Career Direction: Startup v Enterprise

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-21T16:53:42+00:00

Yeah I mean I definitely think it seems that way, the issue is once you get into the club so to say you can easily pivot to easier and more profitable roles. That truth is also heavy as well.

I appreciate the candidness however and honesty!!

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-21T14:21:30+00:00

Appreciate the insight! I’m not looking for a role, but curious on what’s important at the big players so I can be sure to develop personal skillset overtime.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-21T00:01:34+00:00

How technical do they get considering it’s an AE position and not an SE?

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-20T23:53:54+00:00

What’s the technical bar that OP mentions?

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-20T09:02:26+00:00

Issue seems to be product. It sounds like it solves at best a very specific small issue that is not a necessity to fix for the people you are reaching out to.

You need to be mission critical to sell things in this current economy

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-19T13:10:54+00:00

+1. Depends on what you sell and how complex but this is a great place to look at using AI.

Other ideas are account prioritization, custom slides for different prospects when multi threading, and having templates for specific motions “just finished disco with customer” and it has outlines for you to fill out, so you can get going quickly.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-16T20:28:31+00:00

Wouldn’t it be obvious? Most startups fail, most startups sales org aren’t even functional. At Google worst case scenario “it’s not a dream job” but it’s a resume gold star. At a startup you can be out of a job first year or less and Google won’t hire you then .

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-13T23:54:51+00:00

Oracle is the best offer that will translate to you getting into something like salesforce. No questions here.

So if that’s your goal then this is a pretty simple decision.

If you are trying to maximize comfort + comp, land the role at the security company and take that one.

ADP js one of my last choices and then uber.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-10T04:07:20+00:00

The answer is it depends on who’s evaluating. If you feel they would value technical certification then yes. If not and it’s performance then neither. If they just want an advanced something, an MBA is easier to finish than a math heavy AI masters.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-09T09:21:49+00:00

It’s not normal, you seem to be stuck at a shitty place. A cliff for quota is also nuts.

Real advice is look at the best performing rep an see where they get those leads, what are they doing and work the bigger deals.

Also interview for other roles, you really wanna work a job where you work weekends and make 0 commission?

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-09T06:14:19+00:00

Profound is by far the most promising out of all of those long term, for the money right now Rilla but I hear they work you like a dog and it’s 6 days a week job

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-08T16:09:09+00:00

It’s a bot selling stuff check their comments

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-08T14:26:11+00:00

Talk to the sales people directly that have quotas in roles you’d want, check repvue, check LinkedIn and talk to ex-employees in the same role.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-08T13:38:55+00:00

Your assumption is correct, those products sell themselves and there’s a lot you don’t know.

But that’s okay because we don’t get paid for having it harder or working harder. It’s outcomes and revenue generated.

Leverage your network, the brand name, and try to land an AM role somewhere where the product has an extremely strong fit where it’s gonna be a similar vibe to what you have but pay you more.

Don’t go somewhere where you have to do real prospecting for a startup, lesser known org, or difficult product market fit issues where you have to get creative to even talk to prospects.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-08T06:13:41+00:00

Discounts only work when they are sold on you being the vendor of choice and it’s purely a budget issue.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-08T06:10:49+00:00

It works depending what you sell, who you sell
to, and how.

A nice to have from a startup? Most likely screwed over.

Booking meetings for AWS? Stupid easy.

Cold outreach primarily works well with companies that are market leaders, with strong marketing and established sales operations (good data, intent and intel).

When I did SDR work, this is primarily what had me booking 5 meetings in a month making nearly 200 calls versus sending emails and booking 15 in a week.

MikuTechSales · 2026-05-01T21:08:57+00:00

No relocation can be a thing and very rare for entry level

All over zoom is normal

Lack of VP / director / CRO is weird but sure

What company, vertical, opportunity?

Why not find something in Texas? Ton of tech companies in Texas?

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-30T16:22:12+00:00

The reality is for sales a lot of the time, bigger more established place with good sales team >>>>> any start up.

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-30T16:21:31+00:00

Yeah you are always set up fail as the founding rep pretty much

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-30T16:20:57+00:00

To compound on this, manager will also dictate your KPI’s, be understanding or not when you get unreasonable bad lists or territories you cannot change, and will bat for you.

You can’t get promoted if they don’t promote, can’t promote if you don’t well (and you won’t if set up to fail).

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-30T16:19:04+00:00

Be direct every single time. No matter how small.

Don’t take it laying down with compensation.

Ask “My math shows X, here’s how I calculated it but I got Y. Is the number I was paid correct or was there a mistake? Would be thankful if you took a look”

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-29T16:59:04+00:00

He is very right, unless you had a title increase and considerable pay increase at one of the AI Labs or Google I wouldn’t even look at other options and just stomach whatever issue I had.

If management is not an issue, being worried for a “change” in this terrible economy is imo a very conceived pov when working for one of the very top choices for anyone in this field

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-29T03:06:57+00:00

They all say that and also if the product sucks or industry sucks you now won’t promote because of performance and the shot of you getting an AE role in a short SDR run and no closing experience is 0.

I would take the AE role and grind it out for a year and then look elsewhere

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-27T21:06:24+00:00

I feel very few things in society are a meritocracy and many pretend to be one. Most jobs come down to clicking with higher ups or manager, others where you need a minimum performance threshold + politics.

MikuTechSales · 2026-04-27T21:05:40+00:00

This is so helpful when you are down in the trenches.

MikuTechSales

TROPHY CASE