Sales Development Representative

also referred to as: sdr · sdrs

8 statements across 6 episodes · 2 bullish · 5 bearish · 5 people on the record · first statement Dec 4, 2022 by Sahil Mansuri · across every show →

Everything said about Sales Development Representative, oldest first

Dec 4, 2022 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mansuri: Cold emails and SDRs cannot sustain companies over the next year
“I don't think just relying on a bunch of STRs and cold emails and stuff is gonna get you through the next six to 12 months.”
Sahil Mansuri Dec 4, 2022 ▶ 58:06 How to hit revenue targets in a recession | Sahil Mansuri (Bravado)
Dec 15, 2022 negative
Insight
Remote work severely harms junior sales rep coaching at early startups
“Having asynchronous distance is really problematic for that, especially for junior folks, like SDRs, junior AEs, all of that, it really is problematic. Once that sales motion is baked and can be like distributed, okay, that's potentially a different situation,…”
Pete Kazanjy Dec 15, 2022 ▶ 52:49 Founder-led sales | Pete Kazanjy (Founding Sales, Atrium)
Feb 18, 2024 positive
Insight
Lemkin: Sales orgs should scale strictly by the Rule of Eight
“Eight SDRs, outbound reps need one manager, eight AEs, eight sales execs need a director above them. And then when you really scale, you know, eight directors, you're not really ever gonna have eight directors, but eight directors could have a VP or eight repo…”
Jason Lemkin Feb 18, 2024 ▶ 1:00:44 Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)
Feb 18, 2024 negative
Insight
Lemkin: Very few founders have the stamina to manage an SDR team
“Most founders have enough stamina to manage a couple of these AEs, these accounting executives, these folks who work the leads. Most founders do not have the stamina to manage 10 kids fresh out of college that need to be micromanaged on an hourly basis to call…”
Jason Lemkin Feb 18, 2024 ▶ 1:08:05 Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)
Aug 21, 2025 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
McCabe: Sales teams will shrink as AI automates repetitive SDR tasks
“There is a lot of repetitive stuff in sales. And so you'll, you'll do more sales with less people. And there are SDR roles, qualifying, you know, basic questions. You're not going to need as many people in sales organizations.”
Eoghan McCabe Aug 21, 2025 ▶ 48:17 How Intercom rose from the ashes by betting everything on AI | Eoghan McCabe (founder and CEO)
Nov 30, 2025 positive
Opinion
Grosser: Average SDRs Are Capable of Starting Directly in Closing Roles
“But I think the average SDR Could have gone straight into outbound or straight into an S&P closing role. And so basically what we're just doing is shifting folks into something that uses more of their full capacity right out of the gates, rather than sort of t…”
Jeanne DeWitt Grosser Nov 30, 2025 ▶ 23:26 What world-class GTM looks like in 2026 | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (Vercel, Stripe, Google)
Nov 30, 2025 neutral
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Grosser: Deep Enterprise Prospecting Will Be Last SDR Area AI Replaces
“I think on prospecting, It can replace a fair amount because the average SDR wasn't doing overly sophisticated research in the first place. So where I think the last part to go, as I mentioned, will be in deep enterprise prospecting where, you know, you can be…”
Jeanne DeWitt Grosser Nov 30, 2025 ▶ 22:33 What world-class GTM looks like in 2026 | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (Vercel, Stripe, Google)
Jan 1, 2026 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lemkin: AI will displace 90% of email-based SDRs next year
“The email based cadence SDR will be 90% displaced by AI next year.”
Jason Lemkin Jan 1, 2026 ▶ 19:50 We replaced our sales team with 20 AI agents—here’s what happened next | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)
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