Startup Sales Executive

1What you'd actually do

• Building lists of potential customers ('prospecting') - working out which companies fit the product, finding the right person there, and getting their contact details using tools like LinkedIn and sales databases.
• Sending large volumes of cold emails and LinkedIn messages, and making cold calls, to book introductory meetings. This is the least glamorous part and often the biggest chunk of a junior's week.
• Running demos or discovery calls over video - showing the product, asking questions to work out whether the prospect actually has the problem you solve, and who signs off on spending.
• Logging everything in a CRM (customer relationship management system - software that tracks every contact, deal and stage), and keeping your pipeline forecast honest for the weekly sales meeting.
• Chasing deals that have gone quiet, sending follow-ups, sorting out pricing questions, and pushing contracts through procurement, legal or security reviews at the buyer's end.
• Feeding back to the product and marketing teams - in a startup, the sales team is often the main source of information about why people are or aren't buying.
• Rewriting your own email templates, call scripts and objection responses, because in an early-stage company nobody has already perfected them.

2How graduates get in

• Direct application to an SDR or BDR role (Sales Development Representative / Business Development Representative - the entry-level job focused on generating meetings rather than closing deals). This is by far the most common way in, and startups hire for these roles year-round rather than in an annual graduate cycle.
• Applying to a startup's small graduate or 'commercial' scheme. Some scale-ups run structured intakes, but they are much less formal than a bank or law firm scheme and often just a handful of hires.
• Sales academies and training programmes run by specialist recruiters and training providers, which place graduates into tech sales roles after a few weeks' training. These are common and can work well, but check whether there's any repayment clawback attached before signing.
• Converting from an internship or placement year at a startup, or from a student ambassador/campus role - startups take internal recommendations seriously because hiring is expensive for them.
• Sideways moves from adjacent jobs - recruitment consultancy, estate agency, hospitality, telesales or retail management. Startups regularly hire people with no degree-relevant background if they can show they've sold something and handled rejection.
• Founding or running something small yourself (a society, an event business, a market stall, a freelance service) and using that as evidence. Unusual as a formal route, but genuinely persuasive at small companies.

3What employers ask for

• Degree subject almost never matters. Business, economics and marketing degrees are common but so are humanities, sciences and arts. Some deep-tech, life-sciences or fintech startups do prefer relevant subject knowledge because you need to hold a technical conversation.
• Many startups don't set a grade requirement at all, and some don't require a degree. Where a 2:1 is asked for it's usually a soft filter rather than a hard one. This varies a lot by company.
• Evidence you can handle rejection and repetition - most commonly shown through part-time sales, fundraising, hospitality, promotions work, or a competitive sport or performance background.
• Some demonstrated interest in the sector the startup sells into, or in technology generally. You'll be asked why this product and this market, and a generic 'I like fast-paced environments' answer is a common way to be rejected.
• No professional exams or licences are needed for most startup sales roles. The exception is financial services, where selling certain regulated products brings FCA rules and required qualifications into play - if that applies, the employer will tell you.
• Expect a practical assessment: a mock cold call, a written outreach email, or a role-played demo. Many startups care far more about this than your CV.

4Skills that matter

5Where it leads

1. Start as an SDR/BDR generating meetings for more senior colleagues. How long you stay here varies widely - at some fast-growing companies it's under a year, at others considerably longer, and at very small startups the role may not exist separately at all.

2. Move to Account Executive, where you own deals end to end and carry a revenue target. This is the point where earnings step up significantly because commission becomes a larger share of pay.

3. From there, either specialise in bigger and more complex deals (Enterprise Account Executive), or move into keeping and growing existing customers (Account Management or Customer Success).

4. Management or leadership: Team Lead, Sales Manager, Head of Sales, and eventually roles like VP Sales or Chief Revenue Officer. Titles inflate quickly in small companies, so a 'Head of' title at a ten-person startup is not equivalent to one at a large firm.

5. Common sideways exits include revenue operations (the data and systems side of sales), partnerships, product marketing, customer success, venture capital business development, or leaving to found your own company. Timelines vary enormously - progression in startups depends heavily on whether the company is growing, and people at stalled companies often move employer to move up.

6Where this varies

'Startup' covers a huge range. At a very early company of a handful of people, you may be the first salesperson, working directly with the founder with no training, no script and no established customers - high autonomy, high uncertainty. At a well-funded scale-up with hundreds of staff, the role is far more structured: defined territories, formal onboarding, a sales methodology to follow and a clear promotion ladder. The product matters too - selling a low-cost tool to small businesses means high volume and fast decisions, while selling expensive software to large organisations means fewer, longer deals involving procurement and legal review. Sector shapes the job as well: fintech and healthtech sales involve regulation and long security checks, while consumer-facing startups may lean more on marketing than direct selling. Geographically, the largest concentration of these roles is in London, with meaningful clusters in Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Leeds, and a growing number of fully remote roles.