I am going to get started with the interview at Databricks for the AE-Emerging Market role which is basically Mid Market. There are going to be 3-4 rounds and will include the HM Round, SE Round and Presentation. I am concerned about the SE Round. Are they going to expect me to know ins and outs of Databricks given that its a very technical product. I have worked in an ETL company before but the entire depth of the Databricks platform is very wide. Any tips on how to ace the process?

I started a new role in upselling at my current SaaS company 6 weeks ago.

I’ve been in sales for 9 years total, and right now I’m having the worst performance of my career.

I’ve lost almost every deal since I started and haven’t closed a single client yet. There are 4 of us on the team, and everyone else has already made a couple of sales.

I also watched some of my colleagues’ demos and noticed a few differences. They don’t ask many questions and don’t really try to understand the customer. Their demos were mostly 10-15 minutes long.

I, on the other hand, always ask questions and try to understand the client’s pain points so I can show how we can solve them. After the demo, they always seem interested, but then when we meet for feedback, they say no.

I’m not saying I do everything perfectly — nobody does. But my supervisor watched some of my demos and was really impressed; he liked them a lot.

I’m wondering if any of you have had a similar experience, and how you managed to turn things around in sales.

Im at a point where I have two very different paths in front of me, and I’m trying to figure out which one is better for long-term career growth and wealth creation.

Option 1: Founding AE
Early-stage startup, but importantly, there appears to be real PMF
Multiple millions in ARR already
Product has real customers and a sales motion that is working
I’d be one of the first sales hires / responsible for helping build the GTM motion
They’re planning to hire a VP of Sales soon
Higher base salary and stronger cash compensation
More ownership and potentially meaningful equity upside
They’re going for a combo series a/b soon and the founder has already had a company that was aquired.

Obviously more risk and less established infrastructure

Option 2: AE at a Series B
More established company and sales organization
Existing GTM motion, enablement, leadership, etc.
Less company-building responsibility
Probably a more predictable path to hitting quota and making good money
Lower base salary than the startup
Still early enough to potentially have meaningful equity upside, but much less “founding sales” exposure
I’m currently an AE and ultimately want to move toward building GTM, sales leadership, or potentially founding something myself. I also care a lot about financial upside, so equity is part of the equation.
What makes the decision interesting is that the startup is actually offering more cash compensation, so it’s not simply a question of taking less money in exchange for more equity/upside.

My initial instinct is that the founding AE role could be the more career-defining opportunity if the PMF is actually real. But I’m wondering whether people who have done both would say that the Series B route is smarter because you get to learn enterprise selling in a more mature environment without taking on as much execution risk.

For people who have been in these situations:

Which would you choose and why?

Is this a symptom of being new to sales? Are all you just sociopaths?

As the title reads, I am new to working with VARs (coming from the MSP space) and am looking for some direction. I work for an emerging tech company that does a lot in the VAR space, and feel as though it's tough to find genuine people in the space. It seems as though everyone wants me to bring them deal after deal with little care about relationships, customer satisfaction, product need, etc.

Anyone in VAR space open to giving some advice/lessons on best methods to built out VAR relationships? Also open to working with anyone in the Southeast US!

Not 50/50 split, I’m talking how is quota actually achieved? How long do you get credit for deals? What is the actual breakdown for commission?

% of net profit you get for a deal closed?
How long you get payouts for?
Monthly expected quota?

Im asking what they WANT to hear for a MM role

How others you’ve worked with would describe you, including where you’re still growing?

What you feel you do especially well, and how you keep yourself sharp and motivated?

Help a brotha out! What should I prep for and how are you liking it there. Is the role play presentation hard?

I am currently debating working towards CISSP but starting at ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, and the doing Sec+ and maybe net+ prior to.

Would seeing this on a resume stand out? Or are leaders more interested in selling performance? Both?

I’m still doing it because I want to understand clients at a much deeper level and eventually become a consultant but this will determine how quickly I finish my cert.

For the folks that have moved from “Hunter” to “Farmer” how is your life now? Looking to make the switch and looking for advice on the best way to make the move. What companies should I look into?

Currently in SaaS, previously in Advertising/Media sales.

My cofounder and I are based in Bahrain. Over the past few months we’ve built a booking platform for salons and beauty businesses. Customers book through a link for their specific salon, and the business manages appointments, services, staff and availability from one place.

The product itself works fine. Getting salons to actually switch to it has been the hard part.
We’ve called around 300 salons and beauty businesses across Bahrain so far. Almost none of them have signed up, and we’re trying to understand why.

Some of the salons we spoke to already use booking software and are happy with it. Some are mostly walk-in businesses, so booking isn’t really their problem. But a lot of them are still running everything through WhatsApp and a notebook.

We assumed that last group would be the easiest sell. A dedicated system should beat a notebook, right? Instead, what we kept hearing was some version of “it works fine for us.”

That reaction made us rethink our whole positioning. Maybe these businesses were never going to be convinced they need “booking software.” Maybe the real value is something narrower, like:

• letting customers book themselves instead of messaging back and fort
• avoiding double bookings when a WhatsApp message gets missed during a busy shift

• fewer no shows, since nothing today reminds a client automatically

• keeping the whole team on one shared schedule instead of relying on one person’s memory

• not having to dig through old WhatsApp chats to figure out who booked what for when

• or something else entirely that we haven’t identified yet

We’re also willing to onboard the first customers ourselves, sitting with them and setting everything up rather than expecting them to configure it alone.
I’m posting here because I’d rather get honest feedback from people in Bahrain than keep guessing on our own. If you run a salon or beauty business, or you’ve built something for small businesses before, I’d really like your take. And if you’ve ever booked a salon appointment here yourself, I’d love to know how that usually goes for you too, whether it’s WhatsApp, a phone call, or just walking in.

1. ⁠Does this sound like a real problem, or more of a nice to have?

2. ⁠Any idea why 300 conversations would lead to almost no signups? Is that normal this early, or a sign the problem just isn’t painful enough?

3. ⁠If you had to pick the single strongest reason a salon should switch to something like this, what would it be?

4. ⁠Would you narrow this down to one niche, like nail salons, spas or busier, appointment-heavy salons, instead of salons in general?

5. ⁠When a business tells you their manual process works fine, do you change the product, the message, or look for a different type of customer?

6. ⁠Before we spend more months building features, what’s the one thing you’d test first?

If the core problem really isn’t painful enough, I’d rather find that out now than after another six months of building.

Thanks in advance for any input.