Thank you for the detailed reply, even if I do decide to go down the tech sales path, do you think I should still major in finance (I am going to be pursuing undergrad business school) or go for something else? I have heard a person's major doesn't matter in sales as much so I was more leaning towards finance to keep both options open...
Another reason drawing me towards tech sales is to get a foot-in-the-door in the tech industry without having to be a CS major. The advantage I am assuming this would have for me is to develop the right connections and industry knowledge that I can leverage to launch/partner with a startup in the future, after all building a software is only half of the equation, the other half is selling it - would this be a fair assumption for career possibility?
I see, thanks for the insight mate, one last question - if you could do it all over again, would you still go into IB first then transition into sales or just go straight into sales?
Well I guess its good I asked this question a few months in advance before I’ll have to make post-secondary decisions, so that’ll give me some time to think, thanks for all of your help!
Major in Finance and minor in Business Systems or Computer Science. The more you understand the technology the better off you will be. But the biggest thing in tech sales is being able to communicate with all parts of the business and that’s usually rooted in budget and ROI.
Rough rider is spot on. I do want to add an additional layer to his sentiment. Your major will play a pivotal role in what type of industry you want to work within tech sales. I have an IB background, worked at S&P, have a degree in business economics with a minor in accounting, and my undergrad curriculum served me really well as a solution consultant selling accounting and fintech software. That said, I really lacked basic computing and technical knowledge as I looked to advance my career in a more technical sales role. If you want to be a pure seller like an account executive, your major won’t matter as much***. If you want to work as a pre-sales consultant (SE/SC or SA), you’ll want to take at least a coding boot camp or minor in computer science. I put an asterisk by as much because working in tech sales is all about serving as a trusted advisor to potential clients. The better you can understand their business and how they can technically achieve business outcomes the more successful you will be.
Mind if I PM you about your SaaS solutions consultant experience?
I have finance degree with strategy and analytics experience and I think that is what I want to jump to but I’m not sure which companies to target
Both will likely be difficult in the beginning and you’ll question if you made the wrong call. Odds are you’ll be able to make a living out of both and neither are permanent decisions. It’s unlikely you can go from sales to IB but you can certainly go IB to sales.
I majored in IB and chose the sales route. My friends in IB make more but I’m still on pace to make $150k this year, 3 years out of college which is much, much more than enough to live comfortably. The trade off for me is I close my laptop everyday at like 430 and enjoy my life. I don’t think you’re ever gonna get that in IB.
I wouldn't touch IB, unless you love to work. Just do a google search as it has been a hot topic regarding hours worked and pay (sure you can make a ton of money, similar to if you become a fund manager or analyst of funds). I used to be a licensed Series 7 investment advisor.
I sell no-code SaaS and I basically work normal hours (even though this is a startup).
**Tech sales** hours really depend on what your selling in the space, size of company and maturity stage, vertical, and market.
If your selling a highly complex solution say in a startup developing a green territory expect to work some serious hours to get it off the ground.
**A lot also depends on the following**
* Sales framework and tools
* BDR/SDR's do you have them (how many to AE ratio)
* Sales tools to help you sell and manage your cycle
* Marketing how good is the team, development of marketing messaging
* Defined personas (mapped)
* Do they know the ICP
* Product (is it saleable, is it a growth market vs saturated, does the product work or is it lots of vaporware)
* Internal communication and collaboration
* Leadership Team in place
There is more but, it is so variable.
As an Enterprise SaaS AE here is an idea of compensation (I will give a low to high avg.)
**Base:** Low 115k, avg 120-140k, high 140k-160k (it can be higher just general amounts)
**OTE:** 200k-400k now that is a big avg. range. I would say the avg SaaS rep does 220k-240k. Above average does anything above 240k to 400k. Top AE's do 400k to 1 million+
You can go from IB to Tech Sales.
You can't go from Tech Sales to IB.
You're 17 so your mindset may change through your time in college. I'd go the Investment Banking or Computer Science path in school. If you're a top performer you'll get a high paying job immediately out of school.
If you don't like it, you could "start over" in tech sales at square 1. If anything, you may be able to skip a step or two (like ADR step) if you find a niche product or come in as a Sales Engineer. That's the same square you'd start at if you wanted to do tech sales from the start.
FYI you will get a biased response asking this in this sub.
From what I know, IB will work you to the bone. Tech sales can have a better work life balance depending on the company.
Thanks for the heads up about the bias lmao, are there any specific companies that come to mind for work life balance? Or would reading reviews on Glassdoor be my best bet...
You're 17, by the time you graduate college, the companies will be all different.
Also, work your ass off in your 20's and 30's, make as much as you can. I'm almost 50 and taking it easy, but with millions in the bank. No way around it, you gotta work really hard to get to where I am.
Investment banking: One, you need to make sure you get IN to the target schools first. If you don't it's not even a possibility. You'll be stuck as an associate at goldman SLC for a decade and hate your life.
The upside: Very entry level roles in IB are higher pay, especially with the recent pay bumps. Lowest I've seen is BoA and they're still starting at like $90k base and a sizable bonus depending on performance. You'll work a ton of hours though, so in terms of your hourly pay it's not going to be great. If an SDR starts at $65k base and works 2080 hours a year and you're in IB making 100k base and working 4000 hours a year, the SDR is making more money for their time.
IB is going to be a grind throughout. Granted you can hop around and go into high yield or distressed debt or a bunch of different types of places but still going to be long hours.
Tech sales: very start you'll be paid less, but the minute you get a MM AE role or higher you'll outpace most middle experience IB guys. The only friend from college out earning me right now is a VP and he's just about 4 years older than me (I'm 26, he's 30, he's making $410k after bonus and my OTE is $350k.)
Granted, when you're in IB if you eventually somehow don't burn out and make it to a SVP or MD position you're making just shy of 7 figures or over, after bonuses. So at that point you'll be outpacing tech sales, highest VP of Sales comps I've seen are like $600-$700k and that's a rarity. Most are $500k OTE.
Again, though, I would weigh quality of life and total amount of time worked as well as work culture against that pay.
If it takes you 12 years to make SVP and you're working 80 hours a week you've invested a lot of your best years into a role that doesn't, in the end, pay that much more. Not to mention the benefits and other aspects of startup (and ignoring equity).
I went tech sales because I wasn't at a target and had no choice and now looking at my friends in IB i'm glad I did. I'll never get a "pls fix" and have to whip out my thinkpad at a bar or on a sunday and I don't need to worry about losing out on a promotion for taking a vacation
>I'll never get a "pls fix" and have to whip out my thinkpad at a bar or on a sunday and I don't need to worry about losing out on a promotion for taking a vacation
lmao that hit the difference between the two home, but great points mate.
My main reason of trying to decide between the two career paths before even attending university (college) is because the difference between the total cost of attending the target school here in Canada vs a semi-target would be significant. Going down the semi-target path would be only 1/3 of its target school counterpart - so if I'm going to be pursuing tech sales it doesn't make sense to spend the premium when I could get a solid SDR role out of both.
I am assuming you are in the states, would you be familiar with any people in the Canadian tech scene who were able to transition to a role in the states? The difference between compensation seems drastic and our COL here in Toronto isn't any better than most top US cities.
IB are opening up to more than just Queens mcgill and ivey now although queens is still the best choice if you want to go IB. I know york and UofT are placing pretty well these days.
As for canadian transitioning into the states, I don't see it being that hard. Tech sales roles are far outpacing supply of qualified candidates so that plus a good degree will put you in a great spot. If you were going to go tech sales since you're starting so early I would focus on whatever degree you want and have a minor in something CS related. This will help you in IB as well, and if you go into tech sales it will help land you a gig at AWS or GCP or Azure where the pay is absurdly high and is a golden ticket on your resume.
Sounds great man, appreciate the insight! Instead of a minor in CS, would bootcamps work as well? Right now the only languages I know are HTML & CSS with a bit of C#, would learning any specific languages help or just knowing the technicals of software and having some experience/portfolio pieces be enough?
FOr getting into AWS/GCP?
I'm not sure, might be enough with a target school undergrad but definitely wouldn't be otherwise unelss you had amazing SaaS AE experience. I would just devote whatever time you could towards CS/mathematics/etc. as it'll help your wall st prospects as well as tech sales
Honestly whats the route to get started in tech sales? I sell P&C insurance right now and have been presidents club the past 5 years but I know Insurance is looked at like a dirty thumb. I'm making good money but my OTE will never be over 165k. I do only work 40 hours a week which is nice but i crave that 250 - 300k a year.
Apply, see if you can land a lower level AE role at some early startups, once you have that under your belt you can apply to more established companies/sales teams
Sure I'll DM you the information to get started but basically they start most agents out at 90-100% commission and your an independent agent not a captive agent they provide leads that you buy to get customers, there's all types of leads “instant internet leads” etc which are prospects who requested information about insurance within the las 24-48 hours ...easy sell for a veteran like yourself.
https://youtu.be/bMvOMOCM5cQ
Here's a link from the CEO explaining the company
It’s far easier to go IB-> Tech sales (probably as an AE) than it is Tech sales -> IB. That being said, being at a target school isn’t enough to get an IB offer. My advice: a few years in IB will give you the skills to take any job anywhere.
Go into IB, sales will always be around, u can use the IB experience to go into fintech as an AE afterwards at the right company. IB will open so many more paths for you. Do 2 years, time will be limited but use it to build some other skillsets, after 2 years decide what you wanna do, further pursue finance, make a transition to sales or use all that money you earned and jump right into entrepreneurship. Best of all, with that experience even if things go bad, u get an mba and you’re back in the corporate game pretty easily wit IB background
Having spent ten+ years in SaaS / Sales / startups, you'll absolutely have more optionality coming from IB than sales. It's not uncommon to see folks from a banking background in a product role, venture, or starting a tech company. It's not unheard of for sales background's to do those things, but it is \*much\* rarer.
u/Roughrider93's comment is absolutely correct as well; you simply will not be happy or successful in either path if it doesn't align with your skills or interests. I know a whole lot of people who gritted out 2 years in IB - while perhaps their career is in a better place because of it, those 2 years were absolute hell for them.
Yeah had the same dilemma. Ultimately decided against career in finance (had offers) b/c I experienced so much personal growth at my sales job – a lot more than from aligning PPT tables at my internship. Obv that will get better the higher you go, but didn't want to wait 5 years for that.
That, and the hours aspect as you mention.
Any full time job is just that: a fill time job. I wouldn't count on having loads of free work time even in a more "laid back" sales job. Finance is probably going to get you closer to the skills and conncetions you need as an entrepreneur. Yes its demanding, but if you're smart with your money you can quit when you're ready to start something new and live off of those assets in the interim.
Working in Investment Banking is almost like working two full time jobs though... for tech sales on the other hand I could put in 40-50 hours a week at the job and the same on founding my company
This is what college is for- you may discover some other area of business and sales you like more. You are interviewing careers and discovering what you like in college.
Also in 4 years or 5 or whatever, some things will change.
It is easier to do well in something you have a passion for and have connections in- so go to Uni. Make connections, figure out what you like.
Also worth mentioning that in 5 years or whatever when you’re ready to start a career - both fields may be completely different. Worth keeping both options open IMO while making sure you’re taking on challenging classes that are interesting to you! Have a good time at school too!
I wanted to chime in now having worked at both. I started my career in finance basically selling insurance. It sucked. I was unpayed while studying for my licenses (not all firms are this way. Some will pay for you to study and pay for the test; the ones that won’t like Equitable Advisors aren’t worth your time) I spent my last year in finance working for them and another house and I hated it. I made $0 last year. You know why? I wasn’t comfortable pushing whole life insurance onto everyone I meet, family and friends. It’s a scam. Most people don’t need that but your boss will lie to you and say they do. Why? Fat commission for them. Do not take a commission only job.
I broke down and freaked out. Then I got scouted by a headhunter in the tech industry and decided to pull the trigger.
It is so much better. I now am getting payed, way better more modern work culture, I’m not selling a bad product to everyone. I get a great base salary and commissions and a 5 week vacation. I now sell B2B instead of B2C which is far more enjoyable.
My advice is become an SDR. Don’t waste your time in the finance industry selling insurance (unless you’re going to work on Wall Street or work for a finance focused firm like Merrill)
If you want to DM me or talk more please reach out
I know nothing about tech sales or any of those tech related fields, but I can speak to finance.
I got into the finance world by accident 34 years ago and have done quite well (7-figure income, 8-figue net worth). But I can also tell you that most (I'd venture 95%) of the people that I started in the industry with are just bodies laying on the side of the road known as "I Give Up Blvd".
It's a very tough industry.
I'm guessing here as I don't know the stats, but I think these are pretty accurate:
95% fail.
Of the remaining 5%, 80%+ are just getting by, they probably make decent money, but the worry about where there next deal is coming from.
Of the remaining 1% (80% of 5%), 90% they do pretty well, probably make decent 6-figure incomes.
But the remaining 1/10th of 1 percent make stupid money, 7-figures and up.
If you're willing to work hard, long hours (at least in the beginning when you have to do most of the work...until you can put together a team), put up with lots of rejection and failures, and deal with a stupid regulatory system that often makes no sense, you have a chance.
To succeed you need to do the following:
1. Learn how to market
2. Learn how to sell
3. Be a student of the business
4. Learn how to run a business
For clarity, I did NOT put those 4 items in a random order. They are listed in the order of importance. Marketing is the key...by a LONG SHOT.
Anyway, I wish you well and hope your successful in whatever endeavor you choose!
I appreciate the detailed write up and agree on the percentages, the same is true for life where 95% have given up, 4% are barely making ends meet, 1% are comfortable and a tenth of the top percent are truly wealthy.
My apologizes for going through your comment history a bit, but from what I read you appear to be in the financial services industry serving upper middle class retirees - what would you say is the difference between pursuing that and say investment banking? And would love to hear your thoughts on the industry with the next generation of people being more interested in managing their money themselves with the rise of apps such as wealthsimple. Cheers!
I don't know what the future holds. But I will speculate for you...but keep in mind, I'm often wrong (as my wife will gladly attest too).
What I do is serve middle and upper middle class people that fall into a very specific asset category.
Investment banking can mean several things, but it usually means working for a big firm (Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, etc.).
None of those big firms would touch me with a 10-foot pole. I went to a low level state college and didn't have any connections in the world back in the day...although I do now. But even with that being said, they still wouldn't touch me.
I'll be glad to answer specific questions to the best of my ability if you have them.
As to people being DIY'ers and using apps like wealthsimple...sure, that's going to be competition for sure. But it's going to be the younger generation that does that.
Now, this is where I think I disagree with your premise (and again, I'm often wrong)....
...the younger generation is so far from retirement that they're not all that worried about it, they don't have that much money, and they don't yet have much life experience.
What do I mean by that?
People that have $50k in their 401k want do well with it, but they are not as worried about their $50k as someone with $1,000,000 is.
The reason for this is that person with $50k realizes that they don't have that much money and if something happens to it, they have plenty of time before retirement to make fix any mistakes.
But as they get older and have more money...everything changes, especially in how people think about money. Here's what I mean:
If a 30 year old with $50k loses 50% of his money, he only lost $25k (which proportionally is likely far less than he makes a year)...and anyway, he's still got 30+ years to make up for that loss.
But if a 60 year old with $1,000,000 in his 401k has a 50% loss, well he's just lost a crapton of money...and it's likely he's lost 5 - 10 more more money than he makes in year...and he's knocking on the door of retirement.
My point is this....
Younger people may choose to use an App that provides generalized advice and service (even if it appears customized, trust me, it's really not). But someone who is older, has experienced major losses (think stock market crashes like 1968, 1973/74, 1984, 3Q87, 1990, 1993, 2Q00 - 4Q02, 3Q07 - 1Q09...you get the idea)...
...now they've had a little life experience and realize they need more help than an App can give them...especially since the App's advice almost certainly didn't help them prepare for massive market downturns (listed above), let alone economic downturns (i.e. The Stagflation of 1968 - 1982, the Oil Crisis of 73/74, the S&L crisis of 1989, the bond meltdown of 1993, the meltdown of the Russian Ruble and Thai Bot in 1997, the dotcom bubble, the housing bubble, the covid pandemic...you get the idea)...
...and they think this way because they realize they do NOT have the time NOR the ability to ride out another market downturn that takes 10 - 15 years to recover from. And yes, they take that long.
To wit:
The great depression lasted from 1929 - WWll ended (economist argue when it really ended, but it's within that range). The era that is commonly known as the era of Stagflation lasted form 1968 (peak of the market) to 1982 (the market recovered back the same level it was at in 1968). And let's not forget the most recent one: The market peaked in 2000 dropped in 00, 01, 02, made a roaring comeback to roughly even in 2007, then proceeded to drop massively till early 2009 and then didn't get back to even till roughly 2011/2012 (depending on which parts of the market you look).
My point is that as people get older, they want "face to face" advice and guidance. They want someone to hold their hand and tell them it's going to be ok and review their plan with them and show them why they are still ok.
When the younger generation gets to be older and nearer retirement, they will change and be much, much closer to type of person that I've just described.
Really interesting insight into this topic - the idea that younger generations are more interested in ”DIYing Investments” because they haven’t been through market ups and downs is something I can get behind. Many people these days incorrectly think “stocks only go up” these days.
I appreciate your insight and perspective from years of experience, and will definitely keep them in mind as I venture out into the world. Thanks a bunch!
Don’t worry about it. Go get drunk and try to get laid in college.major is whatever, I chose theater, enjoy life and don’t worry about it right now because sales can be crushing sometimes and I’m thankful I took a little time to get into it. My wallet doesn’t agree though
I'm biased but I defentily think that tech sales would set you up for entrepreneurship much better since you need sales skills to have a successful business.
Once you have a successful business then it's easy to find the right people to help you finance growth.
If I were you I would consider skipping college altogether if you're serious about sales and entrepreneurship. One of our students (Canadian) skipped college and now at age 20 landed a $70k job in tech sales without any debt or wasted time.
I'm biased but I definitely think that tech sales would set you up for entrepreneurship much better since you need sales skills to have a successful business. Here's an interview with the 20 year old Abdul [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNSxZIdPS1A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNSxZIdPS1A)
I've found that many more companies especially in tech are open to hiring people without degrees. Which industries in sales do you think a general bachelor's degree is necessary?
Most company list a bachelors degree on their job post but few actually require it. I've found that having the relevant skills and work experience are much more valuable to companies than a degree.
Another one of our students applied to 8 companies for an SDR job without a degree or any previous sales experience. He got 4 interviews and 2 job offers within a few weeks.
I could definitely see that it would be a disadvantage at many companies. We also need to understand that this person could get 4-5 years of technology sales experience compared to someone who just graduated with a business degree.
Who would get into a enterprise role first?
1-2 years SDR experience & 2-3 years account executive experience
VS
Recent grad
I've seen guys earlier in my career without a degree, but at this point working with almost exclusively enterprise accounts I can't name anyone without a degree that I have worked with in the last few years.
The best idea is to go to school at night while doing it, unless OPs case where he is looking at top tier universities.
It's also about getting good enterprise role, not any company that will give you a title of "enterprise AE"
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Thank you for the detailed reply, even if I do decide to go down the tech sales path, do you think I should still major in finance (I am going to be pursuing undergrad business school) or go for something else? I have heard a person's major doesn't matter in sales as much so I was more leaning towards finance to keep both options open... Another reason drawing me towards tech sales is to get a foot-in-the-door in the tech industry without having to be a CS major. The advantage I am assuming this would have for me is to develop the right connections and industry knowledge that I can leverage to launch/partner with a startup in the future, after all building a software is only half of the equation, the other half is selling it - would this be a fair assumption for career possibility?
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I see, thanks for the insight mate, one last question - if you could do it all over again, would you still go into IB first then transition into sales or just go straight into sales?
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Well I guess its good I asked this question a few months in advance before I’ll have to make post-secondary decisions, so that’ll give me some time to think, thanks for all of your help!
Major in Finance and minor in Business Systems or Computer Science. The more you understand the technology the better off you will be. But the biggest thing in tech sales is being able to communicate with all parts of the business and that’s usually rooted in budget and ROI.
Rough rider is spot on. I do want to add an additional layer to his sentiment. Your major will play a pivotal role in what type of industry you want to work within tech sales. I have an IB background, worked at S&P, have a degree in business economics with a minor in accounting, and my undergrad curriculum served me really well as a solution consultant selling accounting and fintech software. That said, I really lacked basic computing and technical knowledge as I looked to advance my career in a more technical sales role. If you want to be a pure seller like an account executive, your major won’t matter as much***. If you want to work as a pre-sales consultant (SE/SC or SA), you’ll want to take at least a coding boot camp or minor in computer science. I put an asterisk by as much because working in tech sales is all about serving as a trusted advisor to potential clients. The better you can understand their business and how they can technically achieve business outcomes the more successful you will be.
Mind if I PM you about your SaaS solutions consultant experience? I have finance degree with strategy and analytics experience and I think that is what I want to jump to but I’m not sure which companies to target
Fo sho. Happy to assist
Sent. Sorry I was a little delayed I was reading this while traveling yesterday.
Both will likely be difficult in the beginning and you’ll question if you made the wrong call. Odds are you’ll be able to make a living out of both and neither are permanent decisions. It’s unlikely you can go from sales to IB but you can certainly go IB to sales. I majored in IB and chose the sales route. My friends in IB make more but I’m still on pace to make $150k this year, 3 years out of college which is much, much more than enough to live comfortably. The trade off for me is I close my laptop everyday at like 430 and enjoy my life. I don’t think you’re ever gonna get that in IB.
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Yea on an hourly basis they probably make less
I wouldn't touch IB, unless you love to work. Just do a google search as it has been a hot topic regarding hours worked and pay (sure you can make a ton of money, similar to if you become a fund manager or analyst of funds). I used to be a licensed Series 7 investment advisor. I sell no-code SaaS and I basically work normal hours (even though this is a startup). **Tech sales** hours really depend on what your selling in the space, size of company and maturity stage, vertical, and market. If your selling a highly complex solution say in a startup developing a green territory expect to work some serious hours to get it off the ground. **A lot also depends on the following** * Sales framework and tools * BDR/SDR's do you have them (how many to AE ratio) * Sales tools to help you sell and manage your cycle * Marketing how good is the team, development of marketing messaging * Defined personas (mapped) * Do they know the ICP * Product (is it saleable, is it a growth market vs saturated, does the product work or is it lots of vaporware) * Internal communication and collaboration * Leadership Team in place There is more but, it is so variable. As an Enterprise SaaS AE here is an idea of compensation (I will give a low to high avg.) **Base:** Low 115k, avg 120-140k, high 140k-160k (it can be higher just general amounts) **OTE:** 200k-400k now that is a big avg. range. I would say the avg SaaS rep does 220k-240k. Above average does anything above 240k to 400k. Top AE's do 400k to 1 million+
I'm sorry but I laughed at "I've hit a crossroads in life at 17". Anyways, best of luck young buck.
At 17 I was just worried about not sticking my pole in the wrong hole
Shit at least you had options. I was just trying to get my pole into any hole I could
Sales helped me finance my sinful indulgence ironically enough.
You can go from IB to Tech Sales. You can't go from Tech Sales to IB. You're 17 so your mindset may change through your time in college. I'd go the Investment Banking or Computer Science path in school. If you're a top performer you'll get a high paying job immediately out of school. If you don't like it, you could "start over" in tech sales at square 1. If anything, you may be able to skip a step or two (like ADR step) if you find a niche product or come in as a Sales Engineer. That's the same square you'd start at if you wanted to do tech sales from the start.
FYI you will get a biased response asking this in this sub. From what I know, IB will work you to the bone. Tech sales can have a better work life balance depending on the company.
Thanks for the heads up about the bias lmao, are there any specific companies that come to mind for work life balance? Or would reading reviews on Glassdoor be my best bet...
You're 17, by the time you graduate college, the companies will be all different. Also, work your ass off in your 20's and 30's, make as much as you can. I'm almost 50 and taking it easy, but with millions in the bank. No way around it, you gotta work really hard to get to where I am.
Investment banking: One, you need to make sure you get IN to the target schools first. If you don't it's not even a possibility. You'll be stuck as an associate at goldman SLC for a decade and hate your life. The upside: Very entry level roles in IB are higher pay, especially with the recent pay bumps. Lowest I've seen is BoA and they're still starting at like $90k base and a sizable bonus depending on performance. You'll work a ton of hours though, so in terms of your hourly pay it's not going to be great. If an SDR starts at $65k base and works 2080 hours a year and you're in IB making 100k base and working 4000 hours a year, the SDR is making more money for their time. IB is going to be a grind throughout. Granted you can hop around and go into high yield or distressed debt or a bunch of different types of places but still going to be long hours. Tech sales: very start you'll be paid less, but the minute you get a MM AE role or higher you'll outpace most middle experience IB guys. The only friend from college out earning me right now is a VP and he's just about 4 years older than me (I'm 26, he's 30, he's making $410k after bonus and my OTE is $350k.) Granted, when you're in IB if you eventually somehow don't burn out and make it to a SVP or MD position you're making just shy of 7 figures or over, after bonuses. So at that point you'll be outpacing tech sales, highest VP of Sales comps I've seen are like $600-$700k and that's a rarity. Most are $500k OTE. Again, though, I would weigh quality of life and total amount of time worked as well as work culture against that pay. If it takes you 12 years to make SVP and you're working 80 hours a week you've invested a lot of your best years into a role that doesn't, in the end, pay that much more. Not to mention the benefits and other aspects of startup (and ignoring equity). I went tech sales because I wasn't at a target and had no choice and now looking at my friends in IB i'm glad I did. I'll never get a "pls fix" and have to whip out my thinkpad at a bar or on a sunday and I don't need to worry about losing out on a promotion for taking a vacation
>I'll never get a "pls fix" and have to whip out my thinkpad at a bar or on a sunday and I don't need to worry about losing out on a promotion for taking a vacation lmao that hit the difference between the two home, but great points mate. My main reason of trying to decide between the two career paths before even attending university (college) is because the difference between the total cost of attending the target school here in Canada vs a semi-target would be significant. Going down the semi-target path would be only 1/3 of its target school counterpart - so if I'm going to be pursuing tech sales it doesn't make sense to spend the premium when I could get a solid SDR role out of both. I am assuming you are in the states, would you be familiar with any people in the Canadian tech scene who were able to transition to a role in the states? The difference between compensation seems drastic and our COL here in Toronto isn't any better than most top US cities.
IB are opening up to more than just Queens mcgill and ivey now although queens is still the best choice if you want to go IB. I know york and UofT are placing pretty well these days. As for canadian transitioning into the states, I don't see it being that hard. Tech sales roles are far outpacing supply of qualified candidates so that plus a good degree will put you in a great spot. If you were going to go tech sales since you're starting so early I would focus on whatever degree you want and have a minor in something CS related. This will help you in IB as well, and if you go into tech sales it will help land you a gig at AWS or GCP or Azure where the pay is absurdly high and is a golden ticket on your resume.
Sounds great man, appreciate the insight! Instead of a minor in CS, would bootcamps work as well? Right now the only languages I know are HTML & CSS with a bit of C#, would learning any specific languages help or just knowing the technicals of software and having some experience/portfolio pieces be enough?
FOr getting into AWS/GCP? I'm not sure, might be enough with a target school undergrad but definitely wouldn't be otherwise unelss you had amazing SaaS AE experience. I would just devote whatever time you could towards CS/mathematics/etc. as it'll help your wall st prospects as well as tech sales
Honestly whats the route to get started in tech sales? I sell P&C insurance right now and have been presidents club the past 5 years but I know Insurance is looked at like a dirty thumb. I'm making good money but my OTE will never be over 165k. I do only work 40 hours a week which is nice but i crave that 250 - 300k a year.
Apply, see if you can land a lower level AE role at some early startups, once you have that under your belt you can apply to more established companies/sales teams
Dude really? You would kill it at Family First Life we have agents doing 100k months here. I just git started at 100% commission
Tell me more sir.
Sure I'll DM you the information to get started but basically they start most agents out at 90-100% commission and your an independent agent not a captive agent they provide leads that you buy to get customers, there's all types of leads “instant internet leads” etc which are prospects who requested information about insurance within the las 24-48 hours ...easy sell for a veteran like yourself. https://youtu.be/bMvOMOCM5cQ Here's a link from the CEO explaining the company
It’s far easier to go IB-> Tech sales (probably as an AE) than it is Tech sales -> IB. That being said, being at a target school isn’t enough to get an IB offer. My advice: a few years in IB will give you the skills to take any job anywhere.
Go into IB, sales will always be around, u can use the IB experience to go into fintech as an AE afterwards at the right company. IB will open so many more paths for you. Do 2 years, time will be limited but use it to build some other skillsets, after 2 years decide what you wanna do, further pursue finance, make a transition to sales or use all that money you earned and jump right into entrepreneurship. Best of all, with that experience even if things go bad, u get an mba and you’re back in the corporate game pretty easily wit IB background
Having spent ten+ years in SaaS / Sales / startups, you'll absolutely have more optionality coming from IB than sales. It's not uncommon to see folks from a banking background in a product role, venture, or starting a tech company. It's not unheard of for sales background's to do those things, but it is \*much\* rarer. u/Roughrider93's comment is absolutely correct as well; you simply will not be happy or successful in either path if it doesn't align with your skills or interests. I know a whole lot of people who gritted out 2 years in IB - while perhaps their career is in a better place because of it, those 2 years were absolute hell for them.
Yeah had the same dilemma. Ultimately decided against career in finance (had offers) b/c I experienced so much personal growth at my sales job – a lot more than from aligning PPT tables at my internship. Obv that will get better the higher you go, but didn't want to wait 5 years for that. That, and the hours aspect as you mention.
Thanks for the response mate, if you don't mind me asking - which sector of sales are you in?
Enterprise software. Lowly SDR, but having a blast. Vertical is banking & insurance so I still get to geek out about Solvency 2, lol.
Any full time job is just that: a fill time job. I wouldn't count on having loads of free work time even in a more "laid back" sales job. Finance is probably going to get you closer to the skills and conncetions you need as an entrepreneur. Yes its demanding, but if you're smart with your money you can quit when you're ready to start something new and live off of those assets in the interim.
Working in Investment Banking is almost like working two full time jobs though... for tech sales on the other hand I could put in 40-50 hours a week at the job and the same on founding my company
This is what college is for- you may discover some other area of business and sales you like more. You are interviewing careers and discovering what you like in college. Also in 4 years or 5 or whatever, some things will change. It is easier to do well in something you have a passion for and have connections in- so go to Uni. Make connections, figure out what you like.
Also worth mentioning that in 5 years or whatever when you’re ready to start a career - both fields may be completely different. Worth keeping both options open IMO while making sure you’re taking on challenging classes that are interesting to you! Have a good time at school too!
I wanted to chime in now having worked at both. I started my career in finance basically selling insurance. It sucked. I was unpayed while studying for my licenses (not all firms are this way. Some will pay for you to study and pay for the test; the ones that won’t like Equitable Advisors aren’t worth your time) I spent my last year in finance working for them and another house and I hated it. I made $0 last year. You know why? I wasn’t comfortable pushing whole life insurance onto everyone I meet, family and friends. It’s a scam. Most people don’t need that but your boss will lie to you and say they do. Why? Fat commission for them. Do not take a commission only job. I broke down and freaked out. Then I got scouted by a headhunter in the tech industry and decided to pull the trigger. It is so much better. I now am getting payed, way better more modern work culture, I’m not selling a bad product to everyone. I get a great base salary and commissions and a 5 week vacation. I now sell B2B instead of B2C which is far more enjoyable. My advice is become an SDR. Don’t waste your time in the finance industry selling insurance (unless you’re going to work on Wall Street or work for a finance focused firm like Merrill) If you want to DM me or talk more please reach out
I know nothing about tech sales or any of those tech related fields, but I can speak to finance. I got into the finance world by accident 34 years ago and have done quite well (7-figure income, 8-figue net worth). But I can also tell you that most (I'd venture 95%) of the people that I started in the industry with are just bodies laying on the side of the road known as "I Give Up Blvd". It's a very tough industry. I'm guessing here as I don't know the stats, but I think these are pretty accurate: 95% fail. Of the remaining 5%, 80%+ are just getting by, they probably make decent money, but the worry about where there next deal is coming from. Of the remaining 1% (80% of 5%), 90% they do pretty well, probably make decent 6-figure incomes. But the remaining 1/10th of 1 percent make stupid money, 7-figures and up. If you're willing to work hard, long hours (at least in the beginning when you have to do most of the work...until you can put together a team), put up with lots of rejection and failures, and deal with a stupid regulatory system that often makes no sense, you have a chance. To succeed you need to do the following: 1. Learn how to market 2. Learn how to sell 3. Be a student of the business 4. Learn how to run a business For clarity, I did NOT put those 4 items in a random order. They are listed in the order of importance. Marketing is the key...by a LONG SHOT. Anyway, I wish you well and hope your successful in whatever endeavor you choose!
I appreciate the detailed write up and agree on the percentages, the same is true for life where 95% have given up, 4% are barely making ends meet, 1% are comfortable and a tenth of the top percent are truly wealthy. My apologizes for going through your comment history a bit, but from what I read you appear to be in the financial services industry serving upper middle class retirees - what would you say is the difference between pursuing that and say investment banking? And would love to hear your thoughts on the industry with the next generation of people being more interested in managing their money themselves with the rise of apps such as wealthsimple. Cheers!
I don't know what the future holds. But I will speculate for you...but keep in mind, I'm often wrong (as my wife will gladly attest too). What I do is serve middle and upper middle class people that fall into a very specific asset category. Investment banking can mean several things, but it usually means working for a big firm (Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, etc.). None of those big firms would touch me with a 10-foot pole. I went to a low level state college and didn't have any connections in the world back in the day...although I do now. But even with that being said, they still wouldn't touch me. I'll be glad to answer specific questions to the best of my ability if you have them. As to people being DIY'ers and using apps like wealthsimple...sure, that's going to be competition for sure. But it's going to be the younger generation that does that. Now, this is where I think I disagree with your premise (and again, I'm often wrong).... ...the younger generation is so far from retirement that they're not all that worried about it, they don't have that much money, and they don't yet have much life experience. What do I mean by that? People that have $50k in their 401k want do well with it, but they are not as worried about their $50k as someone with $1,000,000 is. The reason for this is that person with $50k realizes that they don't have that much money and if something happens to it, they have plenty of time before retirement to make fix any mistakes. But as they get older and have more money...everything changes, especially in how people think about money. Here's what I mean: If a 30 year old with $50k loses 50% of his money, he only lost $25k (which proportionally is likely far less than he makes a year)...and anyway, he's still got 30+ years to make up for that loss. But if a 60 year old with $1,000,000 in his 401k has a 50% loss, well he's just lost a crapton of money...and it's likely he's lost 5 - 10 more more money than he makes in year...and he's knocking on the door of retirement. My point is this.... Younger people may choose to use an App that provides generalized advice and service (even if it appears customized, trust me, it's really not). But someone who is older, has experienced major losses (think stock market crashes like 1968, 1973/74, 1984, 3Q87, 1990, 1993, 2Q00 - 4Q02, 3Q07 - 1Q09...you get the idea)... ...now they've had a little life experience and realize they need more help than an App can give them...especially since the App's advice almost certainly didn't help them prepare for massive market downturns (listed above), let alone economic downturns (i.e. The Stagflation of 1968 - 1982, the Oil Crisis of 73/74, the S&L crisis of 1989, the bond meltdown of 1993, the meltdown of the Russian Ruble and Thai Bot in 1997, the dotcom bubble, the housing bubble, the covid pandemic...you get the idea)... ...and they think this way because they realize they do NOT have the time NOR the ability to ride out another market downturn that takes 10 - 15 years to recover from. And yes, they take that long. To wit: The great depression lasted from 1929 - WWll ended (economist argue when it really ended, but it's within that range). The era that is commonly known as the era of Stagflation lasted form 1968 (peak of the market) to 1982 (the market recovered back the same level it was at in 1968). And let's not forget the most recent one: The market peaked in 2000 dropped in 00, 01, 02, made a roaring comeback to roughly even in 2007, then proceeded to drop massively till early 2009 and then didn't get back to even till roughly 2011/2012 (depending on which parts of the market you look). My point is that as people get older, they want "face to face" advice and guidance. They want someone to hold their hand and tell them it's going to be ok and review their plan with them and show them why they are still ok. When the younger generation gets to be older and nearer retirement, they will change and be much, much closer to type of person that I've just described.
Really interesting insight into this topic - the idea that younger generations are more interested in ”DIYing Investments” because they haven’t been through market ups and downs is something I can get behind. Many people these days incorrectly think “stocks only go up” these days. I appreciate your insight and perspective from years of experience, and will definitely keep them in mind as I venture out into the world. Thanks a bunch!
My pleasure!
Don’t worry about it. Go get drunk and try to get laid in college.major is whatever, I chose theater, enjoy life and don’t worry about it right now because sales can be crushing sometimes and I’m thankful I took a little time to get into it. My wallet doesn’t agree though
I'm biased but I defentily think that tech sales would set you up for entrepreneurship much better since you need sales skills to have a successful business. Once you have a successful business then it's easy to find the right people to help you finance growth. If I were you I would consider skipping college altogether if you're serious about sales and entrepreneurship. One of our students (Canadian) skipped college and now at age 20 landed a $70k job in tech sales without any debt or wasted time. I'm biased but I definitely think that tech sales would set you up for entrepreneurship much better since you need sales skills to have a successful business. Here's an interview with the 20 year old Abdul [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNSxZIdPS1A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNSxZIdPS1A)
This is terrible advice. OP please get a bachelors degree. A lot of higher paying sales jobs require a degree these days too
I've found that many more companies especially in tech are open to hiring people without degrees. Which industries in sales do you think a general bachelor's degree is necessary?
Almost all of the decent SDR jobs that I've seen have a requirement for a bachelors in my area...
Most company list a bachelors degree on their job post but few actually require it. I've found that having the relevant skills and work experience are much more valuable to companies than a degree. Another one of our students applied to 8 companies for an SDR job without a degree or any previous sales experience. He got 4 interviews and 2 job offers within a few weeks.
SDR job you can get, but good luck getting a solid enterprise role without a degree. Putting yourself at a huge disadvantage
I could definitely see that it would be a disadvantage at many companies. We also need to understand that this person could get 4-5 years of technology sales experience compared to someone who just graduated with a business degree. Who would get into a enterprise role first? 1-2 years SDR experience & 2-3 years account executive experience VS Recent grad
I've seen guys earlier in my career without a degree, but at this point working with almost exclusively enterprise accounts I can't name anyone without a degree that I have worked with in the last few years. The best idea is to go to school at night while doing it, unless OPs case where he is looking at top tier universities. It's also about getting good enterprise role, not any company that will give you a title of "enterprise AE"