Why I chose Namely over Facebook

While it was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, I can certainly say it’s been one of the best decisions.

Background

All throughout college, I was set on working for a big tech company—free food, nap pods, and bragging rights? Sign me up. When it came down to applying, naturally, I had only applied to all the big names, with Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook amongst the top 3.

The very same week I received an invitation to interview with Facebook, as well as an InMail request to interview for a “Sales Development Representative” role with Namely. I was pretty apprehensive to interview with a company I had never heard of and a position that felt volatile (quotas & commissions? No, thank you). Ultimately, however, I thought why not, I could probably use a few more rounds of practice interviews.

The Offers

A week later, I received an offer from Facebook and I was thrilled! In fact, thrilled may be an understatement -- I was running up and down the hallways of my house smiling, jumping, and calling every person on my contact list to share the exciting news! Within a couple of hours of receiving the Facebook offer, I received a call from the Namely SDR manager, Chris Flores. He had more good news to share - Namely was giving me an offer to join their team.At that moment, I thought the no-brainer option was to politely decline and accept the offer with my dream company, but there was a lurking feeling in my heart that told me I couldn’t say no quite yet. I thanked Chris for the offer and asked him for some time to think about it.

The Decision

Facebook paid more. Facebook was also my dream company. Facebook’s position was more aligned to my interests (at the time). Nearly everyone told me to choose Facebook. The obvious decision was Facebook.

So why did I choose Namely? It really boiled down to two things - the people and the opportunity.

Throughout my interview with Namely, I met with two people: Chris Flores, SDR Manager and Judson Griffin, VP of Sales - West.

Although I had connected with amazing, talented people at Facebook, there was a particular fire behind Judson during my interview that struck a chord. At the time, I didn’t know much about the “startup world” or what being backed by Sequoia (a top VC firm) really meant. However,I do know genuine passion when I see it, and I saw it. I still remember my interview with Judson like it was yesterday – I had peppered him with a million questions, like “What makes Namely different from all the other HR companies?” “Why did you leave your previous companies to join Namely?” “What does the future of Namely look like?” “What is Namely’s mission?”. For each and every question, Judson was able to answer in a way that made me see this: Namely wasn’t perfect and the market was saturated, but Namely is on the right trajectory and has huge potential in the foreseeable future. He was passionate, transparent, and although he was a VP and I was interviewing for an entry level position, he made me feel like we were equal and that there was no hierarchy between us. If Judson was a representation of leadership at Namely, I knew I was going to be in a good spot.

Beyond great leadership, the opportunity to join Namely at its early stages was equally enticing. Namely’s HQ was in New York with about 150 employees, but they were just opening up their San Francisco office. At the time, they had 7 employees in a WeWork space and were looking to hire their first Sales Development Rep.

Does this sound risky? Yes. Exciting? Definitely.

Don’t get me wrong — Facebook is an amazing company; but it’s always going to be there 1, 5, 10 years down the road and they’ll always have positions open to fill. But when else would was I going to be a part of the beginning of a special company? When else was I going to be the first hire for my role? When else was I going to be employee #8 of a new office and help build it from the ground up?

One Last Conversation

At this point, I still felt a tug between the two offers - so I decided to have one last conversation with the hiring managers at both companies.

My call with the Facebook hiring manager was great - she was engaging, excited to have me onboard and shared with me how I would grow beyond this role. She ended the call asking me what I needed to choose the role with Facebook. This was a time-sensitive role and I felt that she both wanted and needed me to fill the position.

My call with Namely’s hiring manager, Chris, was a little different. He was also engaging and excited to have me. He would address my questions in the same manner Judson had: passionate, transparent, and as an equal. At the end of the call, I felt that he definitely wanted me for the role, but he didn’t need me.

It was in that moment, I knew that Namely didn’t need me. But I needed Namely.

I needed a company that can provide both strong leadership direction and the autonomy I crave as a scrappy, self-starter.

So, I chose Namely.

Journey at Namely

Time has flown by and I’ve been with Namely for just about two and a half years now. During my time here, I’ve achieved 4 promotions, was named SDR of the year in 2016 and have now relocated to New York to help lead the SDR team as a manager.

I’m confident I would have done a great job at Facebook and progressed my career there. What I’m not so sure about is if I would have been able to achieve as much as I did or be promoted to a leadership position as quickly. When reflecting back on my success at Namely, I really drilled it down to the following three reasons:

Why Namely?

1) The People & leadership

Namely has a non-hierarchical leadership atmosphere that makes it easy and comfortable to get to know upper management. Because of this environment, I got the opportunity to learn directly from our leadership including the CEO, VP of Marketing, VP of Sales, and more.

2) Timing is everything

When I joined Namely, we had just opened our San Francisco office and being employee #8 and SDR #1 allowed for fast growth and extra responsibilities that facilitated multiple promotions.

What’s awesome is that Namely is still continuing to expand - since I joined we’ve added an Austin office and just recently opened up a Los Angeles and Atlanta office. As we continue to rapidly grow as a company, there are going to be a lot more opportunities to grow my own career.

3) Opportunity & Career Growth

Namely has a strong performance-driven culture -- which means if you work hard and the results are there, you will be presented with a lot of growth opportunities for your career. And in sales, results are very obvious.

The most exciting part is that this is still the beginning for Namely. We’re at 450 employees today and have grown 50%+ year over year since I’ve joined. At the rate we’re growing and the way the product is expanding, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with over 4,500 employees in the future.

We’re here building technology for tomorrow and we’re going to be the no-brainer HR system of choice for mid-sized companies. There is a ton of buzz around hot tech companies—who has received x amount of funding, which one is the next unicorn company, who is poised to IPO next, etc. The reality is that less than 1% of companies actually have the opportunity to be a $1B company. And Namely is on track to join that less than 1%.

What does that mean?

As our new CRO, Graham Younger, likes to put it,

“People ask me if we’re at the beginning, middle or end here at Namely. I believe we’re at the end of the beginning.”

We’re hiring!

Sales Development Reps are the forefront and the oxygen of the company - they are the first point of contact with potential clients and the first source in helping bring in revenue. As an SDR, you have the opportunity to make tremendous impact on our business and growth!

We are looking to hire smart, driven individuals with an insatiable hunger to succeed — if you’re interested in a growing a career in sales or if you know anyone, feel free to reach me directly: [email protected].

Hey, you never know — this may end up being one of your best life decisions as well. And if not, at least you’ll know you gave it a shot ;)

Onward,

Daisy