Closedwonandconverted

Commercial AE

Valued Contributor

Fire Starter

Contributor

I was hired at a really good start up about 4 months ago for a SDR role that I was told I wouldn’t be in for very long. They’re gonna go public in the next year, but Zoom Info reached out to me about an Account exec position. Now I’m wondering if I should take the guaranteed route to AE or let my shares vest and get to AE at the place that took me. Usually I wouldn’t consider jumping so quickly, but AE is AE.

stay or go

Attached poll

yes, start closing no, dont be impatient

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🧠 Advice

30 comments

Sort by:

CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

Most of the time they just spam anyone with an SDR title and then tell you once you interview it will be a 6 month timeline again. Unless you have an offer in hand, you do not have a “guaranteed” route. Unless you truly can not stay at your current company, put your head down and put in the work.

Goomba

Opinionated

Director

I got fucked up on this at my current job. The company straight up lied to my ass about it. As far as I'm concerned, you fuck with my money or my opportunities and that's a bridge burned.

I checked out when they couldn't hire enough BDRs (paid shit) and expected us to be cool with their failing by indefinitely pausing any BDR promotions until NEXT JANUARY.

SaaSData

Catalyst

VP of SaaS & Unit Economics 🏴‍☠️

SaaS Stocks (as an IC) are usually worthless when compared to big W2s upfront payments at Enterprise Accounts.

Take the cash and run. SaaS Stocks become valuable when you are in 2VP/VP/CRO roles, but as a Sales Person you're a mercenary.

The SDR job is a dead-end right now. Get out of that position. Become an AE and smash in the big numbers. Get there fast. Take the promotion QUICKLY.

Find the W2.

There might be .000001% of SDRs who make their money on Stock Options.

Don't make friends until later in your career when you want to become a FLM.

Drift was going to go public too. But guess what, they're now owned by Private Equity and that's the way it is.

How do you KNOW you're going public?

Sell your shit on the secondary like the other mercenaries out there, but unless you got the cap-tables and you know what's up... stay the back as a top W2 AE.

You're incentivized to BREAK the comp plan. So do it. Sweep the leg. No mercy.

-SaaS Data
lmk if i can help...

DoorMan4U

Good Citizen

Sales Trainee

Hey SaaSData, what makes you say that the SDR job is a deadend? I have most experience in lead generation and am looking at AE roles now, doing training program for AE, but am wondering if it would be good to accept an SDR role with a good company that has growth opportunities.

FormerStartupJobHopper

Tycoon

I'm gonna go against the grain here and say finish the process with ZoomInfo and see what they offer you. Don't highlight in their interview process that you're not looking to leave, but say it would need to be a great fit for you to leave.

Zoom is a real company with inbounds, SDRs, a solid solution and product market fit. People need what they have. We all know there are shitloads of startups that have cool solutions but no one wants it that bad. As you can tell from my username, I've worked at a few of them lol.

If your AEs at your current company are struggling, that's a HUGE red flag. That would push me to seriously consider going elsewhere. No you don't want to job hop, but what's the point of getting promoted if your quota is unattaniable and you get fired in 6 months? And EVERY SDR team promises promotions in the next X months lol. Is there anything that would lead you to believe this is true? Anyone who has recently been promoted in a similar amount of time?

HOWEVER: as someone else said, a lot of these recruiters will reach out to SDRs about AE roles, and then bait and switch them to an SDR conversation once they have them on the hook. Just be aware of that, has happened to me half a dozen times. If this ended up being a lateral move, that would change things.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

The title and role are enticing I'm sure. Weigh the options and do what's best for you and your family.

thebuckhunter

Politicker

Literally weigh the options. What's the total valuation of the shares? Chances are selling those out after going public will be more than a salary bump to AE.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

If they are due to go public, as in filing their paperwork, then why would you leave before the big payoff to join a company that already went public?

SPT

Valued Contributor

Director, Channel Sales & Partner Alliances

My thoughts exactly. Stay and make those stock options count!

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Are you comfortable with your existing company? Do you think what AE does in your company will excite you once you are transitioned? How about the team and work culture.

Do you really want to sell zoom info? Do they have work life balance.

These are some of the questions I would ask myself before jumping into conclusion. But I will always appear for an interview to learn more and find my worth.

justatopproducer

Politicker

VP OF SALES -US

I suggest following up to zoom first. In my experience with AE interviews there are 3-5 steps before you recieve an offer. Better to go through that first before jumping ship.

Jewcan_Sam81

Politicker

Account Executive

In the tech space, time of tenure equals money, but only as an AE, so if you can land somewhere i say go for it, but stay for at least 2-3 years so when you move to another opportunity that comes up your asking price for both base and commission goes up considerably

GlenRoss

Politicker

Account Executive

Get the offer then bring it to your current company and see if they’ll give you the promotion

Sales rep

maybe try once to finish it up and experience the outcome, maybe it could be a learnable experience...

EatingPandas

Opinionated

Do you have an offer in hand from ZoomInfo? Is ZoomInfo something you’d be interested in selling? How does the stock they’re offering (if any) compare to the options you currently have? It sounds like you will be an AE soon regardless. So maybe consider which will be the right fit in the longer term.

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

Director Sales and Market Development

Work hard and keep grinding. I have yet to have all my shares vest, i have been paper rich and reality poor after acquisition more times than i care to say. Do whats best and if Zoom has a compelling offer ask for Restricted Stock Units since they are public and you are leaving equity on the table. Or let it vest and then take a job and buy your options

countingmyinterest

Politicker

Account Executive

ZoomInfo's a good company, but like the others have said - until you have an offer in hand, you're an SDR in a good spot.

Finish the process and see how you do. Don't count your chickens before they hatch - learned that the hard way.

Trinity

WR Officer

BusDev

Think of shares vest as icing on the 🎂 if ZI offered you an AE role you should seriously consider. I find startups always drop equity with their comp convo but you have to really do the math on how much it’s worth if they IPO or in a buyout. As an SDR or even as an AE you’ll probably won’t retire anytime soon with your vested shares unless you’re high up the totem pole.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

It can't hurt to interview but definitely keep your mouth shut in the meantime.

payton_pritchard

Executive

RSM

First, I'd say wait until you have a definite offer in hand before making any real decisions.

Second, check with your manager to understand where you're at in regards to a promotion at the current company and what else they need to see from you for the jump to happen.

Given you joined four months ago as an SDR and are about to go public it's very unlikely that you will be receiving anything meaningful as a result of your options (no offense just trying to be realistic, plus you have quite some time left to vest). The benefit of being a part of a company that's about to IPO is that they're doing well (I hope) and you have an inside look at how the sales team is truly doing.

Dig through salesforce and really do your research (are people hitting quota/closing deals, is there a good flow of inbound/outbound, generally will you have an opportunity to close and make money), take a hard look at who your managers could be, etc.

Bonafidesalesguy

Valued Contributor

BDR

How much is ZoomInfo offering you for ae positions as opposed to what you’re getting now?

sharpshooter2

Catalyst

MAKING IT HAPPEN!

I would stay put for now, the job market is volatile right now especially in technology.

I would stay put and gain more experience before jumping ship. This will provide you with better bargaining power for a hiring manager and you will end on making a lot more in base salary which is key.

First in is usually first out at any company!

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Depends on how much you are getting for the IPO

Closedwonandconverted

Valued Contributor

Commercial AE

Well it doesn’t matter, I got promoted anyways 🤷🏻‍♂️

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Congrats!!

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

No don't be impatient.

lajefa

Good Citizen

Enterprise Account Executive

In the present climate, I tell people to entertain ANY and ALL conversations
You owe it to yourself to see what other opportunities are out there. Go through the process, see what it's like. Don't ever reject a potential employer out of hand unless its absolutely horrendous
This board is full of people fired and laid off by their companies without a second thought. Pursue it until its proven to not be worth pursuing.

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

what happened in the end? lol

Sr. Strategic CSM

Zoominfo is hurting right now and losing out to Apollo and other data platforms. I'd stay at the start-up, get great experience, and maybe you are there for an IPO. If not, you spent a couple more months being great at outbound, which is crucial for long-term AE success. 2 cents...

Sr. Strategic CSM

or get the gig with ZoomInfo and present it to your manager. Negotiate a guaranteed path to promotion...

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.

Closedwonandconverted

stay or go

30 comments

Related posts

Just made the jump from SMB to enterprise SaaS which even I'm still shocked about. What's your advice to someone new to this side of the game?

Embarrassing to ask but how do you find a new AE sales job? I'm an AE (5 years exp)...

Is it possible for me to get another AE role with only 5 months of AE experience?