Interim Head of Sales
I run your commercial function near full-time while I build it, then hand you the keys. The fastest path from founder-led selling to a revenue engine your team owns.
I run the commercial function while I build it.
Embedded as your Head of Sales for a fixed term. I own the commercial function while it's being built: live deals, pipeline, qualification, forecasting, the reps if you have them, the partner channel if it fits. You get a senior operator carrying the number, not an advisor reviewing it from the outside.
This is what I did at Copla, packaged. A commercial function from scratch in regulated fintech, MEDDPICC, HubSpot pipeline and deal-stage criteria, a partner channel through German law firms, built to be handed over.
One of these is usually live.
You just raised, and the board expects a real sales engine, with no time for a six-month VP search.
Your sales leader left or didn't work out, and you need someone carrying the number now, not in six months.
Your first sales hires aren't producing and you can't tell if it's the people or the system.
Pipeline exists, but nothing forecasts. Deals slip with no clear reason.
You're entering a regulated segment and the GTM suddenly has to speak compliance.
Which one fits you
Start with interim if…
- The engine doesn't exist yet, or is badly broken
- You just raised and need an engine fast
- You need someone carrying the number near full-time
- There's a clear handover target, a future hire or an internal lead
Choose fractional if…
- A working engine exists and needs senior steering
- You want the engine built, but at a lighter one-to-two-day cadence
- You want leadership continuity without a full-time cost
- We've finished an interim term and you want to keep the rhythm
30 / 60 / 90
Hands on live deals immediately. Pipeline hygiene fixed, MEDDPICC installed, deal stages rebuilt around real exit criteria. I find out fast whether the problem is the people or the system.
Forecasting you can trust and take to a board. A repeatable qualification and handoff. Rep coaching, and a partner channel where the market rewards one.
A documented playbook, a forecastable pipeline, and a team that runs without me. Then we renew on a lighter footing, or I exit clean.
The whole point of an interim is that you're not left dependent.
- The documented playbook and qualification framework
- Your CRM, configured, pipeline, deal stages, forecasting model
- Trained reps who can run the engine without me in the room
- A partner channel, where one was built
If you can't run it after I leave, I did the job wrong.
Priced on the outcome, not the day rate.
I work on a daily retainer, interim at three to four days a week, billed monthly, with no long lock-in beyond the agreed term. You're not buying days; you're installing a working sales engine, and replacing a full-time VP hire that costs far more, takes months to find, and might be the wrong bet.
Start small. Most engagements open with a short paid scoping diagnostic (one to two weeks) that de-risks the decision for both sides before we commit to a term.
Where it fits both sides, I'm open to structuring part of the retainer around performance, virtual shares, equity or debt, so my incentive points the same way as yours.
The questions founders actually ask
- Why not just hire someone permanent?
- You will, eventually. But a VP search is six months and a six-figure bet on a guess. I install the engine now, so when you do hire, they inherit a working system instead of a blank page.
- How is this different from a sales consultant?
- Consultants advise. I run the function, carry deals, sit in the forecast, manage the reps. You get an operator, not a deck.
- Three months isn't enough time.
- It's enough to build and document the engine. It's not enough for me to become a dependency, which is the point.
- Do you know our market?
- The sales engine is the same in any B2B SaaS, and I've built it in five different categories. I go deep where the buyer's context is specialised, including regulated fintech, DORA, MiCA, NIS2, ISO 27001, but that's one example, not the headline.
Tell me what's breaking in your pipeline.
Thirty minutes, no deck.