VP Sales Executive Search
for B2B Software

Clients We've Served

Builder, Scaler, or Hunter — The Mandate Determines Everything

The VP Sales role in B2B software covers an enormous range of actual jobs. At one end is the builder: a company with a loose sales motion, a small team, and a need for someone who can create process, define the ICP, and get to repeatable revenue from a standing start. At the other end is the scaler: a company with a proven motion that needs a VP Sales to grow the team from 15 to 50, implement the right tech stack, and sustain growth without breaking what already works. And in between is the enterprise hunter: a company pushing into large accounts where the VP Sales's personal network and ability to navigate complex enterprise deals is as important as their management ability.

These are different jobs, and they require different people. The VP Sales who is exceptional at building from scratch is often a poor fit for scaling a mature team. The experienced team manager often lacks the appetite to close deals personally when the pipeline is thin. Getting mandate clarity on this spectrum is the first thing M Search does before a VP Sales search opens.

The Wrong VP Sales Is Often Worse Than No Hire

The VP Sales mis-hire in a PE or VC-backed software company is uniquely damaging. Unlike a bad individual contributor hire, a bad VP Sales typically takes 9 to 12 months to fully surface — by which point the team has been under-led, the pipeline has deteriorated, and the company has lost a year it cannot get back. The cost isn't just the search fee and the severance; it's the compounding cost of missed quota, team attrition, and board confidence that takes years to rebuild.

That's why M Search invests heavily in the brief before opening a VP Sales search. Understanding the company's actual commercial problem — not just the job description — determines whether the right candidate is a builder, a scaler, an enterprise specialist, or something else entirely. A 30-minute call with Graham at the start of the process is often enough to avoid a fundamental mismatch in candidate profile.

PE and VC Context: Pipeline Expectations from Day One

VP Sales hires in PE and VC-backed companies carry a specific kind of pressure that isn't present in public or family-owned businesses. The board has a return model. The investor has milestones. The incoming VP Sales is expected to produce — not just ramp — and the expectation at 90 days is often more demanding than at most companies. Candidates who haven't worked in a PE or VC portfolio environment are often surprised by the pace and the transparency.

M Search exclusively serves PE and VC-backed clients. Every VP Sales candidate Graham presents has been vetted for whether they can operate under this kind of scrutiny — not just whether they can perform in a comfortable environment with unlimited ramp time and a forgiving board.

Placing US VP Sales for European Software Companies

A significant share of M Search's VP Sales placements have been into European, Israeli, and internationally headquartered software companies entering the US market. These searches have a specific challenge: the company needs someone who can build a US commercial function effectively with minimal handholding from a leadership team that is 5 to 9 time zones away. The first US VP Sales for a European company is effectively a country manager and a sales leader simultaneously — they're building relationships, hiring AEs, and closing deals without a local support structure.

That requires a candidate profile that is substantially different from a domestic VP Sales hire: high autonomy, strong personal network in the relevant US market segment, and genuine startup tolerance. M Search has placed into this context more than a dozen times — for companies backed by Eurazeo, Marlin Equity, and others — and the network of candidates who fit this specific profile is one of M Search's core differentiators.

Comp, Equity, and Closing

VP Sales candidates are often the most comp-sophisticated executives in the market. They understand OTE, accelerators, equity vesting, and how to compare an offer at one stage versus another. Getting the comp structure right — base, variable, equity, and the plan mechanics — is as important as identifying the right candidate. M Search works with clients to build offers that are competitive and close, not just technically in the right range.

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