(5/6) How to get from $1M to $10M ARR

"When you have a predictable pipeline generation process, hiring AEs becomes much easier because you can guarantee them enough leads to work with."

This is part 5 of a 6 part deep dive on how to get from $1M to $10M ARR which is based on my discussion with Guillaume Jacquet, the co-founder of Vasco, his 2nd startup after selling his last one to Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) post Series B.

Step 3/4: Master the close

Once you've secured customer success (step 1) and established predictable pipeline generation (step 2), it's time to focus on optimizing your closing process.

Up to this point, you've likely been handling most closing activities yourself.

Removing yourself from closing deals requires systematically hiring, onboarding, and enabling salespeople who can maintain or exceed your conversion rates.

The key advantage you now have (if you’ve followed the steps outlined) is predictability.

When hiring sales reps, you can confidently show them the pipeline volume they'll receive. This predictability helps you attract stronger talent who recognize they're being set up for success.

In an ideal case, you can still act as a product expert and potentially join key meetings while your sales team brings specialized skills with them: negotiation expertise, stakeholder management, competitive positioning, and navigating complex buying processes.

When it comes to measuring success, there are plenty of benchmarks out there.

For example, for most B2B companies selling in the $10K-50K range, conversion rates from qualified pipeline to closed deal should range between 20-30%.

You'll know you've successfully removed yourself from closing when you have multiple quarters of predictable conversion rates.

At this point, your revenue becomes formulaic: X amount of pipeline with Y conversion rate yields Z in closed business, with high confidence.

This transition represents a pivotal moment.

Building a closing machine that doesn't depend on your personal involvement anymore is one of the hardest challenges to solve.

Once you get there, you can start spending your time on identifying specific issues in your revenue engine and address them systematically rather than frantically jumping between functions.

Meaning you, the founder, are now no longer in the trenches trying to make numbers - you can now focus on conducting the orchestra.