Founder-led sales works because the founder knows the product better than anyone. It breaks because the founder has no time. The calls happen, the demos happen, and the part before them, finding the next twenty people worth talking to, is the part that slips every week.
What happens on day one
- Describe who you sell to in plain words. Titles, industries, countries, company size. No boolean search strings.
- The first hunt runs. The rep searches your audience and turns on the buying signals that fit what you sell.
- You check the first ten people. Each one shows why they matched. Keep or reject; rejections sharpen the audience.
- The rep writes to them. Every message is written for that person and waits in your Inbox for approval.
- Replies and meetings come back to you. The rep labels each reply and drafts an answer, and people book straight into your calendar from the included booking page.
There is nothing to connect before the first message: a sending address and a booking page are included. Your own mailbox and calendar can come later.
Why start before your first sales hire
A first SDR is one of the most expensive hires an early company makes once you count salary, ramp time and the months it takes to find out whether it is working. We worked the arithmetic through in the real cost of an SDR.
There is a quieter reason too. An AI SDR teaches you your ideal customer before you hire anyone to chase it. Every lead you reject, every reply that says "not us", every meeting that lands narrows the audience. When you do hire, you hand them a tested audience and messages that have already been answered, not a guess.
Signals that suit startups
- Just raised funding and stealth fundraises, if you sell to other startups.
- New accelerator startups and Product Hunt launches, teams that buy tools quickly.
- Hiring surges, companies growing the function your product serves.
- Engaged with a competitor on LinkedIn, people already talking about your category.
- Visitors on your own website, the warmest signal there is.
All 41 are listed on the signal monitors page.
What it costs
| Plan | Monthly | Verified contacts a month | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 250 | Review mode, included sending address and booking page |
| Agent | $99 | 1,500 | One audience, 50 messages a day, autopilot or approve-before-send |
| Growth | $199 | 5,000 | Email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, three audiences, five languages, three seats |
| Scale | $499 | 25,000 | Full autopilot, five audiences, seven languages, ten seats |
Monthly, cancel any time, 20 percent off if you pay yearly. No annual contract and no sales call to start.
When it is the wrong choice
- You need fifty meetings next month. A rep that starts in review mode and learns your audience is built for steady pipeline, not a sprint.
- You have not decided who you sell to. It will help you find out, but slowly, and you will reject a lot of leads along the way.
- Your buyer is a procurement process. Enterprise deals with security reviews and buying committees are won by people, not sequences.
Related reading
Questions people ask
Is an AI SDR worth it for an early-stage startup?
It is worth it when you know roughly who you sell to and outbound keeps falling off your list. It is not a replacement for you on discovery calls, and it will not rescue an offer nobody wants. Start on the free plan and judge it on the first ten leads it finds.
Do I need a sales tech stack first?
No. Every plan includes a sending address and a booking page, so you can start without a mailbox, a data tool or a sequencer. Connect your own Gmail or Microsoft mailbox and your calendar whenever you are ready.
How is this different from Apollo or Instantly?
A data tool gives you contacts and a sequencer sends what you wrote. An AI SDR decides who to contact from your audience and live signals, writes each message for that person, and reads and drafts the replies.
Can it send without me approving?
Only when you let it. New workspaces start in review mode, and each channel moves to autopilot separately after you have approved five drafts on it.
Is there a free plan?
Yes. Free includes 250 verified contacts a month with every message waiting for approval. Agent is $99 a month for 1,500 contacts and Growth is $199 for 5,000 with email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Monthly billing, 20 percent off yearly.
Try it on your own list
Free plan, 250 verified contacts a month, and every message waits for your approval until you say otherwise. Start free →