wholesumdimsum profile picture
wholesumdimsum profile picture

wholesumdimsum

Account Executive

Opinionated
Good Citizen
Contributor
+1

How do you decide which company to go for?

So I have 2 scenarios that are mutually exclusive:


  1. SMB AE role pays 100 - 130K with a 60:40 split in a social media monitoring firm VS a SDR role that pays 100 - 120K with a 70:30 split in an infrastructure monitoring firm. I feel like the infrastructure monitoring industry is a HUGE market and I personally like learning the techy geeky things if that makes sense. However, the risk is that the infra monitoring firm typically sells to large enterprises with deals ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. I might not be able to be promoted to an AE just because they probably might not want someone with no closing experience selling to commercial/enterprises, or I might (who knows what will happen in 18-24 months)?
  2. I'm currently interviewing with 6 companies in total. Some firms are privately held (could potentially be acquired), some have already IPO-ed, some are pre-IPO that are VC-backed. In your opinion, are privately held companies better because they are profitable on their own? Or would you choose the pre-IPO company that could potentially IPO so you can make a quick buck?
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16 comments

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UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
6
SaaS Eater
Shameless plug but I just wrote a god damn essay on #1, see here:
https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/your-most-common-questions-answered-should-i-leave-my-current-role-for-x-edition

As far as number two I think it depends on your skillsets and what you are looking for in your career. You have posted a ton recently about wanting to get from an SDR into an AE role so I would recommend a larger pre IPO company or someone that is already public so you can build the skills you need to get to an enterprise AE role. 
goose
Politicker
3
Sales Executive
SDR roles won't thrive in 2022.  The ROI isn't there.  Take the AE role and establish yourself.
goose
Politicker
2
Sales Executive
As for the second question, I'm personally in favor of privately held, profitable companies.  They focus on the employee and client experience.  VC backed, pre-IPO companies seem to be focused alternative stimuli, in many cases the chance of cashing out.

Throw that all away if I'm positioned to retire early.
FormerStartupJobHopper
Tycoon
2
AE
I'd focus on where the AEs are having the most success and you can stick around for a while. Why would you take a step back to SDR when you're already an AE? I feel like the first one is the easy answer
wholesumdimsum
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Because I'm afraid that for technical solutions, they might only want to hire AEs that are in that same space, hence I thought it might be better to grind it out as a SDR in that space and hopefully promote to AE.

Do you have an answer to the 2nd question?
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
You won't know until you have the interview. Go for it. Try. You might surprise yourself.
FormerStartupJobHopper
Tycoon
0
AE
Not sure man. I work for a company that's been public for a long time. All I know is every tech startup is trying to IPO, but most of them never do so I'm not sure how much equity would go into my decision making process. I'd probably focus more on straight OTE and where you ultimately wanna work
CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
This is all irrelevant until you get the job offers. Do that first.
AlecBaldwinsHairline
Valued Contributor
1
Head of Sales Development
Go for the guarantees man, especially in this environment, don't be on potential.  Too many variables at play in the world right now.
RedLightning
Politicker
0
Mid-Market AE
@qwerty do you happen to be in ATX?
wholesumdimsum
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Nope! Why?
RedLightning
Politicker
0
Mid-Market AE
@qwerty it just seemed similar to some companies I've heard about here

wholesumdimsum
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Sorry where’s ATX again? Texas? Im based in APAC
PhlipOut
Politicker
0
Account Executive
don't go back to SDR.
some companies do want a similar "tech" background. that's what it is. especially for senior roles

others do not, especially for mid market/commercial. do that.

PS: everyone wants to become rich via IPO. It doesn't happen 90% of the time.

public companies have more pressure (quarter end!) but make sure they have RSUs/ESPP for stock. that will add up and make you money
dwightyouignorantsale
Politicker
0
Account Executive
AE role. This will also help in your future roles elsewhere. Even though you may not be thinking about your next step after this step yet, most companies will value AE experience far more than SDR experience.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
I would go with an AE and would try to negotiate as it wouldn't make sense for me to jump from AE to SDR because progression might be difficult in the future.

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