Hired and then Fired in 45 days.

15 years experience and thought I had found a dream job after leaving a nightmare late last year. I was the first sales hire at a SaaS startup that felt really energetic and positive. They were growing quickly and had considerable inbound SMB/MM volume -- but I was hired to go hunt enterprise deals.


Spent the first month building a sales motion, developing hubspot flows, implementing the handoff from sales to customer success, as well as helping onboard an SDR and an SMB rep. There was no sales deck, no sales process, no parameters for pricing, offers or discounts. Hubspot was a mess. Management made a few comments about how slow the outbound process was and that they were feeling impatient -- but seemed satisfied with the progress and understanding that outbound (especially enterprise) would take time and building a predictable pipeline would lead to more long-term success. Wrote several targeted sequences and started enrolling contacts only to be told I was "spamming" and it would ruin the domain reputation and I needed to stop. I was sending out <100 personalized emails per day. We set up a new domain for outbound email and I was in the process of warming it up before resuming more volume.


During this time I closed 20+ mid-market and SMB deals (some self sourced but majority through partner or inbound.) Small deals but considerable relative to what most companies would consider a ramp. CEO did make a comment a few weeks in asking why I was talking to small brands and expressed that he didn't want me spending my hours there -- I explained I was trying to contribute revenue while building enterprise pipe.


Boss popped up on my screen Friday afternoon and said it wasn't working and they would be dismissing me. No PIP, no action plan, no questions on how to accelerate things just.... you'll hear from HR with our severance offer before the end of the day. I was logged off my slack before I could hang up the call.


I'm devastated. Browsing LinkedIn jobs this AM and all I can see is Red Flags and stress. Not sure I can go back into the meat grinder like this again. Struggling.


How do I get off the donkeys and on to a real horse?

☁️ Software Tech
🧢 Sales Management
💆‍♂ Mindset
33
ChumpChange
Politicker
11
Channel Manager
Dude... what the ^$@! For them to be impatient for not launching an enterprise motion within 45 days is absolutely ridiculous!!! At minimum, I'm projecting a 6-month timeline with 8-12 months for a steady pipe. I'm pissed off just reading that because that just shows you how out of touch they are. I ALWAYS make it a habit to ask three questions anytime I agree to something. What are my resources? What is my timeline? What is your expectation? If anything sounds completely out of touch... i bring it up IMMEDIATELY because people will react just like this. Screw that company OP... I know it doesn't feel like it now but they saved you a ton of BS that you would have eventually run into.
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
0
Franchise Sales QB
well said.
oldcloser
Arsonist
8
💀
If CEO was your direct report, seems like the role took on some scope creep without authorization. Unfortunately, recalibrations have to happen frequently in startup environments. You'll feel like repeating yourself, but buy-in along the way prevents this bullshit.

You thought solid initiative backed by revenue would keep you secure. Only seems logical... ownership thinking, yeah? No... not always. Sorry dude. Take the lesson and grind on. You clearly know what you're doing. Someone will appreciate it.
Pachacuti
Politicker
6
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
That sucks. 45days and BOOM.

All I can say is good luck in the job search and the best revenge is success - so go get it!
ZVRK
Politicker
3
Enterprise Account Executive
This wad hard to read… wish you best of luck 🤞🏻 I don’t know how you lended this job, but try to scout the next one by talking to friends and ex colleagues, i guess you have a lot of the later since you’ve been 15 yrs in sales. All of my jobs (except my first one) i got by referrals..
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
2
☕️
Well shit—I am sorry you’re getting the shit end on this one. This is the risk we run on first time hires, but you got the rawest possible case.

Take what you learned and leverage it to join a Series B+ org. Somewhere that has PMF and can demonstrate strong Series A to Series B growth, and raised in the last 12 months.

Did you run a successful Enterprise pipe previous to this?
BestCase
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
I did but it took years to establish. However, the enterprise deals I was selling before were much higher in value as well as scope. Custom service integrations. I was open coming into this position that I did not have a rolodex in this industry but I knew how to get it done. I did have (3) opportunities already created with a real chance to close (in fact one contact reached out to me on LinkedIn today with a "what the hell happened?" message.)
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
☕️
You are going to easily bounce back. Take your time and truly inspect the companies that you speak with.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Listen to pbc, he's an expert at this. Best of luck to you. I'm sorry this happened. They clearly had no patience or understanding of Enterprise sales. You deserve better.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
2
☕️
Trying to be a force of good. Snarky, but good.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
But you are - and you know the snark is an essential part of tough love.
TennisandSales
Politicker
2
Head Of Sales
wow....this is brutal!!
AnchorPoint
Politicker
2
Business Coach
Wow... most likely, a blessing in disguise!
kneehigh
Politicker
1
Senior Enterprise AE
wow - sounds very rough. Sounded like senior execs had unrealistic expiations of how long enterprise sales takes to get off the ground and what a typical sales cycle is.... Typically you need 6-12 months minimum. I went through something similar at my company, the exec team refused to believe E sales cycle was 6-12 months vs SMB level which is about 2-3 months. Only now (after a failed initial year vs target) did they realise and have reset their expectations
Willy_Loman
Good Citizen
0
Sales
This
detectivegibbles
Politicker
1
Sales Director
So sorry you're in this. Been there. It sucks. Not your fault!

Keep looking, something will stick.
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
1
Franchise Sales QB
DAMN! sounds very familiar to my post "WTF DID I GET MYSELF INTO" and my last job. No long term vision and then panic mode, fire people to stop the bleeding, what a shame.
WheelofCheese
Opinionated
1
Sales Executive
First, I’m very sorry to hear this happened to you. Terrible! Certainly, you are entitled to unemployment benefits if you were given zero warning and this was not a performance issue. Obviously that’s not going to make you whole, but it’s something to help you in the meantime.

Personally, I’ve never worked for a startup company as there is an inherent risk in doing so. If I were you, I’d seek a position with a more established company that will likely have more stability and run its operations in a fair and ethical manner.

Regarding your last position, I will assume you were an “at will” employee. If that’s the case, you may not have any legal recourse.

Chin up! I can imagine how deflated you must feel, but put your energy into finding your next role. They’re out there.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Enterprise takes 12 to 24 months man. Sounds like a clueless bunch of red flags. I'm so sorry.
Willy_Loman
Good Citizen
1
Sales
Sorry to hear that this happened to you. Classic case of greedy mgmt. and investors who want the results of an outbound Enterprise sales motion without investing the time, energy, and resources into what it takes to create one.

To be hired and fired in 45 days because mgmt is impatient means that they have never done outbound before and probably haven’t sold since the 80s/90s. It’s so much harder to generate results from outbound in 2023 than it was even 5 years ago and based on your approach I can tell you know your stuff.

The bad news is you were set up to fail and never had a fair shake. The good news is you’re a killer and will find a new opportunity in no time. They don’t deserve you and I know it’s painful but keep your head up.
HardRockfan1
Member
1
Regional Director of Sales
I’m so sorry! Startups are littered with this horrible type of decision making. If you interview again with another startup focus on:
1. Product. Must be the most important.
2. Culture and direct report at the company. Ask them what their expectations are - don’t stop until you get a concrete answer.
3. Over communication

Hope that helps! You know how to sell just find the right fit!
Maximas
Tycoon
0
Senior Sales Executive
Do feel sorry for you and best of luck with your search!
FlyingHellfish
Good Citizen
0
Director of Business Development
Absolutely a terrible situation. Like has been said before, sounds like a blessing in disguise.

Also, why not say who the org was to ensure one of your fellow savages don’t step i that land mine.
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
0
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
Joining a start up is always like this to some extent. You need to vet that the board is giving them runway and you have quarters to rampZ
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
0
Account Executive
No real answers that anyone can provide here, this is super shitty and indicative of a business set to fail. Best of luck moving forward
TINSTAAFL
Arsonist
0
AE
Never give up! Fuck them
Ohiosales
0
Sales Manager
Good job getting the pipeline up quickly!

That should be number one to management, often it isn’t.

Be prepared to adjust your activity in dumb directions next time.
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Got fired by the same guy...twice in 6 months

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