Founder — BizDev Labs. Progressive outbound BDR agency (45+ SaaS clients 🚀)

In 2020, I quit my job with $3K in the bank and no plan. 

Two years later, I built a multi-million-dollar BDR agency and earned a spot on Forbes 30U30.

Today I am redefining the role of a BDR. I believe the BDR role is a lifelong career. And my goal is to build the most tenured BDR team on the market.

—-

Outside of work, I was an Olympic-class windsurfer. 

I lived in Israel, Canada, USA, England, Mexico, Hong Kong, Portugal and Aruba.

Roy Itzhaki

Your first BDR should get paid $200K.

And if that sentence triggers you…
you probably haven’t built outbound from scratch.

Your first BDR is not a rep.

They’re not “booking meetings.”

They are the first version of your GTM engine.

There’s a massive difference between:

• 2 → 10 (scaling a working system)
vs
• 0 → 1 (creating the system)

Most founders confuse the two.

A true first BDR hire:

• Turns founder-led sales into a repeatable motion
• Defines ICP through real conversations, not slide decks
• Tests positioning until it actually lands
• Builds sequences that don’t embarrass the brand
• Identifies triggers that convert
• Documents what works and what doesn’t
• Creates the first predictable pipeline

They’re not following a playbook.

They’re writing it.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If you underpay this seat, you don’t save money.
You delay momentum.

A weak 0→1 foundation compounds.
Bad messaging scales.
Wrong ICP scales.
Low-quality pipeline scales.

And then you wonder why 5 SDRs can’t fix what 1 strategic operator could’ve built properly.

You’re not paying $200K for activity.

You’re paying for leverage.

The right first BDR hire builds an asset.
The wrong one creates noise.

Founders who understand this scale faster.
The ones who don’t keep “trying outbound.”

#BDR #Outbound #GTM #SaaS #Sales #Startups

Roy Itzhaki 

Founder @ BizDev Labs | Forbes 30 Under 30

You don’t have a pipeline problem.
You have a “no one wants to call” problem.

In a world of automation, 
AI-written emails, 
and perfectly timed sequences…

Cold calling is becoming rare.

And rare becomes valuable.

Everyone can send 1,000 emails.
Everyone can automate LinkedIn touches.
Everyone can build a 12-step cadence.

Very few are willing to interrupt their day,
ask a direct question,
and handle a real objection live.

That’s why the phone is quietly becoming the edge again.

When something becomes uncomfortable,
most people avoid it.

When most people avoid it,
it becomes opportunity.

The less the market calls,
the more powerful your voice becomes.

If pipeline is slow,
don’t look at LinkedIn and Email.

Look at your call blocks.

#Sales #Outbound #BDR #Pipeline #GTM

Want to know the real difference between 
$120k and $500k Account Executive?

It's not just about:
• Product knowledge
• Negotiation tactics
• Closing techniques

It's what happens AFTER the meeting.

Most sales people:
• Take days to follow up
• Send generic check-ins
• Forget key details
• Hope for the best

Here's how top performers do it:

"Hey [name] - 
I hope you had a great weekend!
I was just looking over our call notes and noticed you mentioned reviewing the proposal Friday.
I know there's a lot to process.
Is there anything I can help with?"

And they send this on a Monday.
Right on schedule. 

Simple. Personal. Attentive.
Shows you're listening.
Shows you care.
Shows you're organized.

Because great follow-up isn't about:
• Fancy words
• Aggressive tactics
• Complex strategies

It's about:
• Being present
• Staying organized
• Showing you care
• Guiding the journey

P.S. Your prospects can feel when they're being prioritized. I can't tell you how many compliments we get about this 🎯

The best BDRs should stay BDRs.

Read that again.

Every company says they want consistent pipeline.

But the moment a BDR gets really good…
you promote them out of the role.

Or you lose them.

Think about the timeline.

Month 1–3:
They’re learning the product.
Learning the ICP.
Learning how to not sound robotic.

Month 4–9:
They start figuring it out.
Messaging improves.
Confidence builds.
Meetings go up.

Month 10–14:
Now they’re dangerous.
They understand objections.
They know which triggers convert.
They are able to maximize efficiency.

And that’s exactly when they leave.

AE.
Management.
Another company.

So you restart.

New hire.
New ramp.
New mistakes.
Lost momentum.

You don’t have a pipeline problem.
You have a tenure problem.

We decided to fix that.

Instead of building “future AEs,”
we built career BDRs.

• Pay them like closers
• Give them specialization tracks
• Give them strategy ownership
• Remove the “junior” label
• Treat outbound like a craft

Our average BDR tenure? 3–4 years.

---

The best BDRs shouldn’t be promoted out.
They should be leveled up inside.

#BDR #Outbound #Sales #SaaS #Pipeline

CEO: We need to hire a BDR.

ME: For what exactly?

CEO: Pipeline. We need more meetings.

ME: Do you already have an outbound motion that works?

CEO: We have sequences. Lists. A script.

ME: I’ll rephrase.

ME: Do you know who to target, why now, what to say, which channel, in what order, and how to adjust when it stops working?

CEO: …Not fully.

ME: Then you don’t need a BDR.

CEO: What do you mean?

ME: Most companies THINK they just need BDRs.

ME: But they don't.

ME: A BDRs isn't supposed to figure out the outbound motion
They're just supposed to perform inside of it.

CEO: Tell me more.

ME: That’s the gap you're missing.

ME: Discovery and execution are two different jobs.

ME: You’re asking one person to:
• Discover ICP nuance
• Test messaging
• Find triggers that convert
• Decide channel order
• Fix deliverability
• Handle objections they’ve never heard before

ME: While also being judged on meetings booked.

CEO: But we need activity now.

ME: Activity without a solved motion is just paid guessing.

ME: Especially when the BDR is junior, inexperienced,
or hasn’t done this across multiple companies.

ME: They’re learning and being evaluated at the same time.

ME: That’s not scalable.
And it’s not fair.

CEO: So what do we actually need?

ME: If outbound isn’t already solved…

ME: You don’t need a BDR.

ME: You need:
• Process before people
• Strategy before volume
• A team that’s already done this before
• Clear rules for targeting, messaging, and sequencing
• Feedback loops that compound

ME: Once that exists?

ME: A BDR becomes leverage.

ME: Before that?

ME: They’re just an experiment with a quota.

#BDR #Outbound #Sales #SaaS #GTM

P.S. If your BDR has to invent outbound before they can run it…
you hired too early.

You call BDR entry level?

Cool.

If it’s truly entry level…

Why do so few ever become elite?

Think about it.

If it’s “junior,” then why can’t most people do it well for more than 6 months?

Why do performance numbers collapse the moment pressure increases?

Why does rejection break people?

Because it’s not entry level.

It’s emotional control at scale.

You’re asking someone to:

Call executives who don’t want to talk.
Get rejected 20–50 times a day.
Stay sharp.
Stay confident.
Write messages that convert in 3 lines.
Manage multiple channels at once.
And not let yesterday’s losses affect today’s calls.

That’s not beginner work.

That’s psychological endurance.

If it were truly entry level…

You’d have thousands of elite BDRs.

You don’t.

And that tells you everything.

#BDR #Sales #Outbound #Leadership

If your best BDR leaves tomorrow:

• Pipeline drops immediately with no warning
• Ramp time goes back to zero
• ICP nuance and buyer context disappear
• Messaging quality regresses overnight
• Objections get pushed downstream to AEs
• Campaign momentum stalls or dies
• Marketing loses its most valuable feedback loop
• AEs feel the impact on day one
• Leadership shifts into reactive mode
• A new req gets opened to plug the gap
• A junior is hired to replace leverage
• Paid less to “prove themselves”
• All the learned knowledge leaves with them
• The cycle starts all over again

If your best BDR stays:

• Pipeline compounds instead of resetting
• ICP understanding sharpens over time
• Messaging improves with real market data
• Objections are handled before AEs get involved
• Campaigns launch faster with fewer mistakes
• Less management is needed to maintain output
• Knowledge compounds year after year

BDRs aren’t expensive.
Losing top performers is.

Pay top performers more.
Way more.

#BDR #Sales #GTM #Outbound

🚀 35 Software & SaaS companies hiring SDRs / BDRs in the US right now - February 2026 edition 👇

1. Snap Inc. (8,465 employees) — BDR — New York, NY
2. Slice | Global Equity (42 employees) — BDR — New York
3. Deck (80 employees) — BDR — SF Bay Area
4. Hopper (1,156 employees) — Founding SDR (Remote) — NY
5. Runware (30 employees) — Founding BDR — SF, CA
6. Storyblok (291 employees) — BDR — Boston, MA
7. PlaybookUX (36 employees) — BDR — US
8. Prospecta Software (299 employees) — BDR — US
9. Jumio Corporation (620 employees) — BDR — US
10. Syndigo (1,423 employees) — BDR — Chicago, IL
11. Yext (2,367 employees) — BDR — New York, NY
12. Rounds (12 employees) — SDR — SF Bay Area
13. Tessera Data (31 employees) — Enterprise BDR — Denver
14. Quantum Health (1,532 employees) — BDR — US
15. Inspiren (145 employees) — SDR — New York, NY
16. Adaptive Security (179 employees) — BDR — NY, NY
17. WireMock (12 employees) — BDR — US
18. Tangent (274 employees) — SDR — NYC Metro Area
19. Okta (7,056 employees) — BDR (East) — Washington, DC
20. Inworld AI (90 employees) — BDR — Mountain View, CA
21. ControlRooms.ai (17 employees) — BDR — San Jose, CA
22. Adaptive6 (48 employees) — SDR (Remote) — Seattle, WA
23. Nimble (135 employees) — BDR — New York, NY
24. Astrix Security (124 employees) — SDR — Boston, MA
25. Rilla (134 employees) — BDR — New York, NY
26. SafetyKit (18 employees) — BDR — San Francisco, CA
27. Mirakl (863 employees) — BDR — Boston, MA
28. Zartech (54 employees) — BDR (Entry Level) — Dallas
29. Telnyx (349 employees) — BDR — Denver, CO
30. Odoo (8,023 employees) — SDR — SF Bay Area
31. Dragonfly AI (51 employees) — SDR — Boston, MA
32. IXOPAY (160 employees) — BDR — US
33. CHAMP (138 employees) — BDR — US
34. Avvale (2,842 employees) — BDR — Chicago, IL
35. Timus (46 employees) — BDR — Tampa, FL

If you’re looking to break into tech sales or level up in a BDR/SDR role, this market is still very active.

Who should I add next?

#saas #salesjobs #sdr #bdr #techsales #startups

Most people think the BDR role is temporary.

A phase.
A stepping stone.
Something you “get through” before the real job starts.

That belief is exactly why lifelong BDRs have a massive edge.

Because the BDR role is built on fundamentals that never go away.

• Prospecting.
• Starting conversations.
• Handling rejection.
• Following up.
• Doing the unglamorous work, every single day.

Most people can do that for a year or two.
Then they get bored.
Or they think they’ve outgrown it.

Lifelong BDRs don’t...

They accept something early that others resist:
No matter how good you get, this work never stops.
And instead of fighting it, they lean into it.

While others move on and reset their learning curve,
they compound skill in the same role.

Every year adds:
• Better judgment
• Faster pattern recognition
• Sharper instincts
• Less wasted effort

What feels repetitive to most
becomes precision to them.

That’s the advantage.

Not because the role is bigger.
But because mastery in this role compounds longer than almost any other.

Being a lifelong BDR isn’t a lack of ambition.
It’s choosing the longest compounding edge in revenue.

P.S. Who's a lifelong BDR? I want to hear from you!

#BDR #Outbound #Sales #GTM

I caught you!! 

What are you doing reading my "about" section??

Now this can go one of two ways.

1) you can move along with your LinkedIn stalking and check out more profiles

2) you can hit the connect or DM button and make a genuine connection

Fingers crossed it's the latter. 

If you want to learn about sales, entrepreneurship and general business lessons, that's what I'm here for.

I had a sales career for 10+ years going through all the ups and downs of the corporate world. 

More downs than ups if I'm being honest. 

Now I'm a Solo Founder building a highly profitable business to support myself and my family, sharing the wins, losses and learnings along the way.

Thanks for checking out my profile and I look forward to building that genuine connection. 

Have a great day!!

Daniel Seligman

🌍 I've never shared this story publicly before…

Why does South Africa mean so much to me?

Some of you might know this already but I thought it was time I shared it with the rest of my network.

I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. 

But my family's story started somewhere very different…

A small town outside of Cape Town, South Africa called Worcester 🇿🇦

My family emigrated to Canada in the 80s. Right befor the end of the Apartheid. 

We traded braais for barbecues, sunshine for snowstorms… and let’s just say adjusting to Canadian winters without rugby or cricket on TV was a shock 😅

But in our house?

We were always rooting for the Springboks
Eating Biltong
Barbecuing Boerewors

And South African roots ran deep.

Now here’s the crazy part…

I didn’t start Talently because of this connection.

The fact that we focus on hiring incredible South African talent was honestly a total coincidence.

But it’s become something much deeper, a mission I care about on a personal level.

🇿🇦 South Africa has some of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with but unfortunately, one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.

So every job we bring back to South Africa helps change someone’s life.

Not just with a paycheck but with stability, dignity, and a shot at a brighter future.

That’s why I do this.

That’s why this work matters.

And that’s why I’m proud that Talently gets to play a small role in supporting the country that raised my family.

Let’s keep going.

$2,000/m for a full-time hire in South Africa (Sales, Marketing, Finance and Support)

One of our clients just hired a Senior Customer Success Manager.

She’s worked with international SaaS companies.
 
She has 10 years of CSM experience.
 
She’s increased NPS by 30+ points at her last role.

She also lives in Durban, South Africa.

And her previous employer? 

A San Francisco-based startup.

Here’s the punchline:

Most of the hiring managers she interviews with assume she’s based in North America.
 
That’s how well she communicates. That’s how culturally fluent she is.

The only reason she gets passed over?
 
Her location doesn’t show up in the same Slack channel time zones.

But the smart companies don’t care about that anymore.

They care about output, ownership, and outcomes.

And they’re hiring people like her through Talently, before the rest of the market catches on.

Senior Customer Success Manager = $3,000/m

📣 I have a confession to make about our brand.

When I launched Talently two years ago, my #1 priority was simple:

➡️ Get profitable, fast.

Branding, design, and website marketing? 

That was way down the list.

After getting frustrated with a few expensive agency proposals (and watching my runway disappear), I gave up and hired someone on Fiverr for $500.

No brief. No direction. Just told them:

“Make something that looks decent. You pick the colours. The logo. Everything.”

That random Fiverr-built brand?

It’s what’s helped us grow Talently into a multi-million dollar business over the last two years.

And this website 👇 has supported thousands of client interactions, closed deals, and candidate placements.

BUT…

We’re finally giving it the refresh it deserves.

Not because it’s broken.

But because we’ve grown and it’s time our brand grows with us.

Stay tuned for the next chapter 👀

If you've ever wondered about salary comparisons, I will just leave this here.

Too many hiring decisions are made off a LinkedIn profile.

We recently vetted two candidates for a Social Media Marketing role.

Candidate A:
 → Fancy degree
 → Worked at a major brand
 → Strong portfolio

Candidate B:
 → Mid-tier school
 → Freelanced for 3 years
 → Built 2 personal Instagram accounts to 100k followers

Guess who outperformed in the test project?

Candidate B blew the client away.

The takeaway:

⭐ Hire based on what someone has done, not where they’ve worked

Especially when hiring offshore, where pedigree might look different but potential is huge.

At Talently, we focus on surfacing the real doers, especially from the talent-rich but underutilized South African market.

If you're looking to make your next great marketing hire, send me a DM.

One of our clients, a bootstrapped SaaS founder, hesitated for 3 months before hiring a Virtual Assistant with Talently.

“What if it doesn’t work out?”

He was used to doing everything in-house. 

But he was underwater, 80-hour weeks, constant context switching, and no time to grow the business.

Eventually, he gave us the green light.

We placed him with a South African executive assistant who had worked with North American CEOs for over a decade.

Within 30 days, she owned scheduling, inbox, travel, docs, and ops checklists.

“I finally have my brain back,” he said.

The risk wasn’t hiring offshore.
 
The real risk was continuing to run without support.

If you’re feeling that same stretch, we can help you find leverage in the form of a real teammate, not just a virtual assistant ($2,000/m salary)

Most people think a sale is the finish line.

It’s not even close.

Steve Jobs said it best:

"If your customer buys once, you made a sale.
 If they come back, you build trust.
 If they tell others, you built a brand."

At Talently, we think about this every single day.

In the early days, we were focused on closing deals, proof of concept, getting traction, and keeping the lights on.

But fast-forward to today?

The majority of our business now comes from referrals.

Not ads.

Not cold outbound.

Referrals.

Why?

Because we’ve been laser-focused on building trust:

✅ Overdelivering on every engagement
✅ Staying human in every interaction
✅ Giving clients way more value than they expect
✅ Solving real problems 

We're not just chasing the next sale, we're building something people want to talk about.

That’s the shift.

Sales pay the bills.

Trust brings them back.

Brand brings everyone else.

If you’re stuck in the cycle of chasing new business every month, ask yourself:

🧠 Are we building trust?
🧠 Are we worth recommending?
🧠 Are we easy to talk about?

Because when people talk about you, that’s when real growth starts.

taplio

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