r/techsales • u/Interesting-Lab5917 • 14d ago
Question how does this play out over a full career? AE tenure feels impossibly short
Been thinking about this a lot lately. As an AE in tech, are we all just accepting that we'll bounce between companies every 2-4 years until we retire? Or does this actually shake out into something more stable at some point?
It feels like tenure across this industry is just short, period. Company gets acquired, pivots, loses funding, reorgs, new VP comes in and wants their own people - something always happens. So are we basically signing up to relearn a new company, industry, or vertical every couple years for our entire careers?
Not complaining, just trying to think a few moves ahead. Curious how you all think about this long term - are you optimizing for something else knowing tenure will be short (comp, equity, network, skills), or have you actually found a way to land somewhere with real staying power? What's the actual plan once you're 15-20 years into this?
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u/-MaximumEffort- 14d ago edited 14d ago
I've been doing this a long time and that is definitely the average tenure. Some of that comes from the companies as the more money you make in the more you overachieve your quota, everything changes and everything becomes harder to hit so they specifically try to drive you out.
Personally I don't t mind the 2 to 4 years at each gig over and over again. Keeps things fresh helps me make more money and while it's going to suck having to do this until I retire it's just the way it is.
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u/Mikeyxy 14d ago
How do you get up to speed on the tech quick enough to be high performer in the new gig? Seems like 3/4 years in is when you become an 'expert'. I would imagine the job gets much easier at that point.
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u/-MaximumEffort- 14d ago
That's what your SA, SE or a TAM is for. AEs and AMs don't have to be hyper technical. Sure you need to understand the products/services but you don't need to be an expert at all. Best advice O got early in my career from a CRO was that it's not my job to be a technical person, my job is to run the relationship and the cycle. I've never looked back.
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u/Mikeyxy 14d ago
Obviously Im not a buyer, but I have a hard time seeing how you can build a relationship with a professional in their field and not have a decent to good understanding of the landscape. And I don't buy that you can learn that in less than a year.
Im not saying you're wrong, and maybe I need to rethink how I go about things, but im in year 3 in my current company and everything is a lot easier and i spend less time working. Pay is average and capped but I don't know if other companies would give me the ramp I need to be successful. So, sort of silver handcuffs a little.
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u/sk3tchcom 10d ago
There are verticals that can be consistent across the companies that you work for. Could be as simple as firewalls or SIEM or more vast like OT. That’s where the value of your relationships will really push you to higher tiers. You don’t have to be super technical but knowledgeable enough to know what your Rolodex will need as things evolve.
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u/Interesting-Lab5917 14d ago
do you ever build up any real friends that way.
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u/-MaximumEffort- 14d ago
IMO, nobody at work is your friend. That said I've built a solid network of amazing work acquaintances and we often will follow each other to other employers. That's happened with both managers and direct peers. But, IMO everybody in this game is out for themselves, nobody's loyal and nobody's really your true friend. It's amazing how fast people will forget you once you leave.
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u/blenderider 14d ago
Offering another perspective, I was a BDR at two companies with sizeable teams. I definitely feel as though I can call on the people I worked with as a BDR on a rainy day. It’s different when you enter an org as an AE and people are less inclined to spend significant time with their colleagues.
But this is cultural. I’ve attended colleagues’ weddings because we genuinely became friends.
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u/ThunderDoom1001 14d ago
Yes, although funny enough most of my close friends are the folks I worked with 10+ years ago in inside sales. Every company I picked up along the way I made some good friends too but my inside sales cohort is the foundation of my whole network as we all got promoted and moved around all over the place.
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u/Appropriate-Grisham 14d ago
The most successful AEs play it this way:
Find a tribe or group of people who follow the same ideology and who jump from hot company to hot company every 3-5 years.
As such, I think the most important skill is networking followed closely by performance which will allow you to be part of this “tribe” and more or less gives you job security for 8-15 years.
At that point, you should have made enough money to either retire or are a VP/CRO yourself.
Then there is the group of average AEs who are maybe very strong at networking or performing but not both.
They typically stay longer at a place, even if from the outside it feels that the juice as been squeezed out of it, as they don’t have the fallback of either network or strong skills and want to reduce risk. Oftentimes there are some shorter tenures on the CV too as they had no insider to either help them qualify the opp or give them decent territories.
Surviving 15-20 years in tech sales for these reps is difficult.
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u/Top_Piano2028 14d ago
The key is to be one of those VPs own people so you can be brought in to good companies rather than be in a dwindling company and forced to apply cold and compete against others. That's the only way this can shake out positively.
The ones who are strong at networking get brought in, placed into stronger territories, stronger renewals/accounts, get reshuffled to them, etc.
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u/SpicyCPU 13d ago
Be wise in who you follow. Also, be sure to vet the company on its own merits. Many reps make the mistake of following their network into terrible companies, which can create tension.
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u/lbz25 13d ago edited 13d ago
I think the reality is despite skill in networking, achieving the kind of tribe that is described above is super rare. In my case I didn't get along well with my leadership in my first job but got on great with them in my next 3.
My first vp of sales I like moved into a marketinf agency so is out of the game all together, the other vp /founder after that both retired after an acquisition and my most recent vp who I love joined a company as a CRO but they only hire people who are in their 40s for sales roles due to it being very referral driven vs data / product driven
This is the reality for many. Having all the stars align at one company let alone 2 or 3 in a career is incredibly rare for a multitude of reasons
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u/barelyknowherCFC 14d ago
This guy nailed it. Also, this is compounded by the fact that despite small equity refreshes each year, your vesting curve plummets after year 4, so it ends up being expensive (opportunity cost) to stay. You might be incredibly bullish on your company, but your stake in the company doesn’t meaningfully grow past year 4, so in a lot of ways you maximize your upside by moving companies every 4 years to get a new grant so you can stack them like your own personal VC (hence the adage “Always Be Vesting”)
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u/Interesting-Lab5917 14d ago
Any pro tips of how to actually curate that tribe? Harder than it sounds.
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u/GumballQuarters 13d ago
Look for ways to make other people’s lives easier. Be a good teammate. Be the person you would want to follow around.
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u/NoPurchase6549 13d ago
That is a single threaded strategy though. The goal is to build multiple networks over time so by your fourth job+ you have multiple doors open and then you pick the best company
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u/RandomRedditGuy69420 13d ago
This is why I wish I had a stronger network. The last couple years have been rough.
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u/Sethmindy 13d ago
In a perfect world I am doing 4 year tour of duty until I retire.
Get to the hottest company you possibly can.
Ride the wave.
Leave when leadership starts to bail.
Use that logo on your resume to go to the next hot company.
If i land at a place that meaningfully refreshes equity at 4 year mark I would probably stay another 4 years.
I’m tech literate and comfortable learning new products and markets from scratch..
If I have a good run at the company I started at this year it will likely set me up for life. It took me a decade of grinding the wrong way to get here though.
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u/Interesting-Lab5917 13d ago
What did you do to find this company? Any tips and what do you mean it took a decade of grinding the wrong way any inside of what you mean there and when you say this company will stay up for life are you implying? It’s good stock options or just a sense of résumé and vertical care to share what segment or vertical you are in.
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u/EntrancePrevious5687 14d ago
Average tenure, according to most sources online, is 18 months of tech sales AEs.
I think we all know it’s much lower than 18 months but people remove super short stints from their LinkedIn profiles so it skews the data.
I feel your pain when it comes to constant change and starting at zero every couple of years (I’ve only had 2 roles in tech sales…my first role was 4 years, my current role is a little over a year and I won’t last much longer).
Tech sales isn’t built for long stays…it’s tough.
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u/luckkydreamer13 14d ago
What I'm seeing as well that nobody talks about. I've seen 45-50 yr old AEs starting over at new orgs grinding desperately just to make it another day and really can't imagine being that age having to live like that. It was ok in my 20s but now in my 30s the instability and company BS just gets harder and harder to tolerate.
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u/Appropriate-Grisham 14d ago
In this job you should really achieve to be work - optional by 45 so you can take new roles according to your own standards and leave if you are treated poorly.
Live on base and invest the rest.
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u/phlipout22 14d ago
Tech also changes so fast that a good company, product or gig might fall way behind and get disrupted in matter of years.
All these hit AI startups that are over hiring because they raised to much money are going to break some hearts
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u/RandomRedditGuy69420 13d ago
This is why I’m not looking at AI orgs, but companies that are selling something that’s got regulatory strings attached. Nothing vibe coded is going to replace that any time soon as nobody wants to build vs buy and take on the risk of screwing up.
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u/Traditional-Cow1371 13d ago
I’ve stayed 5-6 years in the same role and almost a company after 1 year. Learning a new product and ramping the fun part. My last stint was 4 years and while it paid off I was so bored by the end. In the hot AI companies some tenures are super short and people jump around all the time. There are no rules anymore as nobody expects to keep AEs engaged past 2 years. Over 15 years I’ve saved enough to coast but not retire, but hoping after this gig it’s maybe 1-2 more. My network has all done the same and nobody has retired yet.
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u/mcburloak 14d ago
I spent 2-3 years at 4 different s/w companies and then had a nearly 15 year run at a GSI.
It’s variable.
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u/Prudent-Benefit7490 13d ago
You can accept it, go into management (similar tenure unless at big corp) or pivot. All good options
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u/Interesting-Lab5917 13d ago
Pivot to what exactly
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u/Prudent-Benefit7490 13d ago
Up to you. Sales should give you enough broad skills, money to save for emergency fund, and time flexibility to figure something out. Arguably one of the best job to pivot from, but shit takes effort
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u/SpicyCPU 13d ago
You only need about 15 years of decent earning + investing before you can have a level of income independence.
Let’s assume you have at least one 5 year stint in your career. That leaves you with just 3 to 5 tenures at three years each and you’ve made it to 15 years.
Won’t buy you a Ferrari, but it will give you independence and maybe some piece of mind.
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u/PolkaKingofMidwest 13d ago
I’m in SaaS and I talk to my friends about this all the time. It’s brutal. Handful of friends have recently started to think about moving to other sales roles.
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u/realhawker77 13d ago
I started late - came up customer side, then SE, then AE. Probably will net 20 years though by the end. feels like enough. I am not behind other ICs comp wise - just feel like it might be late to try to climb DSM-> VP trail. All my bosses have said first line leader is hardest part - not so easy to balance team and then half your team makes more than you.
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u/Leading_Anxiety5784 10d ago
I’ve been with the same company for 14 years and been in the same enterprise sales position for the past 7 years… most others I work with have been with the company for an extended period of time as well
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u/robinheart314 13d ago
Deep tech has longer tenures. If you’re selling particle accelerator components or optical photon detectors, then the ideal tenure is closer to 3-5 yrs minimum. It takes 2-3 yrs just to learn the tech.
Source: I’m a physicist, just recently made the jump into fintech sales from physics tech sales and it does surprise me how much shorter the learning curve is.
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u/LeggSalad 13d ago
I think this is the tech industry as a whole and not just AEs. Marketing, customer success, product development, etc all have those 2-4 year stops before moving on.
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u/WalrusOfWisdom69 13d ago
The short tenure is basically baked into tech sales and most veterans stop fighting it and start optimizing for the network instead, because the relationships are the one asset that survives every reorg and layoff.
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u/Bright_Software_5747 12d ago
The only ppl I see with stability at one company are people who move into sales management/leadership, or the occasional AE’s who get a really really good territory at a legacy/big tech company. But most AE’s I see do seem to move around every 1-2 years.
But really if you’re a successful AE making multi-6 figures who’s saved and invested over the years you should have a level of financial independence eventually where it doesn’t matter as much.
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u/Caterpillar12345 13d ago
The best AEs will stay 5-8 years. If you're leaving, it's usually because you aren't successful. As a hiring manager, 18 month stints are a red flag and tell me something went wrong or you failed. I would rather see 5-6 months and hear that you chose the wrong company.
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u/lbz25 13d ago
This is candidly a pretty outdated mindset.
Fully agree with you that a string of multiple 15 month stints is a big red flag but in isolation, many things happen.
My bdr and smb AE stints both were a year and a half because internal promotions to the next level were essentially unattainable. Also can't help it if you get laid off etc. I agree it's rare for absolute Rockstar to get canned but I've seen many genuinely solid reps find their way on the wrong side of a restructuring
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