DO NOT offer equity right away. Marketing/Sales guys are good at selling themselves, but bringing in revenue is tough. Not everyone can do it consistently. Let them have a stake in the sales (say 10-15%) and make sure it's transparent that sales are coming through him/his efforts. Assume you'll be hiring more on these kind of terms. Once you see something rolling, you can offer some equity accordingly. You'll know ho…
Thanks. I didn't think of this before. It certainly looks like the way to go.
With a new product (or with an old product repurposed for a new industry), it can be hard to predict the sales cycle or to develop the appropriate pricing strategy. If the salesperson is strictly dependent on commission, they'll do anything to close-- including sell the product to the wrong people or with the wrong expectations. This will reduce the amount of useful feedback you get and waste everyone's time.
Someone recently offered me this deal at a startup I otherwise found very compelling. I didn't take it.