I am exploring new opps and have come up with 2 possible routes. Opinions appreciated. :)

Goal: To continue learning how to build companies from a holistic perspective. As a prospective founder, I aim to be well-rounded to be able to understand the diverse challenges from each side of the company. I currently have:

- 2 years of iOS dev experience

- 2.5 years of product management (B2B2C SaaS)

I have spent my whole career in early stage startups (< 30 employees, between Series A & B).

Possible Next Step:

(1) continuing to dive deeper into product at a larger company to learn how a well-oiled machine operates

or

(2) jumping to sales/bizdev

Why #1 makes sense:

At this point in my career, I’ve worked on going from 0 to 1, finding product market fit, and wearing lots of hats outside of product. It would be interesting to work on a mature product with an existing, larger user base.

Why #2 makes sense:

I love interacting with people. I have a personal CRM and host weekly dinner parties in order to bring people together. Reaching out to people while at early stage companies to raise money, talk about partnerships, etc, was a very fun part of the job. When I start a company, I am SO excited about the prospect of pitching my idea to get people to believe in the vision.

Closing thoughts: It’s tough to admit this, but I do not think I’m cut out to be a professional developer. I love building things but enjoy having control beyond the implementation process. At least in the development jobs I’ve had, they were not enjoyable because I was always being told what to do.

I am intrigued by sales or biz dev, but the two concerns are: (1) will I have to take a major pay cut vs. a PM role at a large company? I expect target range for latter to be in $110-130K area. Money is not that important, just want to ensure not a ~50% pay cut. (2) is it seen as a step down to go from a PM to an account manager or something similar?

A hybrid role is ideal, but realize that roles at larger companies are more clearly defined.

Thanks for reading :)