Update: I got a 50% pay increase after resigning

Here’s a follow-up to my recent posts, linked below.

Initially, I was prepping for an upcoming performance review, expecting a standard raise after a strong year: I hit 3x my quota and got a lot of positive feedback from management. My total compensation this year was $90k.

Around the same time, a headhunter reached out on behalf of another small company. They offered me a sales role handling roughly $1.5M of their business, with a projected total compensation of $110-130k.

This led to a couple weeks of discreet interviews with the recruiter and other company staff. When they made a formal offer, I requested my annual review early to discuss a compensation boost. Surprisingly, my boss asked for a day to think it over—despite my request only matching last year’s raise. In the follow-up meeting, they said they’d reassess before year-end but couldn’t approve a raise now. I was shocked.

Meanwhile, I was stalling the recruiter, which became its own saga fit for a dedicated thread. Eventually, the recruiter rescinded the offer the same day as my second review meeting. After some back-and-forth drama, I reconnected with the company directly, and they revived the offer. They agreed the recruiter was hasty as it had been less than 48 hours since receiving the final offer. I accepted, signed the agreement, and prepared my resignation. My boss was blindsided but supportive when I delivered the news.

The next day, things escalated. My direct manager wouldn’t accept my resignation, asking me to reconsider. I mentioned that I needed to make 50% more this year—and to my surprise, they came back with an offer of $130k. They admitted they hadn’t fully understood the seriousness of my request. The new offer included a base salary increase, biweekly commission payouts based on assumed annual sales to get me there, and 9% uncapped commission on anything above that target. Plus, they lifted territory restrictions, allowing me to sell anywhere.

I know the common advice is never to accept a counteroffer, but I did. They initially undervalued me, but this is the highest pay I’ve ever received, and I don’t have to wait for quarterly commissions anymore. They even paid out all my outstanding commission upfront, giving me my biggest paycheck I’ve ever received. Between that and the other gestures, I feel they’re making a long-term commitment to me. Or maybe I just have Stockholm syndrome. Cheers.

1st post: Annual review coming up, am I underpaid?

2nd post: What is the minimum increase you would take a new job for?