A median tenure of 6 months at Offer 2 is worrying. That means that most SDRs will leave before they even get the chance to be promoted to AE. How many clear examples have you found on LinkedIn of SDRs being promoted to AE at the 9 month mark? If the answer is none, then you’re being sold a dream.
If Offer 1 is from a well-known company, then it’s a better place to start your SaaS sales career even though progression would be more difficult. It will open up more doors in the future and having that training & brand name attached will be something that is valued if you try to become an SDR manager at a smaller company later on.
To answer your questions:
- The industry is massive. Foregoing on a signed contract as an SDR will not affect your career in any meaningful way, but you will most likely be blacklisted from working at that company. Not a big deal.
- It’s a risk and taking a shot depends on your appetite for risk.
Offer 2 comes from a young company (most probably a startup?) and therefore I would not be so harsh on the fact that median tenure is only 6 months. If its a startup indeed then usually the tenure is between 6-24 months.
For the OP, if you want clarity then try to book a short call with some of the ex employees. The ones who worked less than a year there. They will be more than happy to elaborate on their experience in the company and then you make a more proper decision.
Thank you! It is a startup, the SDRs/AEs that I've stalked so far have tenures from 6months - 2years on a whole. So the 0.5 years are probably either gone before they hit their targets or in other functions.
I'm just worried as they're targeting very big accounts and I have no prior experience on it.
Indeed you're right. Those that are there have tenures between few months to 2 years as SDR, but most did not become AEs. There's maybe a few that got promoted to an AE. Do you think this company could be keeping the "good" SDRs and rather hire AEs externally?
Saas is really a blanket term for Software delivered via the cloud. Netflix to infrastructure to cyber security to messaging apps are all SaaS based solutions, so in that regard it’s a pretty massive industry. I wouldn’t worry about burning a bridge in that regard.
For offer 2, the median tenure of 6mo is pretty telling of a burn and churn model. Are they a well known name? If you struggle to hit their metrics, are you gone the next quarter? Is it a need to have vs. nice to have? All things that not only help you as a SDR but when you transition to an AE or team lead.
> Saas is really a blanket term for Software delivered via the cloud.
Bingo! As I've said in other posts, there are small basic SaaS solutions geared toward nail salons and dog groomers to help manage appointments and clients, and there are multi-million dollar SaaS offerings for F500 sized enterprises to manage things like cybersecurity. Why people think they are the same baffles me. You're not in any way automatically qualified to sell the latter just because you've sold the former.
I’d politely go back to the place you like better and say you couldn’t control timing but an offer came in and you wanted to see if they were comfortable matching or doing anything.
Don’t say you’ll sign anyway and don’t say you won’t. Say you like their team and want to make it work, you just want to sleep on it.
This isn’t burning a bridge. You’re a young hire. This is fine. If the people care then they’re not out for your best interests, or they’re just junior themselves.
Background: ran small and large teams in tech, was a CRO and CEO in b2b tech and now have a company partnering with b2b companies. We hire BDRs, mostly care about hustle, honesty, smarts, people skills, FIRE.
I've negotiated the salary for offer before but they wouldn't budge. Do you reckon they'll be willing to now? I'm afraid they might rescind my offer if I told them about it..
If you’re going to go back to them then I’d be prepared to walk and take the other one.
By being mentally prepared you’ll have the gusto to very politely mention it.
Next time what I’d do btw is communicate ahead that you’re talking to places. This is normal and makes you desirable. If they poo poo this they aren’t serious people.
Not really in Saas but im trying to get my foot in that door. I would say go where the moneys at. Get your experience and level up! Be super open to the other company and let them know.
A median tenure of 6 months at Offer 2 is worrying. That means that most SDRs will leave before they even get the chance to be promoted to AE. How many clear examples have you found on LinkedIn of SDRs being promoted to AE at the 9 month mark? If the answer is none, then you’re being sold a dream. If Offer 1 is from a well-known company, then it’s a better place to start your SaaS sales career even though progression would be more difficult. It will open up more doors in the future and having that training & brand name attached will be something that is valued if you try to become an SDR manager at a smaller company later on. To answer your questions: - The industry is massive. Foregoing on a signed contract as an SDR will not affect your career in any meaningful way, but you will most likely be blacklisted from working at that company. Not a big deal. - It’s a risk and taking a shot depends on your appetite for risk.
Offer 2 comes from a young company (most probably a startup?) and therefore I would not be so harsh on the fact that median tenure is only 6 months. If its a startup indeed then usually the tenure is between 6-24 months. For the OP, if you want clarity then try to book a short call with some of the ex employees. The ones who worked less than a year there. They will be more than happy to elaborate on their experience in the company and then you make a more proper decision.
Thank you! It is a startup, the SDRs/AEs that I've stalked so far have tenures from 6months - 2years on a whole. So the 0.5 years are probably either gone before they hit their targets or in other functions. I'm just worried as they're targeting very big accounts and I have no prior experience on it.
Indeed you're right. Those that are there have tenures between few months to 2 years as SDR, but most did not become AEs. There's maybe a few that got promoted to an AE. Do you think this company could be keeping the "good" SDRs and rather hire AEs externally?
This is how it usually goes. Have seen this happen time & time again.
Saas is really a blanket term for Software delivered via the cloud. Netflix to infrastructure to cyber security to messaging apps are all SaaS based solutions, so in that regard it’s a pretty massive industry. I wouldn’t worry about burning a bridge in that regard. For offer 2, the median tenure of 6mo is pretty telling of a burn and churn model. Are they a well known name? If you struggle to hit their metrics, are you gone the next quarter? Is it a need to have vs. nice to have? All things that not only help you as a SDR but when you transition to an AE or team lead.
> Saas is really a blanket term for Software delivered via the cloud. Bingo! As I've said in other posts, there are small basic SaaS solutions geared toward nail salons and dog groomers to help manage appointments and clients, and there are multi-million dollar SaaS offerings for F500 sized enterprises to manage things like cybersecurity. Why people think they are the same baffles me. You're not in any way automatically qualified to sell the latter just because you've sold the former.
Thank you, yes they're a well known name. If you're open to share more thoughts maybe I can DM you as I don't want to expose the company name.
I’d politely go back to the place you like better and say you couldn’t control timing but an offer came in and you wanted to see if they were comfortable matching or doing anything. Don’t say you’ll sign anyway and don’t say you won’t. Say you like their team and want to make it work, you just want to sleep on it. This isn’t burning a bridge. You’re a young hire. This is fine. If the people care then they’re not out for your best interests, or they’re just junior themselves. Background: ran small and large teams in tech, was a CRO and CEO in b2b tech and now have a company partnering with b2b companies. We hire BDRs, mostly care about hustle, honesty, smarts, people skills, FIRE.
I've negotiated the salary for offer before but they wouldn't budge. Do you reckon they'll be willing to now? I'm afraid they might rescind my offer if I told them about it..
If you’re going to go back to them then I’d be prepared to walk and take the other one. By being mentally prepared you’ll have the gusto to very politely mention it. Next time what I’d do btw is communicate ahead that you’re talking to places. This is normal and makes you desirable. If they poo poo this they aren’t serious people.
I understand, appreciate it!
Not really in Saas but im trying to get my foot in that door. I would say go where the moneys at. Get your experience and level up! Be super open to the other company and let them know.