Iamuniqueandyou

Director of Sales

Position vs Salary vs Reality

So this where am I.

6 yrs in a startup I have helped to grow since day 1 to become one of the leader in a market. about 2 yrs ago, founders got into a fight and one left. I have been put in charge of all sales as director but truthfully I am doing VP top to bottom... I have 1 sales rep, doing all BD, partnerships, directing of marketing and strategy for the entire company making sure objective is surpassed. I have this feeling of being entitled to have more for what I am doing... I have no shares or stock options nor commissions except a small bonus once a year... Although promised to get stock options etc.. which never happened

What should be a reasonable Earning Package I should get or at least looking for if leaving ?

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24 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

You are giving them a lot of work for free my dude.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

I am looking elsewhere asap but need to update resume etc.. etc... I know this believe me ! My family kids etc opened my eyes wide open !!!

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

You got screwed. Hell, even entry level SDRs get comission and equity.

Hard to negotiate for more after you've been there 6 years.

What's your OTE?
How many people at this startup?
What's the ARR?

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

OTE 130K
about 50 pple
ARR 5M$ about

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Cant tell you what to ask for since I don't know the numbers behind your business.

But I can tell you you should be making a hell of a lot more if you're the defacto VP of sales. And you should definitely make comission.

How long have they been stringing you along re: equity?

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Yeah hence why I am starting to look elsewhere...
It has been at least 4 years talking about it and 2 years constantly asking about it.
My biggest regret and I think i is not fair for me to think that honestly is that I am the main source of revenue for the company (if not the only) and I have grown the startup in the last years from 2M ish to a solid 5M without anything more... so Yeah it is frustrating !

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Curious what you were doing before this company?

And I agree. That's very frustrating.

Speaks to the type of people running the company that they would so blatantly take advantage of you.

Also, lesson learned for you: know your worth and walk!

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

I was an account manager for a larger corporation.

Lesson learned lol

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

Officer of ♥️

You should be getting 200-400k base at least and should of had a phat equity package. My condolences. You should of left 4 years ago.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

400K seems very high I would say if I want to stay humble based on location and industry as well as the size of the company I am in but 200k + seems reasonable indeed...

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

Professional Day Ruiner

I would absolutely ask for more. 130k as a vp of sales is rough. especially if you only have one sales guy then I'm sure you're selling as well. If they're 6 years in and only doing about $5m a year that's pretty rough as well. Makes me question how strong the market is for their product.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Exactly. 130K is lower end of SMB sales. Especially with no commission.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Yeah I have to update my cv and look elsewhere...

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Correct I am selling strategizing etc... It is a saas in the medical field but a particular industry which makes it a small market. That being said the $5M is worth $50M as clients typically switch software's every 10 yrs on average

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

Wait as the director of sales you are also in charge of marketing?

Or does the director of marketing report to you?

I would look up on RepVue or other sites what a Director of Sales is making and look at what a VP of sales is making.

Then put together your responsibilities and make the case for how you are doing VP stuff and deserve to be paid like one (and have a title change)

I am sure with your experience you could land a VP role, or a director of sales role that has everything you are looking for.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Director of Marketing is reporting to CEO but I give him what needs to be done in regards to strategizing. He execute in a good way what I ask.. and propose alternatives etc...
I have done this already but they can't afford to pay me more.
Yeah I need to rebuild my resume properly this is my next step. Since it has been a while if you have suggestion I would definitely be open to it !

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

oh ok cool. I was going to be very concerned if they were having you do both roles haha!

hard to give a ton of advice without seeing how you describe your experience but normally I tell ppl they need to communicate a few things:

1. what you were responsible for (being brief and focusing on the key areas people would not expect. so, if your title is Director of Sales, you dont need to say "i was in charge of all sales activities"...thats obvious.

But i would make sure to highlight the VP level stuff you were in charge of

2. What you accomplished (numbers, stats ect)

3. what makes you different from other DOS

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Alright I will keep it in mind !

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I don't know if you're being screwed or not since I don't know your location or industry. But I do think you're being short changed somewhat based on your workload.

With your experience you'd make a fine candidate. I would send out my resume and see what happens. If something pops up, you can leverage it to get a better deal where you are at (sweat equity based on past performance, etc.). Or you can take it and move on.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

Yeah I started 2 days ago to really look and already got a lead in Cybersecurity as I have some experience (by passion) will see !

Kmoney

Valued Contributor

Account Exec

You should grow a pair, and I mean that with empathy and compassion. Grow a pair, give them two options (idc what they are, make sure they benefit the fuck out of you. More for the illusion of choice). Make it clear their third option is losing you.

Then be ready to walk away.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

I have done so already couple month ago and it didn't change anything... I think they don't realize until it'll happens but as we say no one is irreplaceable ...

Kmoney

Valued Contributor

Account Exec

That’s true. But you have to live with yourself. There’s a fine line between greed and knowing what you’re worth. I should add, never walk away unless you’re sure there’s something out there for you.

Iamuniqueandyou

Contributor

Director of Sales

I have been 5+ yrs here... pretty sure I am not that greedy lol
But yes if I did not leave it is because I try to find the perfect fit not just a well paid position and thats it. I value a lot the people with whom I am working with as well as the product.

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