Pros
This job is no doubt one of the best jobs I've ever had. The product is great, easy to use, and easy to sell. There is a clear market across almost any industry for us to work within. I learn SO much every day from my dealings with each prospect. The sales team has a very high work ethos. I don't get to talk to my manager during the day or every day, because he's right there in the trenches. So we usually meet and train in the evenings or weekends when we need, but it's is enjoyable, fun, and flexible. If you work hard with dedication -- that includes working those weekends and nights and sometimes wicked hours, you will succeed here. At least we have fun while doing it! The leadership is amazing! They are less experienced and younger than most of the team so it take getting used to for someone with a long career. The leaders are still the founders of the company, so they have an incredible knowledge of every segment of the business. They often lean on our opinions but still stick to their vision and philosophy. I feel like I'm able to communicate with them honestly and directly. Their interest always comes off as sincere! I like that the management still keep in touch with some of our clients or hop in on demos with sales or account management teams. They are not afraid to communicate directly with our leads to help us. It is truly the mark of a small business. There isn't a traditional separation or "status" of a manager telling you what to do when they have never been in your shoes. They are always online, always working, trying, and the last to leave. Their work addiction is infectious! They are not content to discipline low performance and tend to prefer the team to help rather than manage a top down approach. That has positives and negatives. I'm really happy to be a part of this team and I really feel like I'm in something that has enormous potential and vision in the future!
Cons
The compensation at first is never as good as it is in the end. I know a few people who have been here over a year and they tend to get bonuses on residuals. It makes it a good reason for me to stick around, but I definitely wish it could be more right now. There really isn't a lot of room to move into management since this is a small company. It also seems that the leaders and current managers are wary of people who are too ambitious to move "up" a layer into management, since they have had some bad experiences with some people who did that in the past. I don't like to manage people and I just want to make money. Works for me, but not for others who want to keep moving up. My manager can be aloof at times as I mentioned above but I think that's more positive than negative. We have one meeting a week where we have to state how much we will bring in this week, then we get to work. Sometimes I can go a whole week without having a conversation with him. Sometimes I may have more conversations or training with the COO/co-founder than my direct manager. The managers all share that role across the departments so they can give some conflicting information at times.