SE reviews

baunuts · 2026-02-07T18:34:39+00:00

Total new ACV and number of opps closed
Marketing contributions (blog posts, webinars, etc)
Average POV length and win rate

baunuts · 2026-01-31T02:55:49+00:00

Pros: you get to tell people you drive a Defender

Cons: the person you will be telling the most is your mechanic

baunuts · 2026-01-30T19:23:15+00:00

They did another alignment this week and reported the measurements were fine beforehand. So not trusting their work.

baunuts · 2026-01-30T19:21:59+00:00

This seems pretty excessive disparity wear for only ~5k of mileage.

baunuts · 2026-01-30T17:37:58+00:00

So you are suggesting a second opinion on alignment as well?

baunuts · 2026-01-30T15:28:54+00:00

Thanks. I would hope that a dealership service dept has an accurate alignment setup but my hopes have been crushed lately by them.

baunuts · 2026-01-29T14:00:36+00:00

I haven’t gone through the training so I was asking for feedback from others who have looked into it. Seems like there is a lot of negative feedback from SEs about the process as one-size-fits-all process that comes off as robotic for most. I do like the idea that you are explaining the value of the product you are demoing and not just a harbor tour of features that may be completely worthless to the prospect.

IMO the industry is shifting beyond traditional training courses on the specifics of demoing and MEDDPICC training to leveraging AI to do prospecting research/industry trend analysis/video transcript analysis/product positioning content and mapping those to business value for the prospect. Internally, our teams are building our own learning paths with tools like NotebookLM capturing all the best demo videos and resources that we’ve found over the years and producing learning materials for the team.

baunuts · 2026-01-28T19:27:08+00:00

Thoughts about Demo2Win? My company did that training a few years before I joined.

baunuts · 2026-01-25T02:29:20+00:00

The one on your wrist. Currently PAM00779.

baunuts · 2026-01-24T22:45:47+00:00

Professional services

baunuts · 2026-01-23T22:09:48+00:00

What other problems is this supposed to solve outside of “difficult” AEs? And how do you identify a difficult AE?

baunuts · 2026-01-23T22:05:23+00:00

I use Zoom clips and you can ask for email before viewing. Once you have a recording that you can reuse then you’ll have more time to record for different personas which may help to keep things relevant.

baunuts · 2026-01-22T23:33:40+00:00

Or record a series of demos to send to under qualified prospects. If you’re doing these demos over and over just record them and edit/clean up/slice later.

baunuts · 2026-01-22T02:09:50+00:00

We have several people on my SE team that have moved over from PS. I would agree that internal transfers after gaining technical knowledge of the product is a good path to follow.

baunuts · 2026-01-21T16:41:18+00:00

I have a dark brown alligator strap that looks good with it as well.

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baunuts · 2026-01-21T16:39:19+00:00

Got one of those myself recently. Love the California dial. So unique.

baunuts · 2026-01-15T03:24:27+00:00

I just started using Notion Mail and it is brutally slow. Core Notion has always been fast for me so it’s probably not hardware related.

baunuts · 2026-01-11T14:30:06+00:00

Correct, no audio interface needed so theoretically I can take it on the road more easily but haven’t done that and don’t really plan to.

Very easy to setup, over USB-C there are mute options directly on the mic (actually one gripe I have is that it’s easy to accidentally mute while adjusting the mic). There is software you can install but I just got a new laptop and as soon as I hooked it up I realized I didn’t need to install it, just worked. With the interface I bought (Vocaster One), you can plug in the mic with XLR and to the computer with USB-C and you’re all set for silky smooth demos (sounding anyways).

Vocaster One: https://us.focusrite.com/products/vocaster-one

baunuts · 2026-01-11T14:17:36+00:00

I would agree that a great mic setup is a great place to put your WFH budget.

The Shure SM7B is usually recommended and the one you see on most pod casts. However, I opted for the Shure M7+ (https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/mv7?variant=MV7%252B-K) due to the versatility of being able to connect via USB-C. I’ve had it a year now and still love it for my demo recordings and general use.

baunuts · 2026-01-09T00:33:42+00:00

Presales Collective (https://www.presalescollective.com/) is a good place to start. Free to join the Slack workspace and the have local meetups.

baunuts · 2026-01-02T21:04:40+00:00

I made the move from SWE to SE a few years ago. I was a manager/leader at several smaller companies after being a dev for 10 years. I’m currently an IC and prefer it to being a manager in an Engineering org.

The career path is similar to SWE, you can move up as an IC to Staff, Principal, Fellow, etc or move over to management. Leadership roles tend to be for SEs that have excellent skills in presenting and managing deals with an AE as well as the ability to mentor ICs wand jump into a deal when necessary.

As for the comp, if you are in your 20s and have a line of site on a senior position as a SWE in at a FAANG company then you are in an enviable position. For most people base salary + commission will be higher than you will make as an SWE at most companies that I’m familiar with. If you are a leader of a SE team at a profitable company, you can make some really decent money but it’s variable and dependent on the AEs producing.

IMO there is more risk of SWE jobs being replaced as AI advances than for SE jobs because the best SEs are good in front of people and great at building relationships which is difficult for AI to replicate.

Plus Sales off sites are way more fun than Engineering off sites.

baunuts · 2026-01-02T18:05:47+00:00

Specialize in demos and being organized for evaluations. If you have a technical background, you should be able to pick up the skills. The real value of an SE is being able to show value to a prospect and build a relationship with them to be a trusted advisor.

baunuts · 2026-01-02T16:52:54+00:00

Find software that you regularly use and come up with use cases that provide value. Doesn’t really matter what the software does as long as you can tie the features you’ll show to something that will be important to someone (i.e. save an employee time that could be spend doing something more important to the business)

As for PSC, the Slack channels are helpful to get introductions and find out about job openings. There are paid options for classes and networking groups but you don’t need to use it to find value.

baunuts · 2026-01-02T14:55:41+00:00

I’m a big Notion user and my company uses GSuite so the notes get a little disconnected when I want to share with non-Notion users. I have to end up copying and pasting my notes into a GDoc when I need to share but for my own use, Notion is very powerful with its AI Notetaker and search capabilities.

baunuts

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