gobirds

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

SDR to AE to Head of Growth to SDR?

I'm not really sure how to explain this situation other than to just ramble so bare with me.

I was an SDR at a good company for 18 months, and at 25 y/o got an enterprise AE role at a conglomerate with a blue three letter logo out of Germany and did that for two years before I got laid off during mass layoffs in February.

i gave myself until my severance ran out to find something then i took a job as the head of growth/founding AE at an early stage fintech startup because it's the only offer I got. i kinda hate it so I'm looking again. my experience with the blue ERP company gets me interviews but they're able to sniff out that I don't have experience and I wasn't that successful.

it's pretty evident that the SDR to enterprise AE was skipping steps and it really stunted my development. i have an opportunity to go to a really great company, be an SDR and make a more rational realistic upward move to mid market AE and I'm wondering if I'm an idiot if I do it.

basically it's been a shitty two years of hating work and kind of wishing I rode it out since my time at blue German ERP was awful. so do i just hit the reset button and make it a long term play?

🕧 age-related

👨‍🌾 SDR

11

32 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

6

☕️

Fuck no.

Find a company that has the culture and team that works with your development and execution style. Don’t take 5 steps back to rebuild all of Rome because you had one shitty run.

jefe

Arsonist

5

🍁

Do NOT go back to SDR.
Maybe MM, or SMB AE

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Never look back

braintank

Politicker

3

Enterprise Account Executive

Different take than mine, but I still respect it ;)

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Two very different takes, both worthy of consideration.

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

Normally I'd agree with you but this person clearly says he can't get through an interview. Lack of experience gets exposed. Quickly.

gobirds

Contributor

0

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

I mean it’s either be honest and tell them where I’m at and what I might need to develop OR I lie about my success and experience and get a position I’m underqualified for AGAIN and then run it back and get fired once more.

My thought is I can get in somewhere, learn the business as a senior SDR or SMB AE and work my way up the way I should have the first time. I’m not anti-doing the work like you suggested.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

2

Sales Rep

There is no way I would do an SDR role, would you want to go back to SAP. How did you do there? I am sure some of your peers survived and can refer you.
Or find the SAP people who went to Oracle, MS Dynamics, Infor and others

gobirds

Contributor

0

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

Due to my contract I can’t go back to SAP for two years. That’s about 18 months now. Had a call with some of the companies you mentioned and it’s a possibility. I’m weighing all options clearly

braintank

Politicker

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Good on you to realize you got promoted too fast. But it shows you have potential.

Going back to SDR for a spell isn't ideal. But in your position it might be the best thing to do. With any luck you'll get promoted to an SMB/Mid AE position sooner than others b/c you already have closing experience.

Other option (as the great @poweredbycaffeine suggests) is to keep hunting for SMB/Mid AE roles and find a company willing to take a chance.

If it were me I'd go to the SDR role as long as everything else about the org checks out.

I had a somewhat similar experience. I was laid off from my first sales job back in 2008. Was founding AE at some shitty startups that paid the bills while the economy recovered. Ended up getting hired at an amazing firm by back-tracking to SDR role, but grinded it out and was promoted to AE in <6 months.

Also, Go Birds!

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

2

☕️

I’d simply never hire this person to be an SDR. The flags are crimson red for me.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

But would you hire as SMB AE? That's the real question, I think.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

2

☕️

Head of Growth to SMB AE? Maybe worth a chat.

gobirds

Contributor

1

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

I’m not sure why my flags are red. I had a ton of success as an SDR and I interviewed externally for an enterprise AE role and got it. I actually asked my company if they could just put me on a track to become an AE there because I liked that place so much. they weren’t doing that for any SDRs though so it was an obvious choice to take it.

I got laid off two years after starting the AE role because my performance sucked. I had no idea what I was doing. I’m the First one to admit it.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Not wanting to put words into pbc's mouth, but any time there's someone with a major title such as "Head of Growth" and they are looking for an SDR role, it's a concern.

gobirds

Contributor

2

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

I’m pretty sure I can get an SDR role. I’ve been reached out to quite a bit and also have connections. But if I do go on that route, I’d likely just delete head of growth from resume.

I think I understand where the red flags come from, but also I got laid off and took an offer because I needed to. It’s explainable and it’s the truth. I got promoted too fast and lacked development.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

0

☕️

The words that were in my mouth, 🐰.

Delete it or not, once you cross to Ent I’d be questioning your desire to step down to Commercial or MM unless its for a much larger company with a well developed sales org.

If you take an SDR role then you will be seen as a flight risk from day one. That comes with an entirely different lens to be viewed through.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Appreciate the honesty and the introspection. Sounds like you understand the concerns a hiring manager like pbc will have, and that you have an honest answer. Best of luck to you.

gobirds

Contributor

0

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

So what would your advice be?

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

0

☕️

I’ve already given it. Find 3-5 companies you want to work for. Interview their AEs or read reviews to understand their culture. Only apply to those that can foster your growth and development.

Salesforce, Google, ZoomInfo, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Etc, all come to mind. Large companies with established and awarded sales orgs.

gobirds

Contributor

0

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

Why do you think their sales orgs are good for development? I’m genuinely curious not challenging you. I’ve been an AE once and the support and development was shit for me so I’m wondering why those are good and others are bad.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

1

☕️

My advice and feedback has been given, and you can do what you’d like with it from here. Research the orgs and talk to reps that work there.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

1

Sales Rep

Also, how the hell did you go from SDR for 18 months to enterprise Ae

gobirds

Contributor

1

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

Lol I’m still trying to figure that one out. I never really asked why they offered me the position. My leadership was not interested in developing me (can’t blame them at the enterprise level) and I think they knew I would fizzle out. Clearly a disconnect between recruiting and leadership. Not my fault but quickly became my problem.

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

This is an ideal "fake it till you make it" attitude comes into play.

You may currently hate your job, as many of us do, but you have some very good experience and you are in an Ent AE role currently. Why go backward if you don't have to?

My advice - when you get those interviews be the person you want to be, not the one you were. That means flexing on the fact that you got the ERP job in the first place. You weren't that successful because you weren't there that long. 2 years is nothing in the ERP space.

Also, are you looking at the right companies? I would look at capitalizing on the ERP experience and talk to a bunch of boutique consulting/SI firms. I'm sure they would love to talk to you.

gobirds

Contributor

0

Head of Growth / Founding Account Executive

I don’t really want to be in ERP to be honest. Ideally I go into supply chain planning or manufacturing software. And I don’t want to come off as picky or anything - that’s just what I’m interested and what I want to do. The companies I’ve interviewed for, however, tell me I need more experience to be an AE - even in MM. so it’s quite possible I’m not great at explaining my experience during the interview.

I have an interview with Netsuite next week for an AE role so we’ll see.

Beans

Big Shot

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Man, people gotta stop underselling themselves on here - you held senior roles for a reason, make a lateral move or a jump up. Never EVER go back it looks like failure on your resume to every future position.

DataCorrupter

Politicker

0

Account Executive

I do agree with this, it totally looks like failure. If you go back you could get caught in a weird career BDR loop never to return to the AE job.

Try a larger tech company (but not SAP large) where you can be an MM AE, one where they need a TON of MM AEs and will hire you and train you up a bit, I'm thinking Snowflake, Databricks, MongoDB, good names/brands.

GDO

Politicker

0

BDM

It sucks but you ll land on your feet

fidelcashflow

Catalyst

0

Account Executive

If you had a chance to join an awesome company as an SDR, I would do that. I think your best case would be to land an SMB AE role though. It seems pretty clear that you really don't have any closing experience. If you were seasoned, then yeah, fuck no don't go backwards. But it doesn't seem like a big deal with you. Articulate your situation properly to companies and they will understand. Tweak your story maybe; you got offered a head position through a colleague who wanted to take a chance on you. It Cleary didn't work out and you're aware that you still need to grow.

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

You can put on a green jacket and call yourself Master's Champion but that won't help your golf game. Sometimes you have to do the work.

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

0

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

Hi, I am someone who let go the opportunity of becoming Enterprise AE when I was an SDR of 2 years. The reason being - such growth is not growth, it's merely luck. Luck is not a sustainable boat to be in.
It's okay, you are young and you haven't lost a lot of time as well, so you will be okay. Get a fresh start, nothing is personal, and find yourself a firm that will give you sustainable and stable growth.

Be an SDR again, start with SMB AE first, mid-ent then and then enterprise : then leadership if you want this route.

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