BoSUSA25 | Kristie Jones | Overcoming Founder Advantage – Building a Sales Team That Scales

Kristie shares some practical, founder-tested frameworks, not sales-guru fluff, that will help you unlock how to build a sales structure that will scale.

She will walk us through:

- The question you must ask yourself BEFORE you hire.
- How to hire the right first salesperson for you.
- How your role as founder changes post-hire.
- Different approaches to scaling the sales function in your company beyond the first hire.

This is not a one-size-fits-all BS playbook – Kristie gives you the knowledge, tools, and frameworks to understand how you can build a playbook that works for you.

1. kristiekjones.com Overcoming Founder Advantage: Building a Sales Team That Scales Kristie K. Jones “The Sales Enchantress” Business of Software 2025

2. The Real Magic: Sales that Scale Beyond You! From Founder Magic → Scalable Sales Machine

3. The Truth Behind the Magic You gave birth to the baby, so you know everything about it. Your title is Founder, Owner, CEO, President. You worked in the industry for years. Your network is vast. Founder Magic ≠ Sales Process

4. What Is the Founder Advantage? Your Superpower Your Bottleneck 🔹 Deep product knowledge 🔸 Over-personalizes the sale 🔹 Credibility & relationships 🔸 Buyers trust you — not your team 🔹 Fast decisions, no red tape 🔸 Zero process to hand off 🔹 Name on the door = instant trust 🔸 “If I want it done right, I’ll do it myself.” “ Founder advantage gets you started…..and then it holds you back.”

5. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There Your early success = hustle + instinct. Your next stage = process + people. “We’re a family problem.” Having a Culture of Accountability is part of growing up as a company. Growth requires getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

6. How Do You Know It’s Time to Step Aside? You’re Ready If… You’re Not (Yet) If… You’ve sold > $750K+ ARR You still tweak pricing every deal You have a documented sales process Every sale looks different You know your ICP & buying triggers You say “anyone could use this” You’ve hit PMF & repeatability You still rely on referrals & friends You feel you’ve taken it as far as your skillset allows You’re still “the face” of every deal If your sales depend on you, your company can’t scale beyond you .

7. The Cost of Waiting Lost Revenue Growth Founder Bottleneck Missed Momentum Burnout & Risk Delayed Learning Curve Revenue delayed….. Is Revenue denied

8. The Messy Middle You’ve proven it works. Now you must prove it can scale .

9. Building Out Your Sales Team of the Future….Today 🤝 Humans Handle nuance, empathy, and complex conversations ⚙️ Digital Agents Manage repetitive outreach and data entry 🔁 Automation Keeps pipeline, CRM, and workflows on track 📊 Intelligence (BI) Surfaces buying intent and opportunity patterns 🚀 Outcome Faster velocity • Lower CAC • Predictable growth

10. Hiring Your First Sales Professional Hunter/Farmer/Gatherer. Independent with a high-risk profile The rise of the “Full-cycle Seller”. Writing the Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP) – What do you really need? Let’s talk $$$$$. Building a formal interview process. Hiring is a 2-way Street – You want to hire an “Educated Consumer.” Onboarding: Don’t screw it up now. Industry, Product, Process, Tools. Ongoing Training and Coaching. Sales pros are professional interviewees, buyer beware.

11. Don’t S et Them Up to Fail Avoid These 6 Traps: 💣 Hiring too soon. 🧩 Hiring for culture, not for skill. 🌳 Choosing oaks instead of willows. 🔍 No formal interview process. 🏋️‍♂️ Skipping training because “they’ve sold before.” 🧠 Only interviewing people from your own industry . You can’t hold people accountable to expectations you never communicated.

12. Transitioning Back to Your Role as Founder Before Hiring After Hiring You’re the top seller You’re the sales coach & leader You’re managing deals You’re managing people & process You’re reacting to revenue You’re forecasting revenue You’re in the weeds You’re back to building the company You’re the face of sales You’re building the system for scale If you’re still your company’s best salesperson, you’re also its biggest bottleneck.

13. Scaling the Team Stage Focus Actions 1️⃣ Foundation (You + First Rep) Validate repeatable process Refine ICP, data, tighten messaging 2️⃣ Replication Hire 2nd & 3rd reps Document what’s working, standardize process 3️⃣ Structure Hire 4-5 reps and a Leader Introduce accountability & shared KPIs 4️⃣ Scale Hire Sales Ops/Engineer Build dashboards, automate reporting, forecast accuracy Scale is not just more people — it’s more process.

14. Key Takeaways: Scaling Beyond Founder-Led Sales Stage What It Means Your Challenge 1️⃣ Recognize Your Founder Advantage It got you started… now it’s holding you back. Admit it’s time to hand off sales. 2️⃣ Redefine Your Role Move from chief seller → sales enabler & CEO. Lead people and process, not deals. 3️⃣ Rebuild to Scale Layer structure: the right hire → system → team. Design your org before you grow it.

15. ASK ME ANYTHING! What’s your biggest challenge?

16. A FREE RESOURCE

17. KRISTIE K. JONES WWW.KRISTIEKJONES.COM LINKEDIN: KRISTIEKJONES YOUTUBE: @KRISTIEKJONES INSTAGRAM: KRISTIEJONES.SALES X: KRISTIEKJONES CONTRIBUTING WRITER - TOP SALES MAGAZINE UDEMY - SALES INSTRUCTOR SALES GRAVY - SALES INSTRUCTOR THANK YOU