He Took The Smaller Offer. Eight Months Later, He's The One Everyone's Calling.

He rang me on a Wednesday afternoon. "Ian — I'm taking your offer. Not the other one."

The other one was a Series C. Better logo on the deck. Higher OTE. A comp plan with an accelerator most AEs would sign for in their sleep. Mine — the offer I'd made him — was a Series B in a category three years younger. Lower base. Lower on-target. Smaller patch.

He said three things on that call, then hung up.

The three things

One. The equity strike on the Series B looked like a fairer bet over three years than the C at its current mark. He'd done the maths. He wasn't wrong.

Two. The patch was fewer named accounts, but they were the ones he actually knew. The C had handed him a mixed sheet with three logos he'd never sold into and one he'd already lost at once.

Three. He'd asked to speak to the VP Sales at the C without the CRO in the room. They said no. He asked the same at the B. They said yes and gave him 40 minutes. He said that was the whole answer.

Eight months on

He started six weeks later. Eight months in, he's crushing his number, three reps have joined from his previous company, and two other founders I know are trying to hire him for his next seat before he's finished this one.

Reading the shape of a seat is a harder skill than reading a comp plan. But it's the one that separates AEs who compound from AEs who churn — and it's exactly what we coach candidates to look at before they sign.