Hufflepuff13

Account Executive

Startups - Good or Bad Career Move?

Hi All,

I'm currently looking for my next AE role and have been reached out to by a lot of start ups (the space is SaaS). My previous company was well established (a few billion in revenue), but not a monolith like Microsoft or Amazon. I'm wondering if anyone who has worked for a start up could advise me if that's a good way to go or if I should stick to slightly more established companies.

I'm fairly new to sales with only a few years under my belt, so I want to make sure I make the right next career move.

Thank you in advance for your help and advice!

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16 comments

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

SaaS isn't an industry

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Didn't you write a few good posts about this?

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

And I think we've all chimed in...it's a delivery model.

Hufflepuff13

Contributor

Account Executive

Well, industry is probably the wrong word. I guess I meant SaaS is the space. In other words, it's not a tangible product space. Can I edit the post to fix it? This is my second day on Bravado.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

You can edit the post, but can explain in comments as well.
SaaS is a delivery model for software. What kind of software are you interested in? What kind of software do you have experience in?
And for overall general opinions and pros/cons of start ups, particularly Series A - there are a lot of discussions about those. You can search on "Series A" and see what's out there and read the responses.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Never worked in a start up, but highly recommend reading this
https://bravado.co/academy/moving-from-a-large-company-to-a-startup

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is a really good post to point our friend to. Thanks!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

so ive worked at both.

if you are going to work at a start up, i think its SUPER critical that you are connected to the vision the company has.
there is always going to be a ton of pivots and changes to EVERYTHING. and if you really excited about where the company is going, it makes it easier to deal with those things.
another thing you need to be ready to do is have little to no training or direction. you need to be ok with figuring things out.
no sales ops, no rev ops, no Solutions consultant (sometimes).

if that is cool with you then working at a start up is a good idea.
but if its not, (and thats totally fine) than it might not be the best move.

Hufflepuff13

Contributor

Account Executive

Thank you so much!! This is really helpful!

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

high risk = high reward
As long as you go in knowing that you could be fired at any moment, you'll be fine.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

There's a ton of old threads you can read through with great advice.

TL/DR:

Start-ups can be great, but know what you're getting into. Research, research, research. Do your due diligence.

And pick an industry you have an interest in. SaaS as mentioned isn't an industry or a "space".

I'd also recommend grilling these recruiters to see how much they actually know about the company or if they're just copying and pasting job postings.

Good luck!

coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

One thing about a startup that is interesting, from what I can tell there's a more likely chance someone will give you a shot compared to a more established firm.
It's a decent way to get a promotion/title boost that isn't seen as often by staying.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Or a super duper title for BDR 😆

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Great move depending on the person. Terrible depending on the person.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

startups are NOT FOR EVERYONE.it's a grind that you cannot be prepared for. frustrating but rewarding.
I've learned more though than i probably would have at an established company. you'll pick up skills you can't get anywhere else.
want comfort, a nice salary, good benefits? stick to an established company.
want a grind, wear 100000 hats, pick up skills you wouldn't get anywhere else, build something from scratch-startup it is.

Flyline

Member

Sales Rep

Another variable, having gone through it myself (and learning from it), is the shifting market has made money a bit more difficult to come by for PE and VC. Something to take into consideration when weighing going into start-up land is their burn rate and ARR/CARR.
Want to me clear this is not to discourage but something I personally did not think of (due to being inexperienced) and contributed to 30% layoffs at my previous company (according to leadership). Best of luck in your process!

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Hufflepuff13

Startups - Good or Bad Career Move?

16 comments

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