) — People platform for growing teams — Recruitee applicant tracking plus HR, performance and learning tools in one suite.
- R
Rippling
HR, payroll & IT platform — All-in-one workforce platform — payroll, HR, benefits, devices and app access running off one employee record.
- N
Navan
Business travel & expense — Business travel and expense management in one app — book trips, control policy and automate expense reports.
- P
Pipedrive
Sales CRM & pipeline — Simple, visual sales CRM and pipeline management for growing teams — set up a founder-led pipeline in an afternoon. Extended 30-day free trial via our link.
- G
Gamma
AI decks & documents — AI-powered presentations, documents and web pages created in minutes — build an interview case-study or board deck fast.
- L
lemlist
Multichannel outreach — Multichannel outreach for personalised email and LinkedIn prospecting — personalisation at scale for a lean SDR team.
- K
KrispCall
Cloud phone & dialler — AI-powered cloud phone system with virtual numbers, a power dialler and CRM integrations — give a new SDR a dialler and local numbers on day one.
- C
Capsule CRM
Simple CRM for small teams — Simple, affordable CRM built for small teams, with Transpond for email marketing — a UK-built first CRM for founder-led sales.
- S
Surfer
SEO content optimisation — Write content that ranks — Surfer scores and guides your pages against what's already winning in search, for marketing teams and candidates building a personal brand.
- D
Dropbox DocSend
Document sharing & analytics — Secure document sharing with analytics — see who opened your pitch deck or proposal and for how long. Ideal for founders sending decks to investors.
- T
Trainual
Onboarding & SOPs — Turns your playbook, processes and onboarding into one place new hires can follow from day one — so a new SDR or AE ramps on your process, not tribal knowledge.
- D
Datarails
FP&A for finance teams — FP&A platform that automates budgeting, forecasting and board reporting while keeping Excel at the core — finance firepower before your first FP&A hire.
- L
Lusha
Sales intelligence & contact data — Verified emails and direct dials for sales teams, with a free plan to start — useful for reps prospecting and for candidates researching target employers.
- F
folk
AI-assisted CRM for small teams — A simple, AI-assisted CRM for small teams and founder-led sales — contacts, pipelines and follow-ups in one lightweight workspace.
- D
doola
US company formation & compliance — US company formation, bookkeeping, tax and compliance for founders outside the US — Delaware C-corp or LLC, EIN and registered agent, handled online.
- S
Signable
UK eSignature — UK-built eSignature for getting contracts, offer letters and onboarding documents signed quickly and securely.
- M
MeetGeek
AI note-taker — AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarises your Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls, then sends notes and action items to your CRM and team tools — so founders and new reps never lose what was agreed on a call.
- A
Aircall
Cloud phone system — Cloud phone system for sales and support teams: local numbers in 100+ countries, call recording, a power dialler and native HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive integrations — so every call is logged without admin.
- B
Blinq
Digital business cards — Digital business cards for the whole team — share contact details by QR code or tap, keep branding consistent, and capture leads met at events straight into your CRM. 50% off the first 3 months of Blinq for Business through our link.
- L
Livestorm
Webinars & virtual events — Browser-based webinars and virtual events for SaaS teams — product demos, customer onboarding and live Q&As with registration pages, follow-up emails and CRM sync built in. Nothing for attendees to download.
- V
Vista Social
Social media · sales & marketing — All-in-one social media management: schedule and publish across every channel, engage from one inbox, and report on performance — managing multiple brands or clients from a single workspace.
Your logo here? We're building our partner ecosystem. If you offer tools, training or services for GTM teams, let's talk. Apply to partner → · Partner details and links: gtm-people.com/partners
Insights & resources
GTM hiring intelligence for SaaS founders.
Free GTM hiring insights + report snippets in your inbox — one email a month, no spam.
Want the full picture? Our Quarterly GTM Salary & Market Report goes deeper on UK & US comp, hiring trends and benchmarks — best price per quarter when you subscribe, or buy a single report. Register interest →
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To wire — live feed
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To wire — live feed
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To wire — live feed
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Get in touch
Ready to build your GTM team?
Tell us what you're building and what you need. We'll get back to you within one working day.
- Phone+44 7803 236717
- Emailhello@gtm-people.com
- LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gtm-people-com
- Based inLondon, UK — placing globally
Looking for a role? Register your details and we'll match you to relevant GTM opportunities as they come in — no spam, just relevant roles. Browse open roles →