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Sales at SaaS startups? Help with choosing my next career move
The tips on this board to land a job at a SaaS company WORK--the proof is in the offers. All guidance and opinions welcome:
The Question: Does anyone have experience starting out in sales at a unicorn or later stage startup w/ a target IPO date--what was it like?
Disclaimer: No prior SaaS experience but 2+ years experience selling advertising and digital marketing at the Mid-Market level as an AE (Fortune 500)
I have a 3 job offers from seed startups where a majority of the funding has been secured through a seed accelerator e.g. 500Startups or Y Combinator and 2 offers from companies that have a $1B+ valuation aka Unicorns and $100M+ in Series C+ rounds.
3 SDR roles in which I and a few others would be the first "hires" for a true SDR/BDR dedicated role
1 hybrid SDR/AE role that would be closing small deals and generating opps for Enterprise/Mid-Market AEs
Early Startup Equity packages are similar (<5% Shares to Outstanding)
Late Startup Equity -- Restricted Stock Option at <$5 strike price
Early Startup Location: San Francisco--Bay Area and Remote
Late Startup Location: Atlanta, GA
Without giving too much away here are a few industries from the companies above:
Cybersecurity, Conferencing/Communications, eCommerce Marketing, and Drone Software..
- anoncoward111 8y agoIf you're in sales, none of this advice really matters. They just burn through SDRs and promotion is mostly political. You'll never have a very deep conversation on the phone about say, the technical specs of conferencing software. You'll just memorize a few stats and make 100+ phone calls per day in a vain attempt to set appointments. After 6 years of SaaS sales, I quit to wait tables in a rural area. The paycheck is more reliable and the work day is fulfilling. Good luck and stay mentally strong!
- blackberryuser 8y agoWhere were you based out of when you left SaaS?
- anoncoward111 8y agoBoston. The other hotspots I've noticed are NYC, Austin, the Bay, and maybe Reston VA or Miami or Denver as regional plays. I don't envy anyone going into an SDR role. I seriously enjoy waiting tables more and the payoff is immediate. Sitting at a desk getting hung up on all day kind of sucks mentally, physically, and financially. Plus my rent is cheaper now that I'm not in a big city :)
- blackberryuser 8y agoThanks for the insights. 6 Years without a promotion seems like a long time to stay an SDR. What type of startup was this? Also, what were your earnings like if you don't mind me asking.
- anoncoward111 8y agoyear 1 45k SDR saas salesforce widget type company year 2 55k SDR same year 3 75k rep (left company to do HW at Oracle) year 4 99k year 5 110k year 6 50k (laid off by shitty new director) saved a decent amount of money but the commission I made in year 5 was like not sustainable. It was from customers buying a product that was going EOL. And I was profiting off of like a 2 decade long install base. Honestly just give it your best shot and network hard. Customer service agents at your local utility company are making like 40-50k a year now. So if you feel like your bosses are giving you shit, and you are making 40-50k, rest assured that you have other options :) I can share email if you like.
- blackberryuser 8y agoThank you! Glad to hear your new adventure is more suitable for your mental health. --Do you have to do side work? I tried to make waiting tables work but $3/hour for sweeping, mopping, and other labor...
- anoncoward111 8y agoI do a bit of side work yeah, cutting lemons, folding napkins and running wine etc etc I made $300 on 18 tables today!
- blackberryuser 8y agoWow, the most I have ever made was about $100 in a night--the 6 weeks I worked in the restaurant I mentioned earlier. --What are your average food+drink tabs?