Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by hobs 438 days ago
Have you ... done enterprise sales? The idea that a group of people working for a multi-billion dollar business having no idea what they want and no understanding of capabilities of new technologies is ... standard?

I have seen it personally ... dozens? of times? Its the reasons startups can even succeed at all given the enormous momentum and cash reserves of these bigger companies - their goals, management, approach - it all becomes more diffuse and poorly executed.
2 comments
1dom 438 days ago
Strong agree.

I've also seen it a lot: sales person at a small tech startup convinces business person in large tech company to ignore their own engineers. I suspect most engineers at large firms have been on one side of this experience at somepoint, and most engineers at small but successful tech startups have been on the other side (lead engineer to sales: "You told them our our product could do _what?!_ That's fine. I never wanted my PTO anyway...:(")

link
hobs 438 days ago
Hell, small in this context can be Snowflake or Databricks, this is the concept of Shadow IT - a slick sales call can convince and move things in a business that an army of engineers will struggle to convince their bosses of.

External sales person says "oh you've been struggling with that for YEARS?!!?!?! We can get that done in 90 days if you can get that group of people on board" (3 years passes, everyone involved doesn't work there anymore, the project is a mess)

External sales person says "oh you've been struggling with that for YEARS?!!?!?! We can get that done in 90 days if you can get that group of people on board" (3 years passes, everyone involved doesn't work there anymore, the project is a mess)

You get the idea.

link
1dom 438 days ago
Daily I carry the shame of having been an engineer on both sides. I went from big enterprise to small start up. It's horrible speaking to an engineer at a new client, knowing they can probably do the work you're about to have to do, but better, faster, quicker and cheaper than you. Ultimately we're all just there for "the business" so we just have to get on with it.

Knowing you've built the solution perfectly to the spec, whilst also knowing that the spec wasn't reviewed or endorsed by any technical people so the client's entire engineering team thinks you're incompetent, for just doing what their colleagues asked you to do...

link
clan 438 days ago
Been there. Done that.

But it doesn't even stop there. It goes down to the SMB market as well. Granted not the S but in Medium and larger places.

I have been dragged into multiple sales calls with the agenda "we need an app".

Full stop.

Fun day to be the "Solution Architect" on call.

link