Boiler Room 2.0 - Commercial Account Executive Samsara Employee Review

2.0
24 Oct 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits. Offer preset RSU's to entry level positions. Amazing accelerators, if you can get there, but most of it is based off luck regarding inbound sales. Some of the managers do really care and try, but seem like they know they're being held to a standard their reps cannot reasonably attain.

Cons

Really tough work environment. It seems like the management team has some good intentions, but serious problems scaling because they lack experience in the roles they manage as they are today or just have their eyes set on the IPO. The commercial division is a micromanaged pressure cooker, seemingly with the only purpose being to drive customer acquisition numbers for the eventual IPO valuation. Most of the revenue for the company comes from the MM and Enterprise segments that seem much more normal - quarterly & attainable quotas as well as B2B sales. The product is also designed for those types of customers. The commercial segment is a B2C sale with copious cold calling to recycled and misinformation laden accounts imported from DOT filings. It's essentially like trying to sell retail over the phone to owners of businesses that do less than 5M rev/year. The position is really more of an outbound BDR position that carries a daily call quota and monthly revenue quota. Fully ramped quotas seemed unattainable and its not uncommon for more than half the reps to be tracking for or already on a PIP. One of the VP's claimed being on a PIP was a good thing and would help your career in a team meeting. The stipulations involved with selling the product make it very difficult for super small businesses/consumers to purchase - pricing/contract/etc. Senior management keeps an eye out for any "negativity" whatsoever and back channels to individual reps w/o their direct manager present about their respective colleagues. Senior management is also OK with presenting skewed data to try to justify the unfavorable positions reps find themselves in. The tension is palpable on a daily basis. The CEO seems like an intelligent/value driven person and I was personally really excited to join after the new hire week, but I guess he has no idea how the lower level sales departments function or is fine with it. It was close to the exact opposite of what I thought I signed up for based off the recruitment/interview process/company introduction.

Explore other reviews about Samsara

5.0
25 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I started at Samsara as an Enterprise ADR and was promoted to Commercial Account Executive after exactly 1 year. The support and recognition I received throughout that time greatly exceeded my expectations! Leadership genuinely invests in employee development. My manager and director consistently provided thoughtful coaching, were accessible when I needed feedback, and made me feel so supported in reaching my goals. The culture is one of Samsara's biggest strengths, truly. People celebrate each other's wins, collaborate well, and respect clear Rules of Engagement that create a fair and professional environment. There is a strong sense of teamwork without the internal competition that can exist at most sales organizations. The earning potential is real, quotas are attainable, and the quarterly structure provides enough time to recover from a slow start and still be successful. The work-life balance is also strong, especially for a high-growth company. One thing that really stood out to me was how many promoted AEs (including myself) still wanted to come into the office even though the AE role is remote. Leadership listened to that feedback and created additional office space to accommodate the growing team, which says a lot about how much they value employee experience and culture! Overall, it's a place where people work hard, support each other, and genuinely enjoy being part of the team.

Cons

The biggest opportunity for improvement is preparing ADRs for the transition into closing roles. Samsara does an excellent job teaching products, strategy, and prospecting skills, and managers work hard to prepare employees for promotion. That said, additional training around discovery, deal management, forecasting, and negotiation before promotion would make the move into an AE role even smoother.

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