How BuildPass Hired a School Teacher & Event Manager as Their First SDRs
Our journey helping an early-stage Aussie startup hire two junior sales reps who hit 130% of target and were running demos within two months
Holy sh*t! It’s now been 12 months since we launched Earlywork Academy.
In our first year, we’ve been lucky enough to work with 30+ tech companies on hiring and training junior sales talent, from early-stage startups hiring their first Sales Development Representative (SDR) to international tech companies building their Aussie office.
But when we reflect on the journey so far, one of our most special partnerships has been with fellow Aussie startup BuildPass, one of our earliest believers.
Here’s the story of how they hired their first two SDRs through Earlywork Academy:
The Background
Transitioning from founder-led sales to hire a hungry, junior sales team
BuildPass is an early-stage Aussie startup building a construction management platform to help builders run safe and efficient construction sites. Based in Melbourne, BuildPass was co-founded by Matt Perrott and Aaron Vanston who first met working at realestate.com.au.
When we first met the team, Matt was still managing the sales process by himself as a founder. Recognising the financial constraints of an early-stage venture, he took the perspective that they couldn’t put all their eggs into one basket by hiring an expensive senior sales hire.
Instead, he thought tapping into hungry, entry-level talent was more cost-efficient and gave them people who would grow with the business.
That came from a fundamental belief that hiring individuals based on attitude and cultural fit was more important than experience, given how quickly the sales motion changes in a startup.
The Problem
Finding their first two SDRs, who need to be comfortable with high ownership & ambiguity
Despite initial success with customers, BuildPass hadn’t yet built out a proven, repeatable end-to-end sales model.
As such, there was only so much they could teach potential hires vs. finding people who could figure out the gaps themselves.
In trying job listings & referrals, Matt wasn’t seeing talent that would be comfortable with high ownership & ambiguity. Someone having sales experience didn’t necessarily mean they’d be the right fit for an early-stage environment, especially one selling to builders.
Having led sales himself without a formal background in sales, Matt knew there were people with the raw skills to succeed who weren’t even applying to startup sales roles in the first place.
The Solution
Turning to Earlywork Academy
Matt had been an early member of the Earlywork community, and was drawn to both the strong early-career audience & upfront quality filtering done through the Academy.
As he put it:
“We were very impressed with the community that Earlywork had built and the access to a pool of young, hungry talent from non-traditional backgrounds. Earlywork has done the difficult vetting process already through the strength of their brand”.
Meeting candidates who had already been vetted for ambition, resilience & interpersonal skills, plus had been trained in SDR fundamentals, made a huge difference to the quality and speed of interviews Matt had.
Matt noted:
We know that the Earlywork candidates are top quality before they start the program, and that they have a good base skillset as a result. The quality of candidates has been much higher than those applying online.
What was particularly special was BuildPass got a real test of candidate sales skills before even interviewing them.
As part of the Academy, all fellows participate in a live cold-calling full-day apprenticeship, putting their prospecting & cold-call training into action with a real startup.
Since the academy’s inception, every fellow has had the opportunity to do real sales calls for BuildPass as a part of their learning experience.
Seeing Earlywork fellows successfully book meetings despite being so new to sales, the apprenticeship has fundamentally changed how BuildPass approach the way they onboard new reps and convey their value proposition on cold calls.
The Impact
Hired two SDRs much faster than industry averages, with fewer interviews needed
In their first year as a partner, BuildPass hired two SDRs through Earlywork from backgrounds many startups would normally write off before interviewing.
The first, Mia Muriti, joined BuildPass in July 2023 with a background in Event Management and Real Estate.
The second, Sam Wardle-Reid, joined BuildPass in December 2023, with a background as a Primary School Teacher and Zookeeper.
For the average SDR role, it takes interviews with 21 candidates and 46 days to make a hire.
BuildPass only needed to interview 2.5 Earlywork fellows per hire and it took an average of just 5 days to fill each role!
Both SDRs have ramped quickly and outperformed targets
Mia progressed very quickly through her ramp period, smashing demo quotas and hitting 130% of ambitious targets in her first 3 months. 6 months later, she’s now running end-to-end enterprise deals across Australia.
For Sam, less than 2 months in, he’s outperforming targets for demos booked and has already progressed to running demos for smaller deals.
Co-founder Matt noted of both reps:
Their rapid progression exceeded all expectations and both are already on the pathway to becoming full-fledged account executives. They’re not afraid to jump into the unknown, always show proactivity and are comfortable with changing processes.”
By focusing on attitude & culture fit over experience, and partnering with Earlywork to meet vetted, pre-trained talent, BuildPass has transitioned from founder-led sales to a team of reps that have laid the foundations for repeatable growth.
If you’re a startup looking to hire sales reps who are comfortable navigating the unknown, come find the next Mia & Sam with us.
And on the off-chance you happen to know any zookeepers, school teachers, or event planners looking for a new career, shoot this one their way 😉
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Ciao for now,
Team Earlywork (Dan, Jono, Marina, Ryan, Ben, Maddy & Emy)