After the close

Fifty.

That’s how many days we’ve got left this year.

You know what happens after that?

January – when half the sales world updates their LinkedIn headline.

Look, sales has been life-changing for a lot of us.

But every rep has thought at some point: "What else could I do with these skills?"

So this issue breaks down 7 doors your B2B experience can open.

Let’s get into it.

You’ve been crushing quota and mentoring newer reps.

This is the natural next step if you have leadership aspirations.

Instead of closing yourself, you’re now coaching, strategizing, and clearing roadblocks so your team can hit their numbers.

Former CEOs at Xerox, J&J, and IBM all started in sales before leading global companies.

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Sales Manager ➡ Director of Sales ➡ VP of Sales

Compensation (Sales Manager):

• Median OTE: $275K
• Top Earners: $506K+

Less hunting. More farming.

As an Account Manager, you focus on growing and retaining existing customers instead of chasing new logos.

Perfect for reps who love the relationship side of sales more than the prospecting grind.

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Account Manager ➡ Senior Account Manager ➡ Director of Account Management

Compensation (Account Manager):

• Median OTE: $175K
• Top Earners: $401K+

You're still working deals – but instead of selling to customers, you're creating alliances with other companies.

Partnerships is about building co-sell relationships that drive growth for both sides. 

One strong partnership alone can unlock an entirely new revenue stream for the business.

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Partner Manager ➡ Senior Partner Manager ➡ Head of Partnerships

Compensation (Partner Manager):

• Median OTE: $235K
• Top Earners: $370K+

Reps love to complain about enablement. This path is for the ones who want to fix it.

Ideal for those who enjoy building playbooks and training new reps. 

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Sales Enablement Manager ➡ Director of Sales Enablement

Compensation (Sales Enablement Manager):

• Median: $175K
• Top Earners: $300K+

This move is for you if you're technically inclined and love running demos.

You'll stay close to the action without carrying a full quota.

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Sales Engineer ➡ Senior SE ➡ Director of Sales Engineering

Compensation (Sales Engineer):

• Median OTE: $200K
• Top Earners: $330K

Product Managers decide what to build, then work with engineering to make it happen.

As reps, we know customer pain firsthand. Moving to Product means using that knowledge to shape what gets built.

Not a common jump, but it’s been done – over 3000 PMs on LinkedIn came from sales.

Typical Career Path:

AE ➡ Associate PM / PM ➡ Senior PM ➡ Director of Product

Compensation (Product Manager):

• Median: $223K
• Top Earners: $430K+

You stop selling someone else’s product and start selling your own.

Plenty of founders started in sales: Ralph Lauren, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban.

But for every success story, there are a dozen that never made payroll.

It’s the ultimate high-risk, high-reward move. 

The ceiling’s unlimited. But so is the grind.

Typical Career Path: AE ➡ Founder or Co-founder

Compensation: Anywhere from Ramen dinners to “I just bought my first yacht.”

A career as an IC can bring financial freedom and a great life.

Along the way, you build skills that compound.

As much as I love sales, it comes with its fair share of headaches.

So whether you’re just looking for a change… or can’t stand doing this much longer.

You’ve got options.

And the grass might actually be greener on the other side.

Sales is hard AF.

The rejection, the pipeline anxiety, the quota pressure – all of it.

But there’s one thing that makes it 10x harder…

Selling something you don’t believe in.

Nothing drains you faster than pushing a product you can’t stand behind.

*Hit reply and let me know. I read and respond to every email.