From Uncapped Dreams to Midnight Pings...My Ramp-Up Reality Check

I moved into a brand-new industry.

No network. No playbook. Just hunger, hustle, and the promise of uncapped commission.

That wasn’t the only reason I jumped ship.

I left my last company to get real experience selling into banks, crypto, and fintech.

I wanted to be dangerous in all three. And I thought this role would give me that exposure.

Day two on the job?

They put me on a plane and sent me to a conference. Zero onboarding. Just...“Go close.”

A week later: “Don’t worry, we’ll train you. No expectations for the first six months.” Sounds great, right?

Now fast forward... midnight texts from that same person asking why deals aren’t moving.

In our daily meetings:

“Why isn’t your pipeline bigger?” I was asked to build a 2 million pipeline and I built it from revisit laters and closed losts as instructed.

“Why are things moving so slowly?” well it's a pretty big pipeline things should move slow like we agreed 6 months

“What’s the update with X?”

So I dig. I start reviving every closed-lost and revisit later in the CRM.

The response...“You’re not doing it the right way." Did you just hand me over all those deals to look into?

Fine. I adopt their “process.” (who their top performer isn't adopting by the way)

Which, by the way, means I can't even send an email without approval.

Every email has to go through a review first... before I send it, and within an hour of a meeting ending.

But they often take hours (even a day) to respond.

So I started calling it out.

“You’re holding me back. This violates my PIP expectations.”

Because that’s right... I’m now on a PIP.

And honestly? The PIP is a blessing in disguise.

Everything’s in writing.

Nothing can hide in WhatsApp messages anymore.

When something’s delayed, I can point to the doc and say, “Not on me. You’re breaching the terms.”

The expectations in the PIP?

• 4x the outreach of our SDR
• 5 meetings booked per week
• Respond to internal messages in 15 minutes
• Every email reviewed and approved
• Email must go out 1 hour after every meeting

Oh, and they don’t use Slack. They just have it.

They use WhatsApp.

It’s noisy, chaotic, and untrackable. I’ve flagged this so many times... still the main channel. Meanwhile, they keep comparing me to reps who came from direct competitors, who’ve been in the space for years.

I’m new. I’m doing the work. I’m sourcing opportunities.

Hell, I presented to three banks by month two (two of which I sourced myself). Not my best performance... but that’s why I asked others to join.

To learn. To level up. They are like we shouldn't have allowed you to start with high stakes situation. Duh that's why I added you on the calls! After in the onboarding you mentioned our main customers are banks!

I even forced two weekly check-ins with my cofounder to align and get feedback. And guess what?

I’m hitting my targets.

Every single one.

Still, the heat hasn’t cooled.

Even my colleagues ask me privately: “Why are they so fixated on you?” and on calls, people genuinely seem sympathetic.

Now here’s the twist...

I’m interviewing elsewhere.

One company loves me. But I also introduced them to a friend—someone who was laid off and needed a shot. Now they’re leaning toward me over him.

It’s weighing on me. And I’m about to become a dad.

I want to be a provider...I don’t mind the hustle and burning the midnight oil.

I live for accountability. But when you’re working twice as hard just to prove you belong, while the rules change depending on who’s asking... it’s a different game.

I came here to build something. To grow. To sell with confidence and integrity, but every time their comments are robbing me of it.

To experience the full stack: crypto, fintech, banking.

Instead, I’m just trying to stay afloat in a sea of contradictions.

It's a long while since I posted here and thanks for the email reminder.

I miss the community. I miss learning from others. I miss sharing stories like this.

So Bravado fam... what would you do?

You’re ramping.

You’re hitting targets.

But trust is eroding.

And the clock is ticking, two weeks left now.

Would you stay and fight for the vision you signed up for?

Or walk if you get an offer somewhere? The post about someone hitting 148% of the PIP and still getting laid off got me thinking to walk.

Oh, and I had to use ChatGPT to help me structure these thoughts. There’s so much happening, and it’s been tough trying to keep track of everything while staying aligned with the expectations placed on me. It’s a lot, but maybe it helps me make sense of it all.

Let me know in the comments. I'm all ears.