Joining a startup can offer life-changing career growth opportunities and earning potential for ambitious Sales Players.

I would know.

In my career, I've sold almost exclusively for venture-backed startup companies. *Meta being a big exception here, but I only ended up there because they acquired the late-stage startup I was with.

I've more or less experienced every stage of startup growth:

• I was Founding AE twice. Once as employee #7 at a seed-funded startup with just $2.5M in capital raised, and then with a Series A startup.
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• I've also been among the early sales hires in Series B & C-stage companies. IMHO, for most, this is the best stage to join since they've likely validated the business model and found Product Market Fit. Plus, it's still early enough for you to make your mark at the company and exploit the comp plan. ​
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• I also worked at two well-funded, late-stage "Unicorns" with hundreds of millions in VC funding. One went public and was later sold to a Private Equity Firm and the other was acquired by Meta for $1B.
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• Because of my startup network, I've also had the fortune of being an Advisor, Consultant, and Angel Investor to various Pre-Seed startups, which has shown me what it takes to reach initial traction.

Lately, I've been getting a TON of outreach from the Sales Players community with questions about the pros and cons of joining an early-stage company as a seller.

I suspect this is because in the tech marketplace, we're seeing a rise in smaller upstarts leveraging AI tools to build lean teams to go to market. which is driving open roles for sales hire numero uno at a lean and scrappy AI startup.

Over the years, I've developed a solid framework for evaluating the startup sales opportunities that come across my desk.

Much of this framework comes from lessons I learned the hard way (so many stories to tell...) and patterns I've recognized that can lead to successful outcomes.

I'm releasing this framework, which I'm calling: Commission Impossible! A complete, no-nonsense guide to evaluating startup sales opportunities to help you get paid, not played.
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​It goes live next month, but you can pre-order it here and save 50%. You won't want to sign an offer letter at a startup until you've had a chance to read it, trust me...

Something amazing about being a Sales Player is that there are multiple ways to earn life-changing money in startups while building business acumen that can't be learned in an MBA program or at a BigCo. I cover that in greater detail in Commission Impossible!

Doing sales for an early startup is NOT for everyone and carries a lot of challenges and risks, some of which I've covered previously.​

But if you are:

• A risk taker
• A self-starter
• A problem solver
• An aspiring entrepreneur
• Wanting to develop real business acumen
• Wanting to make a real impact
• Thick-skinned
• Seeking unlimited upside
• Eager for true ownership

Then it's worth seriously considering going into a startup with minimal traction, no brand awareness, modest funding, no tools, and limited or even no revenue at all.

For a shot at banking 6-figure commissions and stock option grants, fast-tracking your career, and learning more about business (and yourself) than you ever thought possible.

If this stuff pumps you up, then I want to be a resource for you. A great place to start would be to check out Commission Impossible!

More to come on on the topic of selling at a startup.

Onward and upward, SP!
-Jesse