📉 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐡: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧

There’s one hiring trend we consistently warn clients about. The more you see it, the clearer it becomes: success in one sales environment doesn’t guarantee success in another.

We work across the David & Goliath spectrum, recruiting for and headhunting from global market data firms to helping start-ups hire people who can build from zero.

This attractive but flawed trend (outlined below) isn’t unique to market data. It’s just easier to spot in one of our three niches, where a small number of dominant data vendors shape the landscape. But the same lesson applies to any company selling into complex, high-value environments.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠

🚫 People assume hiring from a well-known brand means instant credibility

🚫 But those sellers are often used to warm intros and deep product moats

🚫 They’ve sold with weight behind them, not with everything to prove

🚫 And the sales process? Often built on trust and traction, not qualification and disciplined ops

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲

Startups and scale-ups don’t have that luxury. The ones doing it well tend to build their sales motion from scratch with structure, process, and a lot more hustle. Enterprise deal experience matters. But it’s not the same as being built for the uphill battle.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞

This is why companies need to expand and adjust their hunting grounds. Focus on finding people who’ve thrived in similar stages, not just those from businesses the size you aspire to become. Different growth phases require different strengths and mindsets. 

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬

This not only applies to senior roles which we headhunt for. The stage of growth and the attitudes and values of the junior hires is also very relevant and actually harder to find when experience is limited. That's one of the reasons we built Hiremetrix to help showcase talent that’s often overlooked by CVs alone.