The Sales Learning Curve by Mark Leslie & Charles A. Holloway -- Before a company can sell a product efficiently, the entire organization needs to learn how customers will acquire and use it

Founder Led Selling by Pete Kazanjy -- Most complete resource to help early-stage startup founders (and their teams) think through their go-to-market strategies.

Building a Sales and Marketing Machine by David Skok -- Definitive guide to helping founders and early sales hires align around a go-to-market strategy.

The Sales Ready Product by Don Templeton -- "What if we could compress the 'sales learning curve' so that sales yield turns positive earlier?

The Stretch VP by Brendon Cassidy -- Although you likely can't hire your perfect candidate this helps you consider which trade-offs to make.

Founder's Guide to First Sales Hires -- Quick insights into what others have seen work.

A Founder's Guide to the First Sales Hire by Craig Burel -- Nice 'situation analysis' chart.

Hiring Your Startup's First Salesperson by Tom Tunguz -- Financial breakdown of hiring the first salesperson.

Startup Hiring: Your First Sales Hire by Seth Dehart -- Stack ranking from 1-6 of the ideal profiles for the first sales hire.

How to Recruit a Top-Notch Sales Rep by Steli Efti -- 15 min video on how to recruit top under the radar individual contributors.

When Sales Isn't Just Selling by Martin Casado -- An investor reframes 'sales' for founders.

Hire a Head of Sales by Peter Levine -- A 365-day journey through the psychology of the CEO deciding to hire a head of sales.

Onboarding Your First Sales Hire by Stephanie Friedman -- Importance of joint sales calls during week one.

Compensating Your First Sales Leader by Firas Raouf -- Written in 2011, but still relevant ideas on compensation, especially equity.

13 Sales Hiring Mistakes -- "80% chance of failure if you hire an experienced rep".

How to Hire a Head of Sales by Jordan Wan -- Really helpful table on how to diagnose your Head of Sales needs. Also, a very handy hiring rubric and interview process templates.

What Entrepreneurs Get Wrong by Vincent Onyemah, Martha Rivera Pesquera, and Abdul Ali -- This article summarizes the study of 120 entrepreneurs in 6 countries on what they (and other entrepreneurs) get wrong about sales.

The Renaissance Rep: Scaling Sales by Aliisa Rosenthal -- Detailed 60 minute video presentation on how 'renaissance reps' should run a sales cycle from start to finish.

We Don't Sell Saddles Here by Stewart Butterfield -- An internal email from the CEO to his team prior to launching Slack.

Blueprint for the First Year Marketing Plan by Ilya Mirman -- There is no marketing calvary coming, you will need to generate your own leads. This has a great checklist to help.

Promoted to VP Sales: 1st Year Toolkit by Matt Sharrers & Greg Alexander -- Learn how to prioritize and sequence initiatives in your new role.

Why Experienced Sales People Fail at Startups by Greg Poirier -- Just because you sold at a big company does not mean you can sell at a startup. Some of the biggest faulty assumptions.

The Ultimate Product-Led Growth Resources Guide by Kyle Poyar -- In startup sales, there is a "man with a hammer" syndrome where people believe the only solution is the top-down direct approach. As the first sales hire, your goal is revenue. But there are many ways to get there. PLG will continue to accelerate in the coming decade and you should be an expert in it.

If Russ Ackoff had given a TED Talk on Sales  -- 12-minute video with beautiful automobile example of systems thinking that illuminates when you try and improve the performance of individual parts of your GTM, frequently the performance of the whole decreases.

The Three Frameworks to Kickstart Sales by Whitney Sales -- Great template to help create a 'founding story'.

On Sales Decks by Alli McKee -- It's highly unlikely you will have a sales deck and if the startup does it's likely you will need to change it to close deals. This explains the types of sales deck to use in each situation.

Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen by Andy Raskin -- The definitive resource to creating a visionary sales narrative.

2nd Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen by Drew Beechler -- Salesforce has mastered the art of strategic storytelling and the industry transformation slide will help no matter what you sell.

Early-Stage Startup Sales Rep Equity is Usually a Rip-Off by Cory Bray -- Excellent breakdown on how to think through options.

How Much Equity Should Sales Reps Get? by Cory Bray -- Some interesting ideas on how to negotiate comp.

Customer Development Manifesto: The Startup Death Spiral by Steve Blank -- When things aren't working out to plan given to the board this is how it will play out. You will be the first to go.

One Tough (But Rewarding) Job by Jason Lemkin -- Why being the first sales hire is the best job ever.

10 Rules of Being a VP Sales in a Startup by Brandon Cassidy -- Some gems on the right mindset and how to evaluate opportunities.

Reengineering the Sales Process by Justin Roff-Marsh -- When setting up a sales organization, there are alternatives to the standard model.