BitcoinAddict

How is it like working for big brand name SaaS companies in general compared to startups?

We have heard not to take the offer for the Series A (made that mistake early in my career, never again). I did want to know in terms of work-life balance, culture, and the day to day how life is like working for some of the big names in SaaS like Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, etc.

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

So i have not worked for the ones mentioned but i have worked at a MASSIVE publicly traded Saas company AND start ups here is what ive found:

Big brand name: Pros
1. GREAT brand recognition in the market, its a little easier to get meetings because of this.
2. Lots of internal processes already established: (RFP responses, security questionnaires ect. there is ether a team that does it, or all the info you need is already created.)
3. Established career paths with metrics to get promoted

Big brand name Cons:
1. TOO many internal process that can slow you down to do simple things like give out pricing.
2. some times leadership is just kinda coasting and not super excited to take risks or change things up.
3. you most likely will have a play book you HAVE To stick to and if you change up the process you will get in trouble.
4. sometimes they pay less because many other things are really great.

Start Up Pros:
1. you can be involved in a lot more and make a big impact quickly.
2. Everything can be changed. Decks, process, pricing, territories, everything is up to be improved.
3. SOMETIMES they pay more because of the lack of established success.

Cons:
1. you have to figure everything out your self. That RFP and security review i mentioned? ya YOU are going to have to go find the answers and create all the documentation. which really sucks.
2. direction can be lacking. you can find you self pivoting all the time (which can be good or bad depending on who you are)
3. you may not have a leader that knows what they are doing

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

^^ agree with this. I'd just add that if you're just starting out, working for a larger company with established practices is excellent training for whatever your next role will be. You're going to be trained and practiced as a matter of doing business, which is an advantage. And - getting your next job will be significantly easier with this in mind.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

this is VERY true!!

if you dont have an answer to "who taught you how to sell" you need to figure it out, and go figure out what sales methodology you most closely align with.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

So many variables.

carbonara

Executive

Account Executive

This is exactly it! I’ve done large public SaaS companies and even FAANG and now at a early stage start up.

BitcoinAddict

Opinionated

I really want to work for a big company now lol

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah its not a bad idea if you can get in!

saaster

Fire Starter

Account Executive

I’ve worked at train wrecks of both instances and the difference seems to be that the startup train wrecks are ethics and shitty people/politics and the big company are red tape/ hoops to get shit done.

The big problem with startups today is there are a million amazingly well funded dumpster fires barely holding on.

I’d bet on the brand names for the time being - you’ll also get better training, work life balance, etc because share holders like those warm and fuzzies.

BitcoinAddict

Opinionated

Awful people part at startups, tell me about it. My manager at the one I worked for was a creep who put on the nice guy act. I didn't even want to hang out with him outside of work but he saw me with my friend group and let himself in. Then come to find he was groping a girl in the group who was dating a former college wrestler. Luckily, I was able to get him to back off while calming down the wrestler who was screaming.

Come in the next day, Manager says I need to find "better friends". So many startups are full of super creepy dudes, fake nice people, and plotting psychos. People also rarely do as much work and just mess around all the time.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

There are pros and cons to each. I just like to find the mid sized companies and go there. Not as much politics and they tend to have weeded out the shitty people for the most part

BitcoinAddict

Opinionated

What would qualify as mid-size? Can you give me some ranges?

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Big corporations are great for benefits and security. The internal processes and red tape SUCK though. Nothing is perfect. 🤷‍♀️

ChumpChange

Politicker

Channel Manager

I went from Fortune 100 to a Series E. Corpo's are like cruise ships. The entire leadership team is on the upper decks charting the course and everyone under a VP level is working the engine rooms or service. So much internal red tape, politics, and nepotism. Typically at the upper echelons... everyone knows everyone from a previous role/company. You just have to be one of the good ole boys. No opinions, innovations, or disruptive thinking are needed. And just like cruise ships... changing direction is slowwwwwwwwwww.

Start-Ups are like pirate ships. Everyone is pulling their own weight and you get to see it in real-time. Everything is up for debate and can be changed quickly. Opinions are heard and welcomed. However, the biggest issue is resource constraints and inaction. More often than not... I tend to see an agreement on a problem and then a 2-3 month debate about a "perfect" solution. Rather than approaching the problem pragmatically and building on to a better solution. Nothing gets done until someone cracks the code or it's scrapped for some other bullshit that pops up.

It just really depends on what you want to experience in your day-to-day. IMO, I had to hit the reset button from big corp because I wasn't comfortable with my superiors dictating my personal success.

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

i worked at a large national corporate agency for 3 months. had some large clients, global clients with big brand names.

it was okay. they tried to make it look and feel like a start up but i just always felt like i was being watched. i got trained, got my book of business, told to work it and then was gone on friday with no real reason other than the business wasn't bringing in as much money as they expected for the role.

it felt very processed if that makes sense. they had all the right signs and swags on the wall and office, but it was just very structured, one path forward.

have made many posts about why i choose to stay at start ups, wouldnt go corporate unless you hope to blend in (hard) and work low commish jobs.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Usually in the large orgs you have more stability however you are just a cog in the machine and have about 250 people to fight with for any type of promotion.

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

And the fight isn't just about promotion, there's a fight over territory and resources to close deals. Ever wonder how AE 1 is able to get their deal reviewed faster than you?

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

As with all questions....it depends.......

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

not sure about others, SF is shit

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

There is a balance to everything, you can work for a massive company but have a manager who pushes hard against the red tape

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BitcoinAddict

How is it like working for big brand name SaaS companies in general compared to startups?

19 comments

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