01270494

Account Executive

Private Company vs VC Backed

My whole sales career I have worked for companies that have been backed by VC firms. That in and of itself has it pros and cons. I am now starting at a new company and they are privately owned with no outside money. It is a VERY small team but a great niche and market. I am just wondering if anyone has experience working in a privately owned company and what were some pros and cons?

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Sure have. Biggest issue is capital to leverage for fast expansion of teams ans products.

How are they financed? CEOs bank account or reinvested revenue?

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

They are supported by Reinvested revenue. They have and umbrella brand that is a learning platform and generates revenue and they recently launched this SAAS product and have some pretty large names. Speaking with them they told me that each quarter depending on how the quarter goes, will determine if they bring more salespeople on or not.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

That contingency feels volatile.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Yeah I thought that as well but maybe it’s just they don’t have the capital to really do it just yet. That could also be another something to consider I guess.

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

I went from VC to private and if anything, it's more pressure since the founders are bootstrapped.
They churn through reps lile crazy, but that's more of a reflection of the org vs the funding method imo.
The pros are you actually have a direct line with the founders and they aren't beholden to investors
The cons are there's just more quota pressure in general I feel and they're very stingy with tools.
I'll likely be getting pip'd eom anyway, but I think private has more long term growth. As ironic as that sounds lol.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Yeah the pressure for performance feels like it could be intense as if you have one bad quarter they might not have as much flexibility as if they weren’t cash strapped.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

I work at a small private company now. They definitely have some shortcomings for things like expenses, medical coverage, etc that someone larger would be able to offer something better. Obviously if you are looking to ‘climb the ladder’ a small company probably isn’t the best choice either. But the company culture is phenomenal where I work and I love what I do again, where that got lost a bit at my last company. The owner has created a fantastic reputation in the market as well which goes s long way in our industry and location.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I like that I'm remote, and I actually have a great boss. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of what we do have.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Gotcha, that makes sense thank you.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Make sure the product fits the market. If they're self-funded without any sort of growth velocity it lead to very slow, overly-deliberative, intensely collaborative decision making processes. It's so freaking painful. If their revenue generation is stagnant, it's a big red flag.
I've had a blast working in privately owned companies... at least the one's with a piggy bank.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Yeah it’s in the M&A space and it really is a need.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

There's something to be said for directly contributing to the bottom line - what you do matters. It's also rough in slow months or quarters. That said, you have a personal way to impact the company's success. It's honestly a little frightening, but also empowering. Great experience.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Im really excited about that part. Genuinely being able to say I helped grow something form nothing.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Best of luck to you!

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

I really appreciate it thank you!

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

I worked with a pvt company outside NA in the past. Not a tech, great product, way more to learn as had to start ground up but the benefits were not at par. No process so had to set one up.

01270494

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Yeah I think this will be similar, especially the setting up or process.

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01270494

Private Company vs VC Backed

17 comments

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