IB/PE -> Strat Fin -> Tech Sales Am I Crazy?
Hey Everyone,
I am considering making a pretty big career pivot away from high finance. For context, I did tech IB at a lower tier BB for a little over a year and then got a job doing strategic finance at a tech startup. I’ve been at this role for ~6-7 months and have come to the realization that I’m not sure if I really want to stay in a finance related role.
Wanted to get a sanity check here if I am crazy for wanting to consider doing tech sales as several of my close friends are doing it and make pretty decent money for a 9-5 job. I realize sales comes with its own stress for sure, but I’ve been trying to think about what it is I like and what I’m good at and I feel like I’ve always been better at the soft skills rather than technical skills.
I was wondering if anyone here has made the jump from IB/PE to strategic finance at a tech startup to tech sales or any similar non linear career path. If so, I would love to DM/ reach out to get your perspective and advice on this as someone who feels pretty lost regarding my career pivot. Thanks a ton and comments are appreciated!
Bump
Don’t work in tech sales but I’ll give my 2 cents as I have a lot of friends that do.
Comp: The ranges massively. I know some that started at seed/series A companies making 90k+ TC as a BDR, and now make ~130k+ TC as an AE with 3YOE. Others I know who went to F500’s as an AE and made nearly 300k with 5YOE. This is anecdotal, but Glassdoor will be your friend here. Stock compensation can also be a factor.
Stress: if you can do IB for a year, you’ll be fine. Most people I know work an average of 50 hours or so (some work 30), but this can also vary. Some companies are also more cutthroat than others so not hitting quotas can get you dinged at sweatier places.
Pros: WLB seems to be great. Lots of lateral movement between big companies is quite common which can be nice. For a hard worker, an eat what you kill model is great.
Cons: Two major cons you should consider. 1) It can get very repetitive, and exhausting, especially if you’re cold calling/emailing. I know some people who moved out of sales within 6 months because of this, but it could also be for reason 2) It can be quite easy to get pigeon holed. Assuming you’re a smart hardworker, this might not be a worry. However, the upward movement is difficult because after AE, there’s senior AE, and then?? Head of sales? idk… For this reason, lots of people try to move into strategy at a start up— especially ex bankers — or something else entirely.
My suggestion would be to see if sales is something you really want to do, and strongly consider the downsides. If comp is important, and you can work hard enough to move to something else eventually, then it’s definitely a great option. Also a great launchpad for founders!
I have a similar background and am in a similar boat. Seems like most jobs are "priced in" these days. There's always a catch. Need to just take a risk these days and hope you're lucky eventually, it's not like 20 years ago when you just needed a pulse to be in the top 1% of earners in a HCOL in finance (sorry older millennials/GenX it's true). Idk maybe I'm jaded from finance, but if you're not on the IB/PE/HF/ER/S&T path, pay frankly is horrible
Are you keen to get out?
Yes I am thinking about sales!
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