GoldDigger

Sales Rep

What's it like to work at a Unicorn?

Ive never worked at a company with more than 40 employees, even outside of the tech world. Now I am at a small start as an AE, where we have 33. I am one of 3 AEs. No sales ops. No enablement. No HR.

Saw this list today and it got me curious, what is it like working at a Unicorn where you have all these different teams and departments and resources? Is it better for an AE?

https://news.crunchbase.com/unicorn-company-list/ Crunchbase Unicorn Company List Methodology for Unicorn Boards This curated Crunchbase Unicorn Board includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is

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Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I've done both and it's really nice to have the support even if you get a million emails you are CC'd and BCC'd on every 5 minutes.

Currently in between having nothing and having everything and its a good happy medium.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Patagonia backpack, jackets & tshirts.
Lots of marketing, webinars, PR
Elaborate company trips to places like Mexico or skiing

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Also everyone bragging about equity

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

In general having a strong support system is the BEST. Imo.

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

I have worked for several unicorns - they can be fun if you catch them at the right time. Everything is rocket ship themed and before Covid at least, they weren't afraid to throw money around for their employee engagement.

I did find the constant "hustle culture," toxic positivity, and massive amount of mediocre dude bro sales reps in their mid-twenties who were all cocky after being promoted straight from 1 year of experience due to growth/scaling absolutely exhausting. I would do it again, but I would prefer to catch them around A or B round next time so I can peace out by C/D round.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Oh, gosh that mediocre dude bro sales rep comment struck home. It was true more than 20 years ago! The more things change, the more they stay the same.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Never done it, but I feel like it's good to have on your resume.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Worked at 2 small start ups and then a larger company with resources. Now at medium company with resources.

Small start ups are for those with tons of energy and not a lot to lose at stake - so huge generalization, sure, but for the young, which I was at the time.

The large company was an eye-opener, and now I'm spoiled. You don't have to expend as much energy evangelizing, you have teams to handle RFPs and infosec, marketing, collateral, training, enablement, tech support... Learning the processes can take time, some of the processes are cumbersome (and dare I say stupid) but once you figure those things out, you can really be effective and massively efficient.

What's missing in a bigger company is any view of you as an IC as an actual individual. When thousands of reps roll up to the top, the top loses sight of the rep at the bottom. Go to market can suffer, and it can be difficult to be effective when you have a bad plan.

At a medium company with similar resources but a much smaller sales team, so each deal is important, has visibility, and an IC can make a huge impact. This is great for me now, as I'm not in the position to be able to take huge risks, but I'm also ready to have a bigger impact.

TLDR: pros and cons to both, what's suitable at one stage in your life and career may not be true all the way through.

SaasSlingin

Politicker

Sr AE

Whats medium vs huge, like 500 vs 1k+?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

hmm i havnt worked for a "unicorn" but ive worked at a massive public company.

There were many benefits like brand recognition, and solid inbound leads.

Also there is a team for everything: creating invoices, RFP response, sales material, marketing material, Ops the whole 9 yards.

but the down side (well for me at least) is that there is no flexibility. you have to do everything a certain way, and if you deviate from that, then there can be problems.

Also there is a process for everything. sometimes it slows things down and can get super annoying, and most of your job can be managing the INTERNAL shit/

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Unicorn or just a big company?

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

never have worked there or heard of the company. but working at a bigger company brings more perks and whatnot.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Good MKO/SKO and P clubs. Lots of structure and enablement on sales processes. Lots of politics and office drama too.

YoursTruly

Politicker

Account Executive (SaaS)

I work for one and it’s great. There’s a lot of pressure, revenue growth is everything, and when you work for one that hits it gives you leverage if you decide to leave.

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GoldDigger

What's it like to work at a Unicorn?

14 comments

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