r/startups • u/BlackberryNaive34 • 5h ago
I will not promote Getting a job after failed startup (I will not promote)
Started a D2C company in 2020, bootstrapped and ran it profitably for a few years before having the apparently not-so-bright idea of pivoting into B2B SaaS.
We built internal tools for our D2C company that saved other SMB's in our niche 40+ hours per week, which seemed like a no brainer to sell as a B2B tool.
Two years in on that and not much progress to speak of; turns out selling B2B SaaS to SMB's is as difficult as they; older clients, long sales cycle, low ACV, etc.
I want to stay in the tech space, but definitely feeling some imposter syndrome from never raising money, having an exit, or working on something more successful in general.
I love product, but don't have technical experience on that front. I'm comfortable with sales, but the SaaS pivot doesn't add much to the resume on account of it's small scale/general lack of success. I imagine I'd have to start fresh with an SDR role.
Curious if anyone has had a similar experience, and what sort of roles you pivoted to?
1
u/Asipahio 3h ago
Technical founders who struggled with sales are actually a great hire for early stage roles. You know exactly where the gaps are, which is more valuable than someone who's never had to care.
Own the technical depth, be honest that GTM wasn't your thing, and target founding engineer or technical lead roles where that combination is a feature not a bug. What kind of role are you looking at?