I'm considered one of the top-producing SDRs, approaching my 9-10 month mark, so I can give you a super accurate breakdown of the BDR world on the 5th floor.
If you have recently applied or are waiting to start in the next onboarding group, my review will be really important for you, along with the COUNTLESS reviews about the business development department. You need to take them seriously.
This place is dark and constantly on edge. You will feel it; it's undeniable. I've seen so many good people start and only last 2-3 months due to the micromanaging and insane pressure that is unleashed on us every single day.
Managers come and go. It's a continual revolving door. Many of them quit or get fired around the 4-6 month mark. Monthly individual quotas are largely unrealistic, except for those of us who have figured out how to play the game (know the loopholes) because we stay under the radar.
Honestly, we're just patiently waiting for our one-year mark to be eligible for promotion to AE. It's doubtful that several of us will last that long because we're actively interviewing at other places, but it's difficult because we can only take lunches from 12:00-1:00, so we do what is necessary to be available (if you catch my drift).
The management team is continually stressed out about quota because their teams are so young, and it takes a new SDR at least three months to make a real impact. Senior management attempts to keep a good relationship with us BDRs for the most part. They seem very conflicted and miserable each day and can be highly unlikeable and temperamental depending on collective results from day to day.
There does seem to be a feeling of distrust among the broader management team, as it's normal to hear bits of gossip about conversations from their meetings, which creates an incredibly toxic culture.
Every day there are several "blitzes" where we are forced to call prospecting lists for an hour at a time. This tends to happen when the floor is behind on quota, which is all the time. There is a continual flow of weak spiffs that they attempt to use for motivation purposes, but we usually just ignore them. When senior management is super stressed out (which is more often than not), they will introduce better incentives to us in group meetings, but only the more tenured SDRs will win them. New SDRs don't have a shot in hell. They'll most likely quit within 2-3 months anyway, only to be replaced by a new onboarding group that WE are forced to mentor again, and again, and again, and again.
AEs are no different. It's a constant flow of new AEs each month that only last a short time because they can't take the dark, bizarre culture. The same goes for BDR Managers and AE Directors. The good ones leave or get fired for the most part, and everyone's tenure is relatively short unless they were promoted through the ranks when the company was still in the startup stage.
If you choose to apply or accept the offer, I'm telling you right now that it will be a continual uphill battle. You'll get plenty of support from us, and frontline management will have good intentions (most of them anyway), but they can only do so much. The micromanaging will take its toll, the overly stressed senior management will only make things a billion times worse, and your direct managers will remain silent.
