Sales. Always ask about sales. Specifically, what’s the sales culture — who’s responsible, what’s the acquisition model, how well do the sales folks understand

Sales. Always ask about sales. Specifically, what’s the sales culture — who’s responsible, what’s the acquisition model, how well do the sales folks understand the offering, how do they manage the funnel, and so on. At the end of the day, unless you’re talking to speculative R&D-driven startups whose future success will be driven by technical breakthroughs, everything comes down to how effective the sales org is, how well it meshes with the company’s aims and mission, and how well they will work with the other groups. An immature or poorly-structured sales org will kill the best technology in the market, and ruin your enjoyment of a job. If you can, see if they’ll run you through a client pitch, give you a chance to poke some holes in their approach. Get a feel for how much they care about solving customer problems, their ethics in client capture, what they’re promising the market, and how you feel about them as people. Tells you a lot about a company.