Enterprise vs smb production?

hello all!

I recently transitioned to tech from consumer sales. I figured that smb would make for an easier transition so that's the route I went. I'm now set to promote from an sdr to ae, but there's a fork in the road. 

1) Will closing experience in smb serve my career progression up market? (I'm skeptical)

2) When's the ideal time to join a start up funding wise?

3) Variable breakdown of new offers compared to my current production yields massive numbers.. what drop in production can I expect moving from smb to enterprise?

4) What's most important; ote, accelerator schedule, market cap, leadership?

Any input's greatly appreciated!!
🧠 Advice
🎈 Mentorship
☁️ Software Tech
10
CuriousFox
WR Officer
6
🦊
Closing experience counts. Period. I tend to shy away from start ups, but others have given fabulous advice here already.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Congratulations! Definitely take the promotion, learn what you can, and keep your ears open for the next step.

The next step may be MM, which will most likely be easier to break into from SMB than going straight to Enterprise. I'm not saying it's not possible, just that there's another level in there that might work in your favor if the opportunity arises.

Others have answered the questions about start ups. I'm ambivalent on them. They are very exciting places to work, you might get to wear many hats and really feel like a member of a team, but many just don't work out, and that can be incredibly stressful.

For me, what's most important is that your work takes care of you financially while allowing a good quality of life. As you grow in your sales career, expect your financial situation to improve (if you manage your spending well) but for me, having a career that enables me to have flexibility in my lifestyle and even in how my day is scheduled is huge. Good luck to you!
jefe
Arsonist
2
🍁
Closing is closing, and most everyone starts small and grows.
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
fist off congrats on getting into tech and for getting a promotion!!

1. no one will look at SMB closing experience and say "hey I bet your ready to close big deals" UNLESS its at your company and they have some sort of promotion path into ENT sales.

2. It depends on what you want! and funding rounds do not mean the company has product market fit (Which is the MOST important thing). BUT if you want to use funding round as a gauge I would look for B or C round to have already happened. (a ton of ppl here hate on series A companies)

3. going to ENT will normally mean less deals but larger ARR. it really all depends on the company, and if you have an established pipeline and how long the sales cycles are. so its really hard to give you a number to expect.

Thats why its important to understand what you like, if the feeling of closing a lot of deals every quarter if fulfilling you WONT have that in ENT. But if you enjoy being more strategic and can handle the pressure of every deal being super important then ENT will be fun haha

4. out of the ones you listed: leadership. a great product can get ruined by terrible leaders.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Just keep it on how you have the experience and push through
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
1) having closing experience help you get a role with closing in it. I would assume if there is a up market closing role the candidate that is in smb with closing experience is better than the sdr in up market

2) I have never worked for a start up but seems like series A is a pretty big risk so would avoid that but what do I know

3) I assume you going to need to be a lot more patient with enterprise, just my experience

4) OTE is the most important IF hitting quota is the norm


All of my opinions are shooting from the hips with little experience behind it. This is my disclaimer
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
Closing is always an advantage you ll have.

No startup experience. However I think being the first/second in sales seems ideal.

Sales cycles and paper pushing will be a lot harder in enterprise

Look at what you like compared to what you earn. Find an equilibrium
IanJ
Executive
0
Enterprise Business Development
In a startup (pre-seed through early rounds) you will be without marketing support and have to trial and error value props, ICPs and personas on your own, generally.

The earlier you get in, the more shares you're likely to get and at a better strike price/lower valuation/less risk of dilution.
The trade of is building the process yourself or as part of a small team.

Usually more fun, you know everyone in the company, but less security and you have to really believe in leadership and the company vision.

SMB relationship building can really help prepare you for Enterprise.
But enterprise is slow moving and a greater risk of delays between or simply missing commission.

You really get to focus on a small number of accounts though, which I enjoy.
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