Sales Development Representative
Espresso AI · New York, NY
- On site
- Full-time
- $100,000 / year
- New York, NY
Job highlights
- Prospect and book demos for technical/financial decision-makers.
- Utilize cold calling, emailing, and LinkedIn for outreach.
- Attend industry events and refine sales strategy.
- Requires high energy, resilience, and strong work ethic.
- Opportunity for impact, high earnings, and fast progression.
About the role
About Espresso AI
Espresso AI mission is to use machine learning to automate performance engineering. Today, we help our customers reduce Snowflake and Databricks SQL compute costs by up to 70%, unlocking massive efficiency gains without requiring any workflow changes. More and more businesses data warehouses to manage invaluable data analytics workloads. Unfortunately, the costs of these workloads often grow exponentially over time, with no easy way for users to reduce cost — until now. Our next-generation, AI-based approach saves our users huge amounts of money. We are a well-funded, early-stage startup scaling quickly. Our most recent round was led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross.
About The Role
A Sales Development Representative at Espresso is a hands-on, high-effort position for someone who learns fast and is comfortable iterating rapidly in a metrics-based environment. You ’ll spend most of your time prospecting and booking high-quality demos with technical and financial decision-makers. Expect a lot of autonomy, a lot of learning, and a lot of travel. If you ’re extroverted, curious about technical products, and excited by the idea of building something from the ground up, this role is for you. We ’re very early, which means you have the chance to make a big impact; substantially exceed quota (and earn a lot!); and progress fast to AE.
What You ’ll Work On
- Proactively prospecting new accounts through cold calling, cold emailing, LinkedIn, and other creative outbound approaches
- Booking qualified demos with data leaders, engineering managers, and finance stakeholders
- Attending industry field events, conferences, and meetups
- Working closely with founders and the sales team to refine messaging, positioning, and outbound strategy
- Keeping CRM data clean and up to date, and tracking outreach and performance metrics
What You Bring
- High energy, resilience, and a strong work ethic
- An extroverted, confident communication style
- Interest in technical products and the ability to learn and explain complex ideas clearly
- Willingness and flexibility to travel regularly for events and on-site meetings
- Strong organizational skills and self-direction — you don’t need constant supervision
- Clear, confident communicator across both written and spoken channels
Nice to Haves
- Previous experience in a tech start-up
- Previous experience in an SDR or outbound sales role
- Previous experience meeting a quota
- Interest in cloud computing, data warehousing industry, FinOps, or developer-focused products
- Familiarity with CRM tools (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce) and sales engagement platforms
What We Offer
- Competitive compensation: $100k OTE with 70/30 split
- Employee-friendly equity terms (early exercise)
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401k with 4% match
- Daily catered meals
- Gym membership
Key skills/competency
- Sales Development Representative
- Prospecting
- Cold Calling
- Cold Emailing
- Lead Generation
- CRM
- Sales Engagement
- Outbound Sales
- Technical Products
- Cloud Computing
Skills & topics
- Sales Development Representative
- SDR
- Outbound Sales
- Lead Generation
- Cold Calling
- Cold Emailing
- Sales Prospecting
- Tech Sales
- SaaS Sales
- Startup Sales
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight SDR experience, quota attainment, and tech sales skills.
- Craft a compelling cover letter: Express enthusiasm for Espresso AI and their mission.
- Prepare for interviews: Practice cold outreach scenarios and demonstrate product curiosity.
- Showcase your drive: Emphasize resilience, high energy, and a results-oriented mindset.
- Research the company: Understand their AI approach to performance engineering and data warehousing.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the target compensation for a Sales Development Representative at Espresso AI?
- The target compensation for the Sales Development Representative role at Espresso AI is $100,000 On-Target Earnings (OTE), structured with a 70/30 split. This offers a strong earning potential for high performers.
- What kind of travel is expected for the Sales Development Representative role at Espresso AI?
- The Sales Development Representative role involves regular travel for industry field events, conferences, and meetups. This is a key part of the role, allowing for networking and proactive prospecting.
- What specific technical products or industries is Espresso AI focused on?
- Espresso AI focuses on automating performance engineering using machine learning to reduce SQL compute costs for data warehouses like Snowflake and Databricks. Interests in cloud computing, data warehousing, FinOps, or developer-focused products are beneficial.
- What are the primary responsibilities of a Sales Development Representative at Espresso AI?
- The primary responsibilities include proactively prospecting new accounts, booking qualified demos with decision-makers, attending industry events, and collaborating with the sales team to refine strategy. Maintaining clean CRM data is also crucial.
- What does 'early exercise' mean in the context of equity at Espresso AI?
- Employee-friendly equity terms with early exercise mean that you may have the opportunity to exercise your stock options before they fully vest, providing greater flexibility and potential benefits.
- How does Espresso AI leverage machine learning in its performance engineering automation?
- Espresso AI uses machine learning to optimize data warehouse workloads, specifically targeting SQL compute costs on platforms like Snowflake and Databricks. This AI-driven approach aims to achieve significant cost reductions for users.
- What is the career progression for a Sales Development Representative at Espresso AI?
- Given that Espresso AI is an early-stage startup, there's a strong opportunity for rapid career progression. Sales Development Representatives have the potential to advance quickly to an Account Executive (AE) role.