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This is why I don't believe in sales quotas | Figma CRO

Shaunt Voskanian is the CRO @ Figma, where he has scaled the sales machine to over $1BN in ARR and over 400 people. Prior to Figma, Shaunt was Senior VP of Global Sales at Datadog where he scaled the revenue org to $1BN in ARR. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:52 How Shaunt Fell Into Sales 02:53 The #1 Trait to Succeed in Sales: Curiosity vs. Being Prescriptive 04:31 Is Sales Less Important in a PLG World? 06:56 How Figma's Sales Motion Evolved From PLG to Outbound 11:29 Is the Seat-Based Pricing Model Dead? 13:22 Does the SDR Role Still Have a Future? 16:37 Why Focus & Specialization Is the Key to a Great Sales Team 18:32 When to Intercept a PLG Customer and Convert Them 21:56 How to Think About Sales Quotas 25:29 Why Figma Gives Reps Low Quotas for Hard Strategic Work 26:57 Deal Experience vs. Industry Experience: Which Hire Wins? 27:56 What Shaunt Looks for When Hiring Sales Reps 33:48 Slow Hire vs. Fast Hire: Which Is Better? 37:53 Mercenary vs. Missionary: The Red Flag He Always Misses 39:36 How to Ramp New Sales Reps Effectively 52:50 Is There a Place for the Lone Wolf Rep? 54:58 How to Set Quotas at an Early-Stage Company 56:18 When to Fire a Struggling Rep vs. Give Them More Time 58:02 When and How to Verticalise a Sales Team ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Shaunt Voskanian on X: https://twitter.com/Shauntvoskanian Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #figma #sales

Shaunt VoskanianguestHarry Stebbingshost
Mar 20, 20261h 5mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

How Figma builds enterprise growth atop PLG with outbound sales

  1. Figma evolved from largely upgrading self-serve users to a majority-outbound motion that targets expansion within an already massive customer base using prescriptive, insight-led selling.
  2. The company deliberately avoided traditional SDR and CS structures, instead designing roles around the “job to be done” of proactive education, champion-building, and multi-stakeholder enterprise expansion.
  3. Voskanian argues seat-based pricing is not dead for Figma’s buyer base, while acknowledging an emerging hybrid model as Figma introduces AI credit-based monetization.
  4. He calls quotas “kind of made up” as planning tools and advocates setting quota philosophy around the difficulty/strategic nature of the work and the talent scarcity required to do it.
  5. Hiring and performance at scale should prioritize focus/specialization, demonstrated perseverance and growth mindset, and leading indicators (behaviors/competencies) over lagging quota attainment alone.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

In modern enterprise sales, “curious” isn’t enough—be prescriptive with insights.

Voskanian says buyers are time-poor and want to learn what best-in-class peers do; great reps blend curiosity (diagnosis) with prescription (teaching a point of view) in the same conversation.

PLG doesn’t reduce the need for sales—it changes what sales does.

At Figma, sales increasingly runs outbound plays, but into a large existing user base; the value is expanding from “how you use Figma today” to a better future-state deployment across products and personas.

If your customers self-serve, the expansion motion is often “hunting,” not classic CS.

Because users bought based on their own perceived value, Figma sees a large gap between current vs. ideal usage; closing that gap requires new champions and executive alignment, which fits a seller’s hunting skillset more than reactive support.

Treat SDR/BDR as a modular resource, not a default org layer.

Figma largely avoided traditional SDRs, insisting AEs own pipeline generation; when they do deploy SDR-like capacity, they aim it where it is clearly incremental (e.g., transactional renewals/offloading lower-value work) and as a talent pipeline.

Seat-based pricing isn’t universally dying; match pricing to buyer value mechanics.

Voskanian cites strong net retention under seat-based pricing and suggests the “seat-based is dead” narrative depends on whether you’re replacing labor/outcomes vs. selling a builder/designer tool; Figma is adding AI credits without abandoning seats.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We don't actually have a traditional CS team. We also don't have traditional SDRs.

— Shaunt Voskanian

If you want to be great in enterprise tech sales, it's not just about being curious. It's about being prescriptive.

— Shaunt Voskanian

My perspective is quotas are kind of made up.

— Shaunt Voskanian

I kinda don't care if you as a rep hit your quota or not… I’m obsessed with behaviors and competencies.

— Shaunt Voskanian

Focus and specialization, no question, as early as possible.

— Shaunt Voskanian

Curiosity vs. prescriptive selling balancePLG-to-SLG evolution and outbound into installed baseNo traditional CS/SDR model; role redesign by first principlesIntercept timing for PLG upgrades (earlier vs. later)Seat-based pricing vs. AI credit consumptionQuota philosophy and “easy quotas for hard work”Hiring signals, ramping, enablement, and performance frameworks

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