Two months after being laid off and applying to numerous jobs with no results I finally joined a startup through a reference. It is a tech services company trying to enter into the U.S. market.
- Small company with around 100 employees.
- Has very few clients but has done good work in the past.
- Joined as a VP of Sales & Partnerships, responsible for driving revenue and building a partner network in the U.S.
- No existing sales or marketing teams yet.
While interviewing, CEO mentioned my focus would be on building a robust partner network along with him, especially in the VC circle, and also to bring in revenue. I expected some support for the revenue part, e.g., inbounds, SDR or a lead gen team - but nothing is in place. CEO mentioned I need to do everything ground up, including cold outreaches, get some revenue from the U.S. and then perhaps build a team in 3-4 months.
What I want to know is, is it normal for VPs / Directors to do cold outreaches for revenue generation? I have not done this for a long time and I am not sure how should I look at this. For the last 5-6 years I had been managing teams of SDRs and AEs in small and high growth startups. But I also had my own revenue targets and I closed large deals myself that came in through referrals, inbounds or from my SDR team.
I am not sure how to manage this expectation of building my own pipeline and closing them without any support (for now). Is this a fight of flee situation?
Would appreciate some candid feedback here.
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