I’ve received the same message multiple times this month.

“I’ve been an SDR for 10 years. I’m good at it. I make money. I hate it. Can I become a PMM?”

And honestly? I get it.

At first, I wanted to go into sales too. I loved the pace. The pressure. The scoreboard. The clarity of it all.

But somewhere along the way, I realized something.

I wasn’t just interested in closing deals.
I was obsessed with why they closed.

Why one message landed.
Why one pitch converted.
Why one competitor kept showing up.

That curiosity? That’s not pure sales energy.

That’s product marketing.

Let’s clear something up first.

Marketing is not the “backup career.”

There’s this subtle narrative that marketing is softer. Less commercial. Less serious.

It’s not. It’s strategy. It’s positioning. It’s revenue influence at scale.

And yes, it pays.

According to Product Marketing Alliance, the global median salary for a Senior Product Marketing Manager is $152,000. In the US, it goes even higher.

Not bad for “just messaging.”

(If you want to dig into the numbers, the research is out there.)

So why does sales → marketing feel like such a natural shift?

Because most salespeople are already doing half the job.

Understanding positioning
You know which value props land and which ones fall flat. You’ve seen objections in real time. You’ve battle-tested messaging in live conversations, not brainstorming sessions.

User research
You’ve done hundreds of calls. Discovery sessions. Objection handling. You’ve heard customers explain their pain in their own words.

Market trends
Sales teams feel market shifts first. Budget freezes. New competitors. Industry pivots. You know when momentum is real and when it’s hype.

Communication under pressure
Framing. Persuasion. Clarity. You’ve refined that skill in high-stakes environments. PMM requires the same muscle.

The wall between sales and marketing is thinner than people think.

But here’s the part no one romanticizes.

PMM is less adrenaline.
More ambiguity.

Less instant gratification.
More long-term impact.

In sales, you know when you win.
In marketing, influence is harder to measure... and slower.

If you love quota energy and the thrill of the close, you might miss it.

If you love storytelling, strategy, cross-functional debates, and turning chaos into clarity, you might thrive.

I also think companies get this wrong.

We overvalue “sales machines.” We undervalue industry thinkers.

The best PMMs I’ve seen deeply understand revenue. The best sales leaders understand positioning. We shouldn’t treat these as separate species.

If you’ve been in sales for years, you’re not starting from zero.

You already know:

• The product

• The ICP

• The objections

• The competitive landscape

• What actually drives revenue

What you need to build:

• Structured market analysis

• Messaging architecture

• Strategic narrative development

• Cross-functional leadership

That’s learnable.

The foundation? You likely already have it.

So if you’re an SDR reading this and thinking: “I can’t do this for another 10 years.”

You’re not stuck. You might just be mis-positioned.

And that, ironically, is a marketing problem.

New: tl;dl dinner series

Our first dinner series was a great success! 18 of you showed up and we had the chance to connect and talk about all things marketing related.

Can’t wait for the next event in NYC, on Wednesday March 11th at 7pm 🥳