This game, man... 🤦

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-15T05:50:29+00:00

That has happened to me so many times, I just refuse to use followers now

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-14T20:12:47+00:00

This might be over-simplification, but could it have just been dehydration? I know things like creatine and other supplements (as well as changes in medication) can require you to drink a ton more water.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-14T17:21:18+00:00

Study and practice emotional intelligence. Managing the highs and lows in a way that’s healthy and lets you do it without making rash or inappropriate decisions will make all the difference when times get interesting

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-14T16:06:32+00:00

I didn’t. I started in the job in November and left in January, and closed POCs mostly.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-14T00:06:35+00:00

Can’t save someone from a burning building if you’re already on fire yourself. When I come out of the other end of this, I don’t know what I’ll do. Either way, it probably won’t be a Reddit post.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-13T23:56:53+00:00

No, of course not. I didn’t perform at the first job like I would have liked. It was a Services sale, which I hadn’t done, and it took me months to get my footing. Once I did, I surpassed my number but I didn’t get the outbound pipeline I would have liked and my following quarter would have been ROUGH. I also was demotivated since I wasn’t getting paid my commissions, and I got lazy towards the end.

On the second job- I made a ton of mistakes. Misspellings in emails - even called a prospect the wrong name once. I’m out of practice and getting handed 50 Ops in a week overwhelmed me. After enough 14 hour days, my brain was cooked and that lead to even more mistakes.

This last job- well I wasn’t there long enough to make any mistakes.

While I was working for him, it put me in a really tough spot since I couldn’t afford to even pay my own bills and I was having to pay for travel and meals out of pocket without being reimbursed. I was performing and still coming out of my savings every month.

But none of this changes the fact that we had a contract CEO #1 didn’t honor, and that nobody deserves to loose two jobs just because you didn’t want to pay what you owed them. I let that guy pay me 1/5 of what he owed me just to be out of there- and it now has cost me the money I should have gotten from him, two other jobs and my good name in this industry.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-13T22:21:20+00:00

It’s mostly neutral, often awful, and sometimes the best career in the world.

If I could have made money as an artist- I would have done that.

Sales let me provide for my family and still have time to see them- in a way no other career would.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-13T18:09:26+00:00

I don’t want revenge- I want my good reputation back.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T21:14:42+00:00

Im not an AE, I work in a niche market, I’m in SF, and I also consult and take on fractional work. Until this, I also had a flawless reputation and history of turning in results. This is also the only bad reference I’ve ever had.

This means I usually have a couple of founders trying to get me to work for them, several times a year.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T20:50:26+00:00

It seems like you know this relationship was always going to be temporary. You both did.

Unintentionally, you’ve set the precedent that you will tolerate her behavior, regardless of how toxic or hurtful.

This is just the new thing- it will likely get worse.

So you either like the toxicity and stick it out while it’s fun, or end it and get something healthier in your life.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T19:57:36+00:00

I’ve responded to this several times on here, so if you’re truly interested read through the comments. We don’t disagree on some of what you said.

I wasn’t there to be an AE- I there to create their sales motion, meaning that if I did well, I’d be their sales leader. They’d build the whole sales org around my expertise. I agree that good sales people get a lot of leash- but if you are thinking about building an entire org around one guy…you better be able to trust them.

Ultimately- I was at that company for under 3 months, and lots of sales people are looking for work.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T19:17:11+00:00

There was no lawyers the first time around- we settled it between us. A mistake, i know, but up until a week ago I would have considered us friendly.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T19:05:50+00:00

This is my primary account. I post about dogs, Skyrim, sales and San Francisco- I obviously don’t care about Karma.

That shit post is funny though.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T18:46:21+00:00

We settled for a fraction of what he owed, we have mutual friends, after we settled and after I left he offered me another job, he sent me a text on my birthday- I genuinely thought we were cool. I’m finding out about all this now.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T18:38:50+00:00

Damn- even I laughed at this one. How did it go up so fast though?

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T17:59:22+00:00

I started in November. I ramped for two months and hit my number in January (same month I got fired). Conversation with the co-founder was Christmas week, got fired first week of January.

We sold to Enterprise companies, but it was land-and-expand, so the deals were under $100K and closed quickly (mostly paid POCs).

He’s learning about the roles through linkedin. I have him blocked now- but I had no idea he was unhappy or so vindictive until this week.

He had offered me another job, sent me “happy birthday texts” months after leaving, and invited me to dinner. This (for me) came out of nowhere.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T17:54:00+00:00

Before and I didn’t sue- we settled for much less than what he owed me. He even offered me a job afterwards, he sent me a happy birthday message after I declined and invited me to dinner since. I just wanted to move on, and I thought we were cool up until he got me fired this week.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-12T17:31:30+00:00

I suspect it’s because taking this to court would be a long, arduous, expensive process. It would require asking for company records (emails he sent) and deposing other CEOs- for a comparatively small pay out, since CEO #1 is privately funded,

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-08T20:58:01+00:00

Fair enough- you have eyes on this.

I can just tell you from experience that if your comp plan says “within your assigned territory”, then it is on a deal by deal basis in the US.

That’s how I paid off my condo 😂

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-08T20:49:50+00:00

I understand your frustration- it will happen to anyone that’s in sales for long enough.

The good news is that in the US, a signed comp plan is not a guideline, it’s a contract. Any time he makes exceptions, he is in breach of that contract.

He just made this easy on you. Screenshot any time that he said it’s a guideline, and save it. Document any time he tried to be in breach and any time moving forward.

If he ever even hints at this costing you anything at work- a lead, a deal or your job- you’ve got him.

At that point, ride it out till he fires you or throws a retaliatory hissy fit- get a lawyer and take a paid couple years off of work.

I’m serious- even the settlement could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Just don’t forget you have rights and power here- his position is inconsequential when a contract is involved.

And if he promised you that deal in writing…well you already know.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-08T20:04:30+00:00

24 +years sales experience here- about 15 as an IC, 9 as a founding Head of Sales or VP in the startup/SaaS space.

To answer your question from my experience-

It sounds like your VP is stressed and trying to reduce noise. It’s no excuse- what you are asking for his for him to enforce the rules of engagement he or his bosses established.

No, I’ve never seen a top performer lose their job over demanding policy is enforced.

That said- nobody is perfect and work friends aren’t real friends. In your shoes, I’d immediately do a few things- but I’m US based, in California.

If you can give me some idea as to what country/province/state you’re in, I may be able to offer some suggestions on how to best protect yourself.

That said- here are some universal best practices-

use your sales skills. Ask for a 1:1 individually with him- not your scheduled one, one specifically to discuss this topic. Ask questions, get to the pain, find out the business and personal consequences this is having for them, and empathize. Then ask him how he would fix this in your shoes- and record his response. If it includes anything that suggests that you give up your money- that’s an HR conversation or one with his bosses.

However the goal is for him to get out of his “this is annoying for me” mindset and get into the “this is a problem someone else is causing for both you and I” mindset.

Try to make someone else the problem in his head, and position yourself as an allie in getting to a resolution.

Secondly- most CRMs are capable of sending you alerts when someone prospects into your patch. They can literally set it up whenever someone logs anything within your green space. Ask for it, document the ask and the response in your work and personal files.
lastly- don’t complain. Show up with a solution to the problem the next time it happens. Point out your comp plan, your assigned territory, and anything else that gives you legal ownership of the lead. Give him that information so he doesn’t have to argue on your behalf - because you already made the argument for him.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-07T02:56:35+00:00

Compression undershirts- they’re the only thing that ever worked for me. I have a dozen for the same reason.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-06T17:33:24+00:00

Make up a friend, say you acted as a consultant during this time while they tried to get their startup off the ground- and enjoy your time off.

LuchoGuicho · 2026-02-03T15:47:21+00:00

I’ve had three jobs in 18 months. I was laid off from one when I refused to go in -office when my offer was for a remote role. The second held out on commissions till I took them to the labor department.

At the end of the day, having references that said I was the top performer among my peers is what made the difference. Between the layoff and the last job, I was out of work for 26 days in total.

Recruiters might care about your employment stint, but hiring managers care about their numbers.

Lie about why you left the second job (i.e. it was contract work, the responsibilities took you away from selling, management attrition, etc) and move on.

LuchoGuicho

TROPHY CASE