ConsenseShould we hire a salesperson or another engineer next?
This decision is easy to get wrong by hiring for the function that feels most familiar rather than the one that's actually the bottleneck. The evidence is usually visible in the funnel or the backlog, not in instinct.
Ask the AI panel this question →Free to try. GPT, Claude, Gemini and DeepSeek answer independently.
What actually decides it
Where is the actual bottleneck?
If qualified leads are stalling in the pipeline, that's a sales gap. If the product roadmap is the constraint on growth, that's an engineering gap.
Can the founder still sell?
Many companies hire a salesperson too early, before the founder has found a repeatable pitch that a hire could actually learn and repeat.
Revenue per engineering hour vs per sales hour
Compare what an additional engineer would ship against what an additional salesperson would close, in the same time window.
Runway impact
Sales hires often take longer to become net-positive than engineering hires. Factor ramp time into the runway math, not just salary.
What would change the answer
- A repeatable sales process the founder has already validated
- A specific backlog item blocking measurable revenue
- Realistic ramp-time assumptions for either hire
Get a verdict on your situation
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