Looking for career advice. I am Mid-Market AE and have 2 offers. First is Commercial AE (little smaller market than I am right now) but with a hyper growth company. Second is Enterprise AE but with a unknown company. Pay is the same. Would you choose bigger title over company brand or the company brand even if it feels like a step back in current title?
I like to think about things in terms of Territory, Timing, and Talent. Territory is the opportunity to achieve (good TAM), Timing speaks to product market fit and product market moment (are you selling something people want to buy), and Talent is your ability to be successful with your skillset in the market (can you sell an unknown versus crush it with something growing like wildfire). Personally, I've never chased titles in 20+ years and had some of the best years of my career with the lamest title at a hyper growth org, so I would lean toward hyper growth. You can crush it and get promoted for a better title and if it's growing quickly, there should be upward mobility.
I am also really curious about the product of the second company, if it is niche/low ROI in a bad way it could push OP off track.
Play booby games, win booby prizes. Company brand EVERYDAY. The worse thing you could do is gamble away your attainment at a no brand company that's promising you money on a target that's unattainable. Selling for a company that's still figuring out its PMF & has zero social proof will ruin and confidence in ways you won't. It's either you work for a Repvue top 20% (ideally 5%) company and clear 200-300k predictably as an AE or die trying! Startup is ok only if they 1) have made maintstream media (think DoorDash in 2019) or 2) you have a filtering process to seperate the wheat from the chaff (I'd have given you mine, but repvue blocks links). lmk if you need it and will post it in a seperate comment. /bowtiedcocoon
If it is hypergrowth and real (meaning people are actually hitting/exceeding quota). Unknown company is concerning in that the technology and experience may not be valuable even if you have enterprise in your name. If things are booming and scaling you can be a Midmarket or ENT rep in the first company pretty quickly. With smaller/less companies it is easier for managers to lie about their current performance to fool you into working there, considering neither are publicly listed please get a feel for how things are going before accepting either ofter. Early stage equity rarely works out but is higher reward opportunity. I would just be careful that the first is actually a quickly growing company vs. having the vibes of one.
It depends on what your goals are. Are you seeking a title or the opportunity of the role? If these roles are in tech sales, you are considered either a hunter or farmer or something hybrid. I have always been with companies in the mid-range size that had a good customer base. I had some existing accounts and responsible for new logo's in a territory. But 6 years ago, I took a role as a Strategic and Growth Account AE. I did it for the role and responsibilities not the title. Now that I am looking again, I find that Hunters are in demand. After spending 6 years of year long sales cycles, 6 months to get an MSA signed, I am ready for a change. Be true to what your skills are and the skills you want to develop. Good Luck.