Fair timeline for moving up (SDR)

Interested to hear the experiences and perspectives of others on this. As an SDR, what is a fair expectation to move up into an AE role timeline wise? Understanding a lot of factors are at play, this is my situation. Emerging startup looking to go public soon. No clear promotion plan in place. Has hit meeting quota and revenue goal for 3 straight quarters (full time of employment). Recently moved into senior SDR role where I’ve maintained additional pipeline responsibilities beyond initial schedule, as well as serving as mentor and team lead on SDR team. SDR team is around 20-25 deep with around 15-20 AEs.


There are more tenured SDRs who consistently crush their goal and would like to be AEs that have been an SDR for close to two years so the part of no clear promotion structure is what is concerning to me.

3
Stringer
Arsonist
1
SDR
If you look at SaaS companies on average an SDR will be an SDR for over a year.
RedLightning
Politicker
0
Mid-Market AE
It sounds like you're moving up the SDR ranks and could probably move into SDR management which could put you in sales ops or enablement longer term. So the questions is do you want to be an AE? Companies have those structures in place but that transition can be pretty rocky if done poorly.


MindfulBoar
Member
0
Senior SDR
Good point! I could see myself being interested in that at some point in the future, but I definitely have my eyes set on AE as the clear next step for myself. 
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
Any change in the structure? Or do you have a success plan in place?
7

SDR/BDR to AE Alignment

Discussion
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12

If you join a SaaS company and thrive at the beginning due to inbound leads and good SDR and then sales start going down due to a change of SDR and less inbounds, does that mean you’re not a competent sales person or does it mean it’s time to move on to another company?

Question
19
13

SDR w/no clear path to AE, time to jump ship?

Advice
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