What framework do you use when assessing a new opportunity at a different company?

My answer is actually not revenue ops specific. But here are my answers:

1) Growth- the rising tide lifts all ships. The higher the growth rate, the more opportunities you will have to scale the business and grow your career in parallel. 

2) People / culture - make sure you like who you are working for / with and how work is being done 

3) Role - what exactly will you be doing? Is this aligned with your skillset / strengths / interests?

4) Industry - tech vs. non tech / actually product function and buyer type. D2C vs. B2B. These all have trade offs and you have to decide what you want. 

I don't think you can be pick about all four categories but the first two are my most important ones and then I usually prioritize #3 over #4 but everyone has a different calculus on what's most important to them. 

I would typically evaluate a list of questions that can be grouped as follows:

Impact

• Would this opportunity allow me to make a meaningful impact that could make the function/company significantly more efficient?

Growth/Learning

• Is the company on a high growth trajectory and/or poised to continue growing?

• Would this opportunity provide a step-up in role and responsibility and/or provide a ramp towards achieving my ultimate career goals?

• Would this role provide me with an opportunity to learn and grow professionally?

Financial

• Does this role meet my financial goals and expectations i.e. does it compensate me enough to rock the proverbial boat?

Finally, I should also mention that although people/culture are quite important, thus far I have had mixed success in assessing this definitively before hand. Personally I have been in both situations - one where my initial impression of the hiring manager was not great but accepted the offer for the work and ended up having a fantastic rapport with the manager and the other where where I took everything that I was told at face value and ended up regretting the move.

Whenever I am assessing a career move, I have a self-actualization template that I have built that allows me to properly assess what is important for me personally and professionally in my next career move. It allows me to evaluate each opportunity and weigh decisions based on importance.

The areas I look at, are career aspirations, industry, company, management and leadership, culture, scope of the role, work-life balance, and general worries, risks, concerns, and excitement.

I then have a set of decision factors and statements that I rank score and weight to help me properly assess the opportunities against what is important to me. Note this is not foolproof - sometimes my gut is different than the data - but it does help me do proper reflection and assessment. It also helps me identify areas where I might need additional clarity from a potential company if I don't feel confident in my scoring.

The advice I give in this is your next role should be setting you up for the next role - so make sure as you think about opportunities do not look for just today, make sure you are factoring tomorrow in as well.

I would caveat this answer ahead by saying this is not revops specific. This is about the important things to look for while evaluating a new opportunity - 

1. Opportunity to drive impact - how does the role map to my skill sets and do I see an opportunity for me to drive impact and create value? This to me means growth for the company and thereby growth for me! 

2. Culture and Values - People, culture and values are core to have a great experience and find a sense of belonging in an organization. I believe you are a better leader, a better team member, a better employee if you love what you do and if you have a great team to partner with.

3. Learning and Growth - Does the organization offer opportunities to continue learning and further hone my leadership skills? How does this opportunity help me continue on the career trajectory/aspirations for self? 

Other important aspects to consider are management and leadership, Company growth trajectory (addressable market, competitive advantage..), having the right work/life balance and  compensation (if it's important to you)!

I consider a few factors when exploring new opportunities at another company:

1. Company Product + Mission

2. Company Health

3. Company's People

4. Role Growth Opportunity

Company Product - I want to make sure that I believe in the company's products or its mission. Choose a company whose products or mission align well with your own interests. Doing so will give you more excitement in the interview (the recruiter will pick up on it), give you more fulfillment in the role, and translate to more energy on the job.

Company Health - I want to join a company that is on a good business trajectory, is healthy financially, and will be around for many years to come. There's no point joining your dream role if the company will go belly-up soon. If the company is public, take time to review its recent 10-K and 10-Qs. If it's private, take a look to see if it has reputable investors, review how many rounds of funding it has and how quickly it's been growing HC, and research how its products stand up against competitors.

Company People - I want to work with people who I like and can learn from, including the leadership team, my manager and my directs. Use the interviews as a two-way opportunity to vet if your potential new colleagues are people who you'd enjoy spending time both in and outside of the office.

Role Growth - I have a growth mindset, and always look for roles that will stretch me and provide runway for growth. Growth can take many forms, including taking on new or more responsibilities, and/or leading larger teams. I want to always be adding new skills to my rev ops tool chest, and look for roles that enable me to do so.

How you assess a new opportunity depends on your specific career goals and values. A useful exercise that’s worked for me is to spend time determining my most important career values. There are several ways to do this, but one way is to pull together a list of common values and stack rank them to find what is most important to you at work. For me, what usually tops my list is making sure I am learning/growing and being useful. The way that translates in my career is I always want to make sure that my next role is helping me build new skills and setting me up for something better in the future. I also like to be in a role that is highly valued or business critical.  

With regards to rev ops specifically, some things you might want to understand is the exact remit of rev ops at this new company. In some businesses, it’s seen as a strategic function that helps drive the priorities of the business, while at others it may be more operational and provide more systems and tools support.  Make sure you clearly understand the scope and if this role will help propel you to what you hope to do longer term.

I organize my decisions using the following (very simple) framework. So far, it has guided me to work in some amazing environments for some incredible leaders and with high performing teams. Hope it helps you!

Who - direct leadership is critically important to career growth and should be considered at every move. I always ask myself - what do I need from a leader in this role? Do I need them to be an expert b/c I am new to the function? Do I need them to be amazing at exec alignment and reporting up because that's a skill I need to work on? Do I need them to open doors in or outside of the org for me? Spend some time on this; it's a huge part of success in any role and something to consider to get the most out of a new role and your ability to be successful in a new environment.

What - What is the role and how will it grow you professionally, personally and towards the role you want in 3-5 years? Title is not everything; consider where you're headed next and be honest with yourself about how this role will help you get there - title chasing is an easy trap to fall into.

Where - The company itself is a huge decision. A lot of people make the mistake of choosing the role b/c its a title promotion, but what will the company do for your growth and career! Sometimes, taking a lower or lateral move at a bigger company because you've only worked in startups is a good way to round out your experience. Or, on the flipside, if you're used to the structure and clean hierarchy of a larger company, you may want to try your hand at a mid-size or startup to learn about pace, scale and growth.

Why - Of the things above and other factors in your decision, it's important to land on your why - is it schedule flexibility? Better work/life balance? Working towards an event/IPO? Learning something new? Getting exposure to a new industry? Learning from an industry leader? Knowing your why will help guide you and prioritizie your options.