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

FranConnect

FranConnect is the leading enterprise software provider for franchise and multi-location businesses. For over 20 years, the FranConnect platform has served as the sales, operations, and marketing backbone for over 1500 brands and over 1.3 million locations worldwide. These brands rely on FranConnect to expand locations, streamline unit operations, enhance collaboration across the network of locations, and improve profitability. FranConnect offers a cloud-native SaaS Platform that provides a single, shared view of growth and operational performance across the brand that serves as a system of record for locations and agreements.

Manager of Sales Development

💰High Level Sales Development 💵

High Level Sales Development 
(Available for all of your Sales Development needs)

Cold Call Scripts
Email Sequences 
Social Selling Framework
Sales Development Strategy 
GTM Strategy 
Sales Development Interview Prep
Fractional VP of Sales Development Services 
Performance Coaching
Recruiting 

https://topmate.io/darryl_bassett_msmba

Founder

It's Destiny Recruiting

During a time when stable jobs providing growth, high salaries, good benefits, and genuine leadership were few and far between, It's Destiny Recruiting was founded to help curious, emotionally intelligent, and motivated individuals find their next sales position. You are enough.

Creating happy partnerships between top performing sellers and trusted employer clients is our passion. We specialize in placing Sales Development Reps, Marketing Development Reps, Account Executives, Account Managers, Customer Success Managers and Sales Leaders in both mid-market and enterprise markets.

Honing on Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) recruiting as our niche, we choose to work solely with sales leadership who offer an inclusive culture. We aim to ignite the light in those with diversity of thought including talented women, people of color, and those of diverse gender identities and backgrounds.

From entry level SDRs who don’t understand what work they need to do to access these rooms, to experienced reps dedicated to winning a spot at your table, our goal is simply to find the best possible fit for both candidate and client.

Strategic Advisor

Hilton

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Christopher J. Nassetta. Hilton is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, United States.

Sales Manager

Monograph

Monograph is more than just a project management tool for architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering firms. It's a practice operations platform.

WIth Monograph, you can visualize and forecast the value of your time across phases, project budgets, team members, and clients in real-time.

Generate insights from the time you invest in projects.

Enable your teams to lead with a solution that enables them to make decisions from time every week. 

With Monograph, you can make stronger decisions and drive stronger profits.

Manager, North America Sales Development

Level Access

Level Access is ISO 27001 Certified, FedRAMP Authorized, and the accessibility industry's largest and most long-standing organization 100% focused on digital accessibility.

Founded in 1997 by engineers with disabilities, Level Access focuses solely on inclusion and digital accessibility. Level Access supports accessibility initiatives for organizations of all sizes -- including Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies, and small to mid-sized companies. Level Access features the largest team of accessibility experts, many with disabilities themselves, for an unparalleled, real-world perspective on usability issues. Our industry-leading software, consulting, and training provide the comprehensive view needed to extend inclusive best practices organization wide to ensure long-term accessibility and compliance.

Pattern89

Director of Sales Development

Pattern89 is predictive marketing AI for Facebook, Instagram and Google ads. (other platforms in beta) 
It's the first artificial intelligence for marketers and ad agencies who want to know what will make their social ads work, before they spend a dollar.

Enterprise Account Executive

ITECK Solutions

ITeck Solutions strives to provide every benefit and resource of a full IT department to small and medium businesses.

Integrity
Technology
Ethics
Customer Service
Knowledge

The solution, your solution. Spend time with us and you will see the difference.

Our Focus
ITeck Solutions LLC is committed to efficiently and effectively serving businesses not matter what their size or industry. 

We help businesses resolve issues and effectively manage their IT infrastructure to get the most from their investment.

ITeck provides our small business clients with the leverage and experience previously available only to mid-sized and large-sized companies to secure the best professional resources and product prices.

We protect our client’s technology investments by providing on-going support for the solutions we implement.

Our focus is on business—not just technical—solutions.

ITeck does not resell products and, therefore, provides objective technology consultation.

We commit the total resources of our company to the success of this service. Our goal is to support the growth of your company through our services for years to come.

Director of Sales & Marketing

HireStrategy

HireStrategy is a full-service professional staffing firm providing contract, direct hire and executive search solutions for employers in the Washington DC area. Our diverse client base represents a wide range of industries, including technology and media, financial services, professional services, energy & green technology, federal services, education and non-profit organizations.

Our recruiters specialize in providing candidates with personalized career management advice and placement services in the Technology, Finance Accounting, Sales & Marketing, Recruiting & HR and Administrative fields. HireStrategy has been ranked the No. 1 staffing firm in the Washington DC area, honored by Inc. magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing firms in the country and named a “Future 50″ firm by Washington SmartCEO magazine. We’ve also been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” by the Washington Business Journal, as well as a “Best Place to Work” by Washingtonian magazine.

Our executives are recognized thought leaders in their fields, regularly contributing their insights on economic, employment and workplace issues to the Washington Post, USA Today, the Washington Business Journal, the Wall Street Journal and major broadcast and cable television networks, including NBC, CNN and PBS.

Technical Recruiter

Junior Recruiter

Fivestars

FiveStars is the rewards program for small businesses that’s proven to bring customers back more often. Through unique rewards and personalized service, FiveStars helps everybody be a VIP. Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, our mission is to help businesses and communities thrive by turning every transaction into a relationship. In 2015, FiveStars drove 35 million in-store visits across over 10,000 local businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Over 10 million consumers use FiveStars to have exceptional experiences with local businesses. To-date FiveStars has raised $105 million from top-tier investors including HarbourVest, Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed, DCM, and Y-Combinator.

Conduct face-to-face meetings introducing
customer loyalty to business owners 
Find new businesses through discovery process and leveraging networks
Educate business owners on FiveStars loyalty platform

Hotel Sales Manager 🏨 (Washington DC) Learning & Leading 1 Day at a Time

The Sales Game is my favorite game: (if you put in the work your world can literally change overnight)

I started out my professional career as a personal trainer who didn't know how to sell.

Once I learned the basics, I realized quickly that sales is the best profession in the world.

I've taught at the Collegiate level and thought about pursing a doctorate at one point.

After Teaching  K-12 Computer Science and Tech, I made the transition to tech sales.

I've experienced success as an individual contributor and as a leader. 

I've also experienced my share of failures.

Dealing with adversity is apart of the game, so I choose to stay very optimistic at all times.

My mantra is 1% Better Each Day 366/25/8 (if you believe then you can achieve)

Always Keep Learning 

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Roy Itzhaki

Darryl Bassett MS/MBA

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Darryl Bassett MS/MBA

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