Startups For the Rest of Us Episode 807 | The "Core Four" SaaS Skills and Knowing When You Should Find a Co-founder (A Rob Solo Adventure)
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Nov 18, 2025 Is hiring a sales and marketing co-founder essential for technical SaaS founders? Rob discusses his "Core Four" skills: sales, marketing, product, and development, emphasizing their importance for early-stage teams. He shares experiences dealing with tricky enterprise clients and offers advice for managing numerous non-ideal customer profile signups. Additionally, a listener's inspiring startup exit story adds a personal touch to the conversation, highlighting the journey of entrepreneurship.
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The Core Four Determine Early SaaS Success
- The Core Four for SaaS are sales, marketing, product, and development and they determine early success.
- Missing any of these often causes repeated failure or slow growth in startups.
Fix Missing Core Skills With Founders, Not Contractors
- If you lack one of the Core Four, either learn it or get a founder-level person to own it.
- Don't assume outsourcing or hiring cheap contractors will replace founder-level capability early on.
Delay Outsourcing Core Roles Until Traction
- Don't outsource Core Four roles until you hit meaningful ARR (roughly $1M–$2M, or often $2M).
- Managing and hiring for these roles is far easier if you've done them yourself.
