Founding Business Development Representative (BDR)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Work Arrangement: 100% On-Site (5 Days per Week)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Compensation: $70,000 - $91,000 Base Salary + Uncapped Commission
Equity: Founding Equity Included
Start Time: Approximately 7:30 AM PT (to engage East Coast prospects)
About the Opportunity
Our client is a well-funded, high-growth AI startup based in San Francisco that is redefining how businesses interact with prospects and customers through autonomous AI employees. Backed by $6M in seed funding, the company has rapidly achieved product-market traction and is seeking a highly motivated, ambitious, and competitive Founding Business Development Representative (BDR) to become the first dedicated outbound sales hire.
This is a rare opportunity to work directly with the Founder/CEO and Founding GTM leadership team to build the outbound engine from the ground up. The successful candidate will have a significant voice in shaping messaging, outbound strategy, and sales processes while accelerating their career within a fast-growing AI company.
Position Summary
As the Founding BDR, you will own outbound pipeline generation, execute high-volume cold calling campaigns, and create qualified meetings with senior decision-makers across the B2B software landscape. You will leverage modern sales technology, AI-powered prospecting tools, and power dialers to consistently create opportunities for the sales team while helping establish and refine the company's outbound playbook.
Key Responsibilities
Outbound Pipeline Generation
- Conduct high-volume outbound prospecting activities through cold calls, email sequences, and multi-channel outreach.
- Engage executives, revenue leaders, and key decision-makers at B2B software companies.
- Generate a consistent flow of qualified opportunities and meetings.
- Maintain detailed prospect activity and pipeline records within CRM systems.
Cold Calling & Power Dialing
- Execute daily outbound calling campaigns using platforms such as Nooks and Orum.
- Develop expertise in objection handling and discovery conversations.
- Maintain high activity levels while delivering personalized prospect interactions.
- Consistently exceed monthly meeting generation targets.
Founder-Led Sales Collaboration
- Work directly alongside executive leadership to build and refine outbound strategies.
- Provide market intelligence and prospect feedback to improve messaging.
- Test new talk tracks, value propositions, and sales approaches.
- Contribute to the development of repeatable outbound processes and best practices.
AI-Powered Prospecting
- Utilize AI and sales engagement tools to identify target accounts and decision-makers.
- Conduct account research using Clay, Full Enrich, Claude, ChatGPT, and related technologies.
- Build prospect lists and execute data-driven outreach campaigns.
- Improve efficiency through automation and innovative prospecting techniques.
Market Engagement
- Represent the company at local startup, technology, and GTM networking events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Build relationships within startup and technology communities.
- Generate pipeline opportunities through both virtual and in-person networking activities.
Required Qualifications/Requirements
Experience
- 6 months to 2 years of outbound SDR or BDR experience.
- Experience in B2B SaaS, technology, startup, or high-growth sales environments.
- Demonstrated success generating qualified meetings through outbound prospecting.
Sales Skills
- Comfortable making high-volume outbound calls daily.
- Strong communication, persuasion, and objection-handling abilities.
- Resilient, competitive, and highly coachable mindset.
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment.
Technology Proficiency
- Familiarity with CRM systems and sales engagement platforms.
- Experience using modern prospecting tools and outbound technologies.
- Comfort leveraging AI tools to improve productivity and account research.
Work Requirements
- Ability to work on-site in San Francisco five days per week.
- Availability to begin prospecting activities around 7:30 AM PT.
- Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience as a Founding BDR or early-stage startup employee.
- Experience with:
- Nooks
- Orum
- Clay
- Full Enrich
- Apollo.io
- Salesloft
- Outreach
- ZoomInfo
- Gong
- Consistent achievement of 12+ attended meetings per month.
- Experience selling into B2B software organizations.
- Active involvement in startup, GTM, or founder communities.
Pay Transparency Compensation varies based on location, experience, and performance. Some sites require disclosure of pay and benefits. This role may also be eligible for bonuses or incentives depending on business needs. Employees may receive health insurance, optional dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, paid holidays, and PTO or sick time.The estimated hourly rate for this position is $70k-91K