chewymammoth

Account Executive

Valued Contributor

Pros and cons of working at a large company versus a smaller company?

I'm an SMB AE at a large SaaS company, the product is well-known and the leader in its field. Started here as a BDR 2.5 years ago, got promoted to AE 1 year ago, and now looking for a change.

Almost all of my sales experience has been at this company, so I'm wondering what new challenges I would be dealing with as an AE at a smaller company. I would guess it's harder to prospect and sell a product with less brand recognition, bigger competitors, perhaps a less fleshed out product, etc. I know a lot of this is dependent on the company but I really have no idea what I should expect if I move from AE at a larger company to a smaller one.

What are the general pros and cons of doing sales at a large vs. small company? If you've made the switch, what did you like/dislike?

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1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

6

Sales

Something you may not be thinking of are the support functions along with the small things that just make your job easier. You have 24/7 IT coverage. You have a decent enough expense system I’m sure. There’s an hr team that functions. Those things aren’t fleshed out as well at a smaller company. Combined with the lack of market recognition, unestablished sales process and possibly dodgy product can make life tough.

pro: comp isn’t always worked out perfectly so you can make bank before they catch it and adjust.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

On the "con" side, you may find that commissions are paid out later, as a small company may wait until invoice is paid first. A large company can afford to pay much quicker, as they have more cash on hand, so to speak.

Small company may also require you to do more legwork on RFPs, presentation materials may be lacking, you may not have as many customer references, so some of your customers may be the first in their industry to buy, etc.

On the pro side, you have direct visibility and are personally important to the bottom line of the company. What you do matters a lot and doesn't get lost.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

1

Sales

Great additions!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

Con for the large company: internal freaking red ass tape.

Pro: Folks know who tf you are.

Beans

Big Shot

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Politics.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

In my experience you will have to DO more in a smaller company.

create your own decks, come up with out bound strategies, test things on your own.

also if you are in RFPs you probably wont have a dedicated team to help with that,

overall you will have to be more scrappy, be ok with doing some things that "are not your job"

some people thrive in that environment.

Others really like the more, show up, take the playbook, execute the playbook kind of approach.

If you are going to a smaller company, you do need to understand what makes that company different, why they win, why they lose. (although this is important no matter the size of the company) but at a smaller one, it might be less defined.

godpull54

Praised Answer

0

PDR

I prefer smaller companies

alwaysclosing

Contributor

0

Digital Account Executive

You can hold larger organizations accountable where as startups pose more risk. To someone’s point in their comment - things like compensation, sales manager expectations, resources etc are vetted by a hefty HR compliance process at large organizations. For example, my dad is a traditional big corporate salesman and recently joined a niche AI startup that just recently IPO’d. As he was close to closing a substantial deal, the company started changing up how commission works resulting in paying him 60% less than what he signed on for. He then learned from their legal team that companies at that maturity level have more wiggle room to flex their GTM strategy on the fly - thus my dad likely wouldn’t “win” a lawsuit against that company if he wished to pursue. Long story short this situation wouldn’t happen at a large company because 1) they have strict policies in place to prevent that and 2) say the seller decided to press lawsuit, the large company would likely settle as it wouldn’t be worth the media attention and shareholder backlash. A PR scandal is a death sentence for a Fortune 500 company’s stock worth. There’s also the less dramatic example of working with others: if you burn a bridge with an internal stakeholder you rely on resources for (ie marketing rep, sales ops) good luck getting resources from them ever again if you’re at a startup or small company. Lol. At big companies, employees have more of a legal and moral responsibility to do their job, emotions and personal bias aside. I work at a big company and these challenges still exist even with all the rules and culture are in place so I couldn’t imagine ever being in sales at a place that’s trying to build the plane while they fly it.

SpaceCowboy

Personal Narrative

0

Territory Manager

I have worked for both.

Large Company
Pros: Resources, brand recognition, market control, inside support from other departments, benefits, clear set of responsibilities
Cons: bureaucracy, opportunity in market?, promotional opportunity?

Small Company - Does the product provide significant value vs competitors? Price? Capabilities?
Pros: Individual contribution, equity?, organic growth opportunity - witnessing growth - being part of journey, camaraderie with small team, promotion opportunity?
Cons: wearing many hats, more of a uphill battle due to lack of brand recognition, less resources?, less benefits?

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

0

Professional Day Ruiner

I’ve done both. Smaller companies are usually less strict about metrics, less red tape, more flexible work/life balance. But you sacrifice all of the resources large companies provide to you. At larger companies you typically have more tools at your disposal, more name recognition when prospecting, and more job security knowing that the company most likely won’t spontaneously go under tomorrow. Chances are they’ll have much stiffer metrics they hold you to, and often times pay plans that change for the worse as time progresses

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

0

Director Sales and Market Development

you will go from a single role to one that wears many hats in a smaller org. The titles are larger but so are the workloads, for me in a $6b company i am in charge of customer sales, thats it. I go for director here to VP of sales at a smaller company and i am SDR, marketing, closer, and account manager. There is a lot of other stuff inbetween. I refuse to work for a startup at this point because of that. I wont get the big equity payout anymore but i also know my role and stay in my lane

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