Stop Hunting The Star AE One Stage Behind You. Look One Stage Ahead.

Here's a view that lands badly at first and better the longer you sit with it. When a Series B CRO tells me they want the top-billing AE from a Series A — the founder of the sales team, the one everyone knows — I try to walk them off it. Not always successfully.

The candidate who tends to make your life easier is one rung further up the stage ladder and one rung lower on the internal pecking order: a #2 or #3 at a Series C.

Three reasons

They've already sat in the seat you're hiring for. They've watched what a Series B needs from an AE — from underneath. They know why the #1 hires stayed and why the #4 hires didn't.

They've been sold to by CROs at your stage. Every VP Sales at their current company has pitched them internally. They know exactly what a fair Series B narrative sounds like and what a fantasy one sounds like. You can't sell them the second one.

The move is an upgrade for them. Bigger patch, more autonomy, sharper story. Their motivation and yours point the same way. A #1 from a Series A going into your seat is a lateral move at best, a downgrade at worst — and any AE taking a downgrade is either desperate or missing information you don't have.

It's counter-intuitive when the board recognises the logo from the stage below. It's obvious on the ground, once you've watched enough of these hires land or fail on stage fit rather than pedigree.