Thanks For the Job Offer. But I’d Just Rather Not Work That Hard.

So a little while ago someone who had worked with me many years ago reached out.  He’d lost his job and was looking for something new.  He’d moved into a lower-paying customer success role, and had a $100k OTE at his last role, where he was laid off.

He’s been searching for months for a new role and was feeling the pressure.

While we hadn’t really kept in touch, I offered him a similar role with significantly higher comp.  My only ask: he own it.  He own the metrics, and really do the work.

He didn’t even hesitate in his response:

”No Thanks.  I Just Really Don’t Want to Work That Hard.”

He’d rather stay out of work, and take a much lower comp package — than own a number.

I sort of dismissed it until I talked with another exec I’d worked with just a little long ago, but really barely knew at all.  We’d only talked twice.  But he’d been laid off and was also struggling to find something new.

I suspected I knew a role for him with a great CEO.  It would be risky for me to recommend him to the CEO, but I was willing to try.  I told him though he’d have to roll up his sleeves and do some real work himself at this startup.  Again, he didn’t miss a beat with his answer:

”I Really Only Just Want to Manage People.”

Ok folks.  I hear you.  Late 2020 to early 2022 were interesting times in SaaS, and how we worked, and even if we really worked at all was all in flux.  In a world where NRR went up like clockwork, and buyers bought more and more vendors every quarter, the world seemed to work a certain way.  And it just doesn’t work that way anymore.

I could add a dozen more stories recently.  The CRO that didn’t want to travel more than 30 minutes from his house anymore.  The VPM that didn’t actually want to send customer emails anymore.  The AE that didn’t want to input data into Salesforce anymore.

My only insights to founders are that first, you’re not alone.  A lot of folks don’t want to do the jobs they used to do.  No matter how great their LinkedIn, and how much they talk the talk — you just can’t hire them.  And most of them can talk the talk,  After all, they used to be willing to do the work.  You can hear the CMOs of Zapier and HubSpot echo their frustration here, asd well, here:

And to folks looking for a role?  I know it’s hard to take a new role where you have to work harder than the last one.  But at least think about it.  And if you can — commit for real. 

In the end, you’ll really stand out.

(no thanks image from here)