The Lie You’ve Been Told About Senior Sales Talent
+ Open Jobs + Word on the Street
Happy Earth Day! 🌍
Let’s be sure to use this day as a reminder of why we work so hard, why we work for less, and why we keep pushing past the many, many barriers we encounter.
As climate funding is going to a more concentrated group of companies each month, the race to profitability and growth is on. That means hiring sales teams to present your wares. Here are some considerations as you build out that dream team.
In Today’s Issue:
👉 The Lie You’ve Been Told About Senior Sales Talent
👉 Jobs We’re Working On
👉 Word on the Street
The Lie You’ve Been Told About Senior Sales Talent
TLDR: You can hire a senior sales talent for the same cost, and in many cases, less than early career sales talent. So dismiss the notion you can’t afford a seasoned sales exec.
Right now, a ton of climate startups are scrambling to hire sales teams so they can show traction and get revenue in the door.
Why? Because they have to.
VC money is still flowing, but it’s getting concentrated into fewer and fewer companies. It’s no surprise these are the same ones that have figured out sales.
So here’s the trap founders fall into: you’re under pressure to show growth. You need someone in the seat yesterday. And because you’re tight on cash, you default to hiring junior. “We’ll find someone scrappy,” you tell yourself. “Someone hungry.”
But here’s what most people won’t tell you: junior doesn’t always mean cheaper, in fact, it’s often more expensive than hiring senior (even in the short term).
Let me break this down.
1. Junior Talent: Cheap Up Front, Expensive Long-Term
So, you want to save money on base salary by paying an early career AE. Let’s assume you’ve saved some money on that part (we’ll get to why that’s not accurate in a bit).
Who’s training them?
How long will their ramp be?
How many deals will they screw up before they get the hang of it?
In the end, will you still have to babysit them?
You didn’t start your company to babysit sales reps. If you’ve only got a budget for 1–3 people in the sales org, every one of them needs to be locked in. No passengers. No "learners." You can’t afford to spend 6–9 months getting someone up to speed only to realize they’re not going to cut it.
Imagine you saved 10-30k on base salary… not much real savings there now that you see your time costs.
2. Senior ≠ Expensive (In Fact, They’re Often Cheaper)
Here’s the myth most founders believe: Tenured sales execs are out of reach.
Let me tell you something, that’s just not true.
You see, most 15–20 year enterprise reps are looking for $150–175K base. Meanwhile, younger AEs with 3–5 years of experience are asking for $120–150K. Not a huge difference, right?
What are you getting for that extra pay?
4x the experience
A Rolodex of clients
Maturity (their identity crisis is behind them)
A tighter sales process
A network of other sales folks
Confidence in their ability to deliver
Financial stability (they don’t need the money)
But here’s the real kicker. Many of them will take below-market-rate base pay.
Because they have been through the ringer many times over, they know what matters to them. They’ve often already made a lot of money and just love selling at this point.
For that reason, they shift to a more impact-oriented view. Now it’s their time to take a role that allows them to make an impact. They know they will make money with any good company; they just don’t put as much weight on the base pay.
Think about it, if they are worth their salt, they have been making $300-600k a year for 15+ years, money is no longer the main motivator. Now they’re motivated by working with good people and selling products that make an impact.
We’ve found senior sales candidates who will take a base pay of $100-120k as long as there is a good commission structure.
That means you could get someone with 15-20 years of experience for the same (or less than) someone with 2-5. Let that sink in.
3. To Senior Talent, Different Things Matter
Top salespeople don’t care about base salary nearly as much as you think. They care about:
Is the product real?
What is the commission structure?
Do I trust the founder?
Will this be fun?
Is the team full of A-players?
If the answers are yes, they’ll go in eyes wide open — because they’re betting on their own ability to close deals. That's what they do.
You show them a clear comp plan, decent equity, and the right product-market fit? They’re in. And they’ll outperform the junior person all day.
4. It’s Not About Age — It’s About Clarity
People who've been in sales for 15+ years know who they are. They’re not trying to climb the ladder. They’re not still figuring out if they want to be a manager or pivot to marketing. They’re here to close. That kind of clarity is a gift.
Junior AEs, on the other hand. They’re still thinking about going to business school. Or how they can get a manager title. Or even more mature considerations, like needing a certain base pay to cover their mortgage.
More senior candidates don’t have to worry about these things.
5. This Isn’t Just Sales, It’s Survival or Death
Let’s not pretend this is theoretical. If your startup fails to close deals, you won’t survive. That next round you’re hoping for? It's not coming unless revenue is trending up and to the right.
So ask yourself: are you optimizing for saving $25K on salary… or actually hitting your sales goals?
Bottom Line
If you’re building a sales org and think senior talent is out of reach, pause. Reevaluate. Because the truth is, you can’t afford not to hire someone senior. Especially if you're a ClimateTech company where time is limited and standing out among your peers is vital.
The right person will pay for themselves. Fast.
Don’t let bad assumptions cost you your runway.
Action Item: Change your mental framework about hiring sales folks. Aim for someone proven who can do the job, so success is much more likely.
PS: If your next thought is, “I’d love to hire someone senior like this it’s just going to take too long,” you’re wrong (respectfully). At ErthTech Talent, we find these candidates at the same time we find more junior folks.
They are out there today. If you want help finding them, reach out.
We’ll help you find the best talent in a timely manner and for about half of what other firms charge (we charge 12-15% others charge 20-30%).Sponsored by ErthTech Talent: 70+ Placements since 2020. Affordable. Accurate.
Jobs We’re Working On 💼
Here are the jobs we’re supporting currently.
EHS Manager – Mission Solar Energy | San Antonio, TX
Sr. Account Executive (x2) – Gravity Climate | Remote (USA)
VP of Finance & Ops – EV Charging SaaS Startup | Austin, TX
Sr. Manufacturing Engineer - Harvest Thermal | Fremont, CA
Sr. Manufacturing Engineer - HVAC Decarbonization, Seed Stage Company
Senior Electrical Engineer - HVAC Decarbonization, Seed Stage Company
Mid-Market Account Executive – Impact Startup | Brooklyn, NY
(→ Want your job here? Reply to this email.)
Don’t see a role for you? Submit your resume here.
Word on the Street
Uncertainty Still Looms: Across some of the searches we’re running, we’ve seen a lot of candidates mentioning deep uncertainty at their employers. For this particular search, these folks are mostly coming from more traditional manufacturing companies. Not climate specifically.
More Investors Swearing Off Climate: We just heard of yet another investor pulling its funding commitment from a clean tech startup. They simply are ‘no longer investing in climate tech.’ It’s a shame to see, but I think this is only the start.
A Ray of Hope: Carbon capture startup Holocene was acquired by Oxy (Occidental Petroleum). The same company that bought Carbon Engineering. Check out the story in Heatmap News. I know this team, and it’s a well-deserved acquisition because they truly have something special that’s working. After all, they were the first (I think only) startup that Google dealt with directly to buy carbon offsets from outside of their engagement with the Frontier Fund.
That’s all for today. It was a quieter week for me. I was not on the street as much during Holy Week.
Happy Easter!
Okay folks. That’s all from us. See you next week.
~Silas
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