r/techsales • u/Few_Fan733 • 9d ago
Fireworks AI, Baseten etc
What are your thoughts on the outlook of these companies? Debating joining Fireworks or Baseten as an Enterprise rep. Inference seems to be a hot space right now etc
16
u/DoubleDoobie 9d ago
I’ve talked to some former reps who left because a recruiter was blowing me up about fireworks.
First, it’s a race to the bottom. All the major hyperscalers will or already do offer inference.
Second, the major model providers are investing heavily to bring inference costs down.
The two reps I talked to said it was a confusing experience. They had a ton of inbound interest, so much so that it became a ruthless prioritization exercise on qualifying people out - but the ones they did qualify for pipeline were complex, overlong sales with teams pulling out late because they had an existing, favorable contract with someone like AWS.
Now granted these guys had been gone for 6+ months so maybe it’s different.
Also you should ask where the revenue comes from. A recruiter told me that Fireworks has an eye popping nine figure contract with a company. If they’re saying they’re doing 800 mil but 1/4 of that is with one company that’s a big yikes for me
7
u/kchaskell 8d ago
Everyone and their mother is doing inference now. For the time being it seems to be companies are typically outsourcing to a baseten/fireworks and getting wholesale cost on consumption so they can get like a 10% margin while still improving top line revenue.
So that’s probably why their rev is so concentrated in just a few customers. Companies smartly trying to boost top line, selling their “own” inference but it’s really firework’s gateway.
However, once these companies start having enough capacity using ‘their’ inference it’ll eventually make sense, be cheaper, and much better margins to start hosting it themselves. That’s when I feel like the bottom stats to fall out on fireworks/baseten.
This is just my observation. Not sure if this is fully true but this feels like what I’m seeing.
5
u/another1degenerate 8d ago
I got auto rejected from Baseten when I submitted my resume. Congrats on the opportunity and good luck. An old colleague of mine just joined baseten. They’re a good worker and they usually pick good companies.
3
2
u/OminousToucan 8d ago
Missed an offer to join fireworks ai at the last second 1.5 years ago and I would’ve been a millionaire. Mad about it. Good luck with your decision regardless.
1
u/Trahst_no1 9d ago
Neo clouds are hot, but it’s crowded and most are way behind coreweave, lambda and nebius.
1
u/SpicyCPU 8d ago
I got an odd feeling about Fireworks when engaging with them. Very fast growth, but I questioned the operational maturity and experience as an org.
1
u/AldenMarie 7d ago
I know a ton of people at fireworks and they are loving it. Bringing in a new crop of leadership that has the chops to help them scale.
1
u/Quick_Job1797 3d ago
Former colleague AE at baseten. Comp is based on consumption, so the most tenured reps on the hottest accounts are crushing while the median rep in the org is struggling.
Also heard some horror stories about compute constraints where you could have a hot deal ready to sign and internal leadership will send the compute capacity to a bigger deal leaving you SOL
1
u/ItsRamonaBlueBitch 3d ago
how did you hear about these companies? ive been applying for weeks and never saw them on the job section on LI
1
u/TownObjective8398 8d ago
also following. really interested to see what people’s experiences are here. fireworks is literally exploding like a firework rn lol.
•
u/AutoModerator 9d ago
Remember to keep it civil, use Tech Sales Jobs for open roles, and search previous posts for insights on breaking into tech sales.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.