Hiring your first SDR: a step-by-step process for founders
By The Callevo Team
The first sales hire is a founder's highest-variance bet. Get it right and you've built a repeatable revenue engine; get it wrong and you lose months, cash, and your own confidence that "sales works" for your product. And most founders are hiring for a skill they've never formally done themselves.
Here's a process that doesn't require you to be a sales expert.
1. Define the actual job first
An SDR (books meetings) is a different hire than an AE (closes deals). For a first hire, most early-stage companies need someone who can prospect and have a credible first conversation. Write down the three things this person must do in week one — that's your scorecard.
2. Source for hunger over pedigree
At the first-hire stage, a big-logo résumé matters less than drive, coachability, and clear thinking. You want someone who will help you figure out the motion, not someone who needs a mature playbook handed to them.
3. Screen on a real conversation, early
This is where founders overweight the interview and get burned. Before you spend hours interviewing, see the candidate handle a live, objection-heavy call. It's the single most predictive step and it filters your funnel fast — you interview the ones who can actually talk to a buyer, not the ones who interview well.
4. Interview for fit, not ability
Once you know they can sell, the interview is for the questions only you can answer: Do I want to build alongside this person? Will they thrive with zero structure? Are they honest about what they don't know?
5. Set a 30/60/90 before they start
Define what "working" looks like at each mark — activity in month one, pipeline in month two, results in month three. A clear ramp protects both of you and turns "is this working?" from a gut feeling into a checkpoint.
Your first rep sets the standard for everyone you hire after them. Screen this one like it's the most important hire you'll make — because it might be.
Not sure how to run step 3 without a sales background? A standardized AI assessment gives every candidate the same live call and hands you an objective read — see a sample report.