Interview, Fireside Chat
This is why I don't believe in sales quotas | Figma CRO
- Figma operates without a traditional Customer Success (CS) team or standard Sales Development Representatives (SDRs).
- Sean Bosganian, CRO, states that quotas are largely "made up" and serve more as a philosophy for reward structure than a rigid de-risking tool.
- Figma's enterprise sales quota structure offers an average 3x to 4x OTE multiplier, designed to attract top talent for high-complexity strategic work.
- The company is shifting from a pure self-service model to a "sales-led" motion for mid-market and enterprise segments, though the outreach targets existing customers rather than net-new logos.
- Figma's current strategy prioritizes "prescriptive" selling, where reps proactively educate customers on gaps between their current usage and optimal deployment based on data patterns.
- The organization is moving toward a "hunting" motion for expansion, focusing on acquiring new champions and introducing new personas to existing accounts rather than just upselling seats to current users.
- Figma remains predominantly seat-based for billing but plans to monetize AI usage through a credit-based consumption model within a few days of the interview.
- Net retention rates increased from 131% to 136% following a recent earnings call, attributed in part to increased adoption of the product by new builders.
- The sales team is being restructured to maximize specialization, separating the PLG upgrade motion into a dedicated SMB segment while keeping mid-market, enterprise, and strategic accounts in a sales-led vertical.
- Sean prefers hiring candidates with specific deal experience and multi-stakeholder management skills over those with deep industry knowledge, noting that industry learnings can be taught more quickly.
- Figma's hiring process includes a take-home assignment requiring discovery, demo, and workflow creation to test curiosity, perseverance, and sales aptitude.
- The organization prioritizes candidates with a "growth mindset" over "mercenaries" focused solely on immediate compensation, often rejecting offers from candidates who aggressively negotiate title or pay.
- Sean advocates for a slower hiring pace to avoid "wrong hires," arguing that the cost of a bad hire outweighs the risk of missing a headcount plan.
- Figma is planning to increase sales headcount despite general market efficiency trends, aiming to deepen strategic engagement with their customer base.
- Performance management relies on a framework of behaviors, competencies (e.g., discovery skills, pipeline management), and results, rather than quota attainment alone.
- The sales leadership rejects "lazy leadership" that uses quota misses as a sole performance indicator, preferring to analyze the specific behavioral or enablement gaps causing the shortfall.
- Figma acknowledges a lack of synchronization in sales communications, utilizing a fragmented mix of Slack, enablement platforms, and CRM, and is working toward a singular source of truth.
- The company is exploring the adoption of AI and agentic sales tools to reduce data entry friction, though they admit the team is not yet fully equipped to train these agents.
- Sean respects Datadog for its ability to retain talent for years and master all sales segments from SDRs to strategic accounts.
- Sending gifts to prospects is identified as an outdated and ineffective sales tactic that feels "transparent" and transactional.
- Remote sales teams are not considered dead, though they require more pressure and effort from leadership compared to hybrid or in-person models.
- Figma has not yet implemented industry-based verticalization, preferring to organize by sales motion and persona to avoid over-complicating the rep's role.
- Sean expresses personal excitement regarding advancements in AI-driven drug discovery for rare and chronic illnesses over the next decade.