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

In today's world it is relatively quite easy to make a very well informed decision when assessing a new role in a different company. 

These are some of the things I look at and advise my mentees to do too : 

• If it's a public listed company, look at their financials to figure out their year on year growth. 
• Check out websites like RepVue which give you a very good understanding about how sales reps in that company are doing
• On LinkedIn, check out the trend on their headcount,especially in sales, is it increasing consistently or not. 
• Check out analyst reports and websites like g2.com to see how the product is rated by their customers. 
• Check websites like Glassdoor to understand about the culture of the company you are considering
• If possible speak with a few customers and partners of the company as well. 

A mentor taught me to evaluate opportunities leveraging the VIP framework . The framework incorporates three inputs Vision, Impact and People. Here is a quick breakdown of how I have thought through each of the inputs.

1) Vision: How excited are you about the companies vision and mission? How aligned is the leadership team and company around the vision? Does the company have aspirations of being a generational company solving a large problem set?

2) Impact: Is there an outsized opportunity to drive impact for customers, the company and the people I work with by leveraging my experiences and skillsets?

3) People: Do the folks I'll be working with share similar core values? What is the quality of the leadership team and personnel? What can learn and develop from their experiences?

1. Success of the product in the market, including renewal rates

2. Is it product led growth or sales led? PLG is usually preferred

3. How much turnover has there been?

4. What were and are the growth plans from a headcount perspective?

5. What's the track record of leadership?

6. Who supplied the funding and what are their goals with the company?

7. Is the communication style of your manager similar to yours?

8. Do the values of the organization line up with my own?

9. Are the benefits pertinent to me?

When I'm assessing a new opportunity at a different company, I focus on 3 key items:

1. Does the company align with me and my values?

2. Does the company offer me opportunities for growth today and in the future?

3. Does the role and company align with what I need to be fulfilled?

Through conversations with the hiring team, current employees, and research online, I believe the first two are fairly easy to check. The third is a bit more complicated and takes more planning by you before you can dig for answers. Here's what to think about:

• Do you know what you need to be fulfilled in a role? Can you list in 3-5 bullets what makes you feel happy/fulfilled at the end of a hard work week?

• Then, ignoring the compensation, title, and status of the position - do the tasks and objectives of the role offer you the ability to leave at the end of the work week and feel a sense of fulfillment in how you spent your time?

• How much of your time in the role will be spent doing the things that make you happy/fulfilled? Will you have this feeling daily? Once in a blue moon?

• How does the hiring team prioritize the tasks that you find most fulfilling?

To truly understand if the company and role is right for you, prioritize your interview questions on the areas of the organization and role that align to your values and sense of fulfillment.

When I look at a new opportunity I evaluate the below items:

• Product-Market Fit: I evaluate how well the company’s product addresses the market need and its potential for long-term success.

• Belief and Passion: I ask myself if I genuinely believe in what the company is building and feel passionate about its mission and product.

• Competitive Landscape: I spend time comparing the company to its competitors, speaking with my personal network and meeting with current customers to understand the pros/cons of the product and customer experience.

• Growth Potential: I consider how the opportunity aligns with my career goals

• Clear Expectations: I ensure the company sets clear expectations around goals, responsibilities, and success metrics before making a decision. This is very important in sales as unrealistic quotas/numbers and expectations is common.

I've been at HubSpot for 14 years. Every year I ask myself the same questions:

-Do I enjoy the people I work with?

-Am I continuously progressing my career and growing my earnings potential?

-Are there new and difficult challenges that stretch me and push me to develop new skills?

-Am I fulfilled by the work I do?

If all the above are yes, I stay in the role. So far, I've been very fortunate to have a great career at HubSpot.

When evaluating new companies, I would recommend a few things for folks to evaluate.

First off - life stage and relative risk tolerance can be important to think through. If you are early in your career, have a larger appetite for risk, and are willing to risk a "bad bounce," early stage companies are higher risk / higher reward. If you are later in your career and desire more stability, have family earnings obligations, or just want lower risk in general, later stage companies are the right move.

Once you've established stage, I like to think about the intersection of your experience and what you are passionate about. Sit down and write a list of industries / areas that get you excited, then also write where you have experience and knowledge. Often where you overlap is a great place to start.

Next, I'd make a target list of companies. Companies that have happy customers (in tech you can see customer reviews at G2crowd, trustradius, or other industry sites,) happy employees (Glassdoor,) and a steady growth rate (look at pace of funding rounds, or read their earnings reports if publicly traded,) are a good bet. I'd suggest solving for growth - mid to high growth companies have many more promotion opportunities and your equity will likely go farther.

From there, I'd check linkedin to look for connections in your network that are at one of your target companies.

Personally, I'd almost never apply through a job listing, I would always reach out to the connection, ask for 15 minutes to chat about the company, and then ask them to refer you in.