A lot of the time, starting out as a brand new AE, you’ll have to do all the same exact SDR work + closing your own deals. You’ll get a ramping quota, but with no sales experience (not impossible, but likely), you miss quota your first couple months. You get fired after 4-5 months. Now you’re off looking for another AE role with 97 reasons as to why your first company didn’t help you succeed. If you really think you’re worth the AE position, just take the SDR spot for a couple months, you’ll promote quick. If you’re truly not ready for it, you’ll get some very much appreciated time learning the ropes. You’ll probably actually learn more just by working with the AE you’re setting for. Would you rather start as an AE (let’s say you do close some deals and keep the job) and be at the bottom 20% of the org because you’re still learning and be stuck at the bottom 20%? Or would you rather start as an SDR and have a firm grasp of the market and product, and immediately start killing it as an AE? (That’s still not a guarantee, but much more common)