Customer Account Executive
Tailscale · Hybrid · Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Base
- Not disclosed
- OTE
- C$168K
- Quota attainment
- Not disclosed
- Posted
- 17d ago
Why it matters: OTE tells you what you could earn. Attainment tells you how realistic it is.
Ask: “What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?”
Still open · checked 2h agoon Tailscale's careers page
What Tailscale sells
Easy, safe links between people and their devices
A team's workers need to reach internal tools from home, a coffee shop, or another country, but setting up safe connections is slow and complicated. Tailscale provides software that links people and their devices together wherever they are. Teams can then protect their networks and share access to internal tools without the hassle.
In plain English, from their own job posts. Something wrong? Tell us
More Security companies →The Braun Read
Worth a lookSolid on the basics. Use the first call to fill in the gaps.
- Pay
- OTE is listed. Ask what the base is.
- Transparency
- Says nothing about quota, attainment, deal size, territory or sales cycle.
- Pipeline
- A mix of self-sourced pipeline and inbound or SDR help.
- Time on market
- Open 17 days.
- Company hiring
- Ramping up: posted 8 sales roles in the last 30 days.
Red flags
None spotted.
Green flags
- Publishes OTE. It tells you the on-target earnings up front. Most postings don't.
Based only on what the posting says. Flags are a starting point for your first call, not a final judgment.
Questions to ask on the first call
Built from what this posting leaves out. How they answer tells you as much as what they say.
- 1.
What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?
OTE is what you could earn. This is how likely you are to earn it.
- 2.
What percentage of reps on the team have been here more than 18 months?
Tenure shows whether people stay long enough to get paid.
- 3.
Has the comp plan changed in the last 12 to 18 months? What changed?
A plan that changes every year means the goalposts keep moving.
- 4.
Who sits with reps and reviews calls each week?
Coaching is often what's behind a good or bad attainment number.
- 5.
What's the base, and how is the rest paid out?
OTE without a base doesn't tell you what you can count on.
- 6.
Why is this role open? Did someone leave, or is it new?
New headcount is growth. A replacement means someone left. Ask why.
When the offer comes
Save these for later. They land better once they've said yes to you.
- 1.
Can I see the full comp plan in writing, including clawbacks and accelerators?
What's in writing is what gets paid. Read it before you sign.
- 2.
Can I see the actual comp distribution for the team last year, not just the OTE?
The spread shows what most reps really take home. OTE is just the target.
- 3.
I'd be walking away from earned commission to join. Is there room for a sign-on bonus to help cover that?
Leaving money behind is a fair reason to ask. The worst answer is no.
Josh's top five questions for any sales interview →
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The role
Grow and renew existing Tailscale customer accounts by finding new use cases, running upsells, and driving feature adoption with SE and CS support. Vancouver-based, hybrid 3 days/week.
Expansion
Selling motion
Who you're selling to
- Buyer:
- Not stated in the posting.Ask: “Who's the economic buyer, and who else is in the deal?”
- Industry:
- Developer securityIn their words: “one of the fastest growing companies in the Developer Security space”
Pipeline expectations
Compensation
What is not disclosed
This posting doesn't tell you:
- Base salary
- Quota size
- Quota attainment
- Average deal size
- Territory
- Sales cycle length
The questions above cover the big ones.