An SDR or BDR seat at a B2B software company is the standard front door, and it is genuinely open to people with no sales background because companies hire for coachability and work rate. In India you have a real advantage: a large set of companies selling to the US and Europe from Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Delhi, so you can get global-market reps without leaving. Apply with evidence rather than intent, send the hiring manager three prospect accounts you researched and the emails you would write. The first year is unglamorous volume work, and it is also the fastest way to learn what makes a buyer respond.
4 resources, 1 India-specific, 4 link-checked.
The longest-running benchmark on SDR quota, ramp, ratios, comp and time to promotion, drawn from hundreds of B2B companies. Treat the absolute numbers as US-weighted and the ratios as transferable when you plan an India-based team.
From The Bridge Group Benchmark report
Open blog.bridgegroupinc.com →The whole 400 page book is readable free chapter by chapter, written specifically for founders and first-time sellers rather than career sales people. Chapters 4 to 8 (prospecting, outreach, pitching, closing) are the ones to read first.
From foundingsales.com by Pete Kazanjy full book, free online
Open foundingsales.com →The single most practical starting point for a founder who has never sold: do things that do not scale, and do the selling yourself. Alstromer ran growth at Airbnb, so the advice is specific rather than motivational.
On Y Combinator Startup School by Gustaf Alstromer ~30 min
Girish Mathrubootham built a Nasdaq-listed company from Chennai, and the lesson about betting on people rather than pedigree is the one that shapes how Indian GTM teams get hired. Encouraging for anyone breaking in without the right logos on their CV.
From The Works (Freshworks) by Vishnu Prasad ~10 min read
How gtm roles and career paths reads from a different seat.
