Beware, there are 3 distinct types of companies hiring for sales right now: 1. (10%)Pre-PMF: A new-ish company where only the founders have sold before. Looking for their first sales hire(s). Generally a very desirable opportunity, though does carry some risk of course. Freshly funded, high equity stake, paint on a blank canvas. 2. (10%) PMF: Hypergrowth companies that have nailed their product and GTM strategy, just need to scale as fast as humanly possible. This is the most desirable opportunity (think Rippling, OpenAI, etc) but your equity upside is limited as these companies already worth Billions. 3. (80%) Post-Failed-PMF: Companies that already know they DONT have PMF, multiple years of failed sales leaders + reps, desperately running out of cash, flat/no revenue growth, mediocre product, poor marketing, trying to sucker salespeople into saving their dying business. I refuse to recruit for anyone in Door 3. That's why our Talent marketplace / # of open roles grows much slower than many other job boards or recruiting firms. Why we have fewer open roles and a much lower match %. Because I will only place Members of our community at companies in Door 1 or Door 2. Play long term games, win long term prizes. 🫡 And be careful out there, lots of fools gold in the market.
PMF = product market fit, I fought in the GWAA (Global War Against Acronyms) so you didn't have to 🖖 Fiduciary duties aside, it's about steering away from the iceberg, not speeding towards it. I wish leaders of companies lacking a true product-market fit would realize they're not just missing targets, but impacting lives. Transparency is key!
Door 2 is amazing very very small group of companies
Wow - #3 is literally all over my LI feed every single day. Really good call Sahil. Nothing can save those orgs and anyone that moves to them are just getting a luxury suite on the Titanic.
There is truly nothing worse or more toxic than walking through Door #3. Unfortunately I've been there, having been recruited directly by the CEO & made the mistake of not do enough back-channeling by talking with the multiple *previous sales leaders* before joining. Never again. And, you're right Sahil Mansuri - it's 80% of companies - which is why we're seeing such a huge backlash towards companies treating employees badly. We have to do better. #compassionateleadership
I think that you are missing a 4th door. The 3rd door can be just a stop on the journey to success. A self aware CEO is never more than 1 decision away from success. 1 product pivot, 1 amazing hire, 1 fire. It’s easy to spot doors 1 2 and 3. It takes vision to spot the founders at door 3 on the verge of success. And guess what, almost everyone at door 3 was once at door 2. I’d bet even you? Also please DM me about the dinner in NYC.
this sounds like you're talking about startups specifically
#3 orgs are hounding candidates. Almost bribing them into taking roles they wouldn't otherwise.
For number 3, there are still opportunities to be had. Competent Revenue and Product Leaders can rediscover PMF and reposition the company for a successful run. The issue is there are not many leaders that can do it, or are afforded the time it takes to pull this off.
And if you're keen for a Sales role at Rippling, we're the ones you should reach out to! 😉 #shamelessplug
Partnership | Enablement | Presales | Growth Exec
6moSolid post Sahil! If followers are not sure if they are considering a #3 you can sniff them out if the comp plan and OTE sounds too rich to be true. And if that's not obvious, push on it... hard. What % of reps hit their quota AND their OTE last year. And this isn't a situation limited to early stage companies running out of cash. Plenty of established tech companies no longer have PMF who will look very very similar to a candidate.