Sales & Customer Success Startup (1-50 employees)

Business Development Representative at Startup

OCEAN+ profile for BDRs: intensive outbound prospecting, qualified lead generation, and high-volume conversation opening.

In LATAM startups, the Sales Manager is often also the first AE

The ability to sell without an operating marketing function is a key differentiator

High emotional stability is critical: rejection is constant and without structured coaching

Generic profile SMB (51-200 employees) Enterprise (201-1000 employees) Global (1001+ employees)

Ideal OCEAN+ Profile

Ideal range

Openness

65 85

At startups (1-50 employees), openness to trying new channels and sales strategies

Conscientiousness

57 74

At startups (1-50 employees), discipline in pipeline management and follow-up

Extraversion

90 100

At startups (1-50 employees), the energy to build relationships and close deals

Agreeableness

34 54

At startups (1-50 employees), the balance between assertive persuasion and active listening

Emotional Stability

80 97

At startups (1-50 employees), resilience in the face of constant rejection and long sales cycles

Structure & Rhythm

40 60

At startups (1-50 employees), building long-term relationships with clients

Strengths and Red Flags

Strengths

Discipline in high-volume outreach cadences
Creativity to personalize messages and sequences
Closing deals without a recognized brand, selling vision and potential rather than a finished product
Building the sales process from scratch: ICP, pitch, playbook, and initial metrics

Red Flags

Vanity metrics: lots of activity, few qualified meetings
Copy-pasting templates without real personalization
Depends on a recognized brand and polished marketing materials to sell
Needs hierarchical approval for every discount or contract exception

Interview Questions

Describe your best outbound sequence that generated qualified meetings. Which channels did you use, how many steps did it have, and what was the conversion rate?

Evaluates: Conscientiousness and Openness

Tell me about a prospect who took 4 months to respond. How did you stay in touch without becoming spam? Did you improvise each touch or follow a fixed cadence?

Evaluates: Emotional Stability and Structure & Rhythm

Tell me about a deal you closed without a 100% finished product.

Evaluates: Tolerance for ambiguity and ability to sell vision

How did you build a sales process from scratch?

Evaluates: Ability to structure without prior resources