You've negotiated an offer. Before you sign, do what any good AE does with a deal — qualify it before you commit your year to it. The best-looking AE role on paper is a bad deal if the quota is unreachable, the territory is empty, or the ramp is a trap. Evaluate an offer the way you'd evaluate a customer: on the evidence, not the enthusiasm.
Score it like a deal
Run the offer through a scorecard that mirrors the fundamentals you've learned all track:
- Quota realism. What share of reps hit quota last year, and how does that compare to the number in the offer? An unreachable quota means a comp plan you'll never fully earn.
- Ramp. Is there a real ramp that protects you while you learn, or are you expected to hit full quota on day one?
- Territory. Is there an actual book of accounts to sell into, or an empty patch?
- Manager and team. Who you report to and the reps around you decide more of your first year than the comp plan does.
- Comp structure. The base, the mix, and the plan you negotiated.
Ask the questions that reveal the truth
The strongest questions are the uncomfortable ones: "What percentage of reps hit quota here?" "What does a realistic first year look like?" "What's the territory, and how many accounts are already in it?" If they hesitate or won't answer, that's your answer. A role that won't tell you how its reps perform is a role you shouldn't bet a year on.
Decide like an AE
If the scorecard is strong — reachable quota, real ramp, a book to sell into, a manager you can learn from, and a comp plan that's honest — this is a deal worth closing. If it's a red flag, walking away is the right call, the same way you'd qualify out of a bad deal. Choosing the right AE role is the first deal you close as the closer.
Start here
That closes the Account Executive track. You've gone from earning the seat, to discovering and running deals at depth, to demos, proposals, negotiation and the close, running a pipeline to quota, and finally landing and evaluating the AE job itself. The full Account Executive curriculum is ready to work through, lesson by lesson — every one free, public, and built to get you owning and closing deals.