Ramp time
Ramp time is how long a new salesperson takes to reach full productivity, meaning they're consistently hitting quota rather than still learning. For B2B teams it commonly runs three to nine months, driven by deal complexity and how long your sales cycle is. A rep can't close at full speed until they've worked enough deals through the whole cycle to know the product, the objections and the buyer.
For a founder making a first sales hire, ramp time is the gap between paying a salary and seeing it pay back, so you need runway to cover it. Underestimating ramp is a classic cash mistake: you hire expecting revenue in month two, but the first closed deal arrives in month five. You can shorten ramp with proper onboarding, recorded calls, battle cards and a documented process, but you can't eliminate it. Budget for the full ramp before you commit to the hire.