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I remember sitting in on a sales meeting early in my career. I kept quiet, but afterwards I complained to my manager that they were selling features that didn’t

I remember sitting in on a sales meeting early in my career. I kept quiet, but afterwards I complained to my manager that they were selling features that didn’t exist and conflicted with core concepts of the product. My manager told me that was how sales were made. I left the company not long after, I was already disgruntled prior to that discussion. I’ve seen the same thing everywhere I go. I don’t have the disposition to be in sales, but I periodically daydream of making huge commissions by straight up bullshitting people. There seems to be no downside.

chasd00 3mo ago
I work in consulting and have been in many projects where the client was sold promises and features that don’t exist in reality. If I had a firm I would have a rule that whoever sells a project worth > $5M would also be responsible for delivering it.
- _matt_ 3mo ago
  And consequently, you'd most likely have no projects worth > $5M :)
  - germinalphrase 3mo ago
    Or link sales commission to delivery success, and have no sales people...
DANmode 3mo ago
> There seems to be no downside. If you don’t see the value of your own word, I can’t give it back to you.
- move-on-by 3mo ago
  This is just one of the many reasons I don't have the disposition to be in sales
dolebirchwood 3mo ago
I was doing contract work last year for a young solo founder, and he promised a feature to a big customer who only signed up because of this one feature. It was a feature he vibecoded and was able to demo in ways that made it look like it was working, when in reality it was a buggy POS. The customer was going to go live on the platform in a few weeks, and this kid expected me to work over my pre-planned holiday to actually get this (frankly rather complex) feature built properly. I told him good luck, ended the contract, and enjoyed my holiday. No time for that BS.
estetlinus 3mo ago
How is that company doing today? I think there’s a balance to it. You have to meet the customer, and also understand your boundaries. I’ve sold non-existent features that I was unsure if I could deliver, but always solved it since I’m good at smooth talking. I’ll make sure what I deliver brings value, and keep a dialogue with the client. Sales relations are rarely static from my experience.

chasd00 3mo ago

I work in consulting and have been in many projects where the client was sold promises and features that don’t exist in reality. If I had a firm I would have a rule that whoever sells a project worth > $5M would also be responsible for delivering it.

_matt_ 3mo ago
And consequently, you'd most likely have no projects worth > $5M :)
- germinalphrase 3mo ago
  Or link sales commission to delivery success, and have no sales people...

DANmode 3mo ago

> There seems to be no downside. If you don’t see the value of your own word, I can’t give it back to you.

move-on-by 3mo ago
This is just one of the many reasons I don't have the disposition to be in sales

dolebirchwood 3mo ago

I was doing contract work last year for a young solo founder, and he promised a feature to a big customer who only signed up because of this one feature. It was a feature he vibecoded and was able to demo in ways that made it look like it was working, when in reality it was a buggy POS. The customer was going to go live on the platform in a few weeks, and this kid expected me to work over my pre-planned holiday to actually get this (frankly rather complex) feature built properly. I told him good luck, ended the contract, and enjoyed my holiday. No time for that BS.

estetlinus 3mo ago

How is that company doing today? I think there’s a balance to it. You have to meet the customer, and also understand your boundaries. I’ve sold non-existent features that I was unsure if I could deliver, but always solved it since I’m good at smooth talking. I’ll make sure what I deliver brings value, and keep a dialogue with the client. Sales relations are rarely static from my experience.