Just Start

Welcome back to First Meeting Set, the official newsletter of the TopSDRs network. If you’re receiving this, it probably means that you have spoken with either me (Andrew Wilkins) or my brother (Chris Wilkins) at some point over the last year about sales, startups, abandoning traditional career paths etc.

As a quick refresher, Chris and I are brothers, ex-Ivy League Athletes (Harvard/Cornell rowing), and now run TopSDRs, which places exceptional early career talent into the best startups in NYC.

Over the past year and a half, we have helped build out the early GTM teams at companies like Profound, Avoca, Warp, Outtake, Runlayer, Unify, Tabs, Console and many others.

During this same period, I have also tried (unsuccessfully) to write this note consistently multiple times.

It always starts with good intentions, but then inevitably something gets in the way.

Sometimes I get busy and straight up forget, but more often than not, it’s my own mind that gets in the way. AND that is what I want to focus on today.

You see, back in the day when I was an SDR my superpower was that I didn’t care.

That’s not to say I was reckless (I wasn’t) BUT I didn’t let made-up scenarios in my head slow me down. Whether it was cold calling a CRO or posting an Office-inspired meme on LinkedIn, I was fearless, and it resulted in crushing quota. When I quit my job to found this business, I carried that same mentality with me. I’d put myself out there at events, ask people for intro’s, send cold emails, I was willing to do whatever it took.

But something has happened as TopSDRs has grown. My SDR muscles have started to atrophy. I don’t do as much cold outreach. We now have a “brand” (more than we used to, at least), which I’m constantly thinking about. We have a great customer base and a network of investors whose opinions matter to me. In short, my SDR superpower has faded.

For instance, consider what has happened every time I have attempted to write this note:

I have a general idea pop into my head, I start writing, I get a few paragraphs down on the paper, but then the initial excitement wears off. I keep going, but now my brain starts filling with questions and concerns: “is this good enough?” “this topic is GOOD but what if there is a BETTER one?”, “is this the audience that I actually want to be targeting?”, “I’m going to a dinner next week, maybe I'll table this until then because I’ll have better content after that?”, “Beehiiv seems good, but what if Medium or Substack is better?”

All of these thoughts flood through my mind, which eventually leads to me closing the tab and deciding I’ll pick it back up another day. The craziest part of all of this is that in my head I KNOW that the only way to make things happen is to put myself out there. I’ve seen it a million times. And yet, I still let made-up worries prevent me from pressing send.

THIS is why I think being an SDR is something everyone should do.

It forces you to shed the made-up excuses, the ego, the fear, and lets you see the power of putting yourself out there.

It helps you build thick skin so even when you get rejected (which WILL happen), you keep pushing.

But, take it from me, just doing it once isn’t enough. Like going to the gym, the SDR-mindset is a muscle.

It can be strengthened, but it can also disappear. So next time you feel your mind coming up with reasons NOT to do something, ask yourself, “What would an SDR do?”

Thanks for reading, and see you next week.

P.S. Some awesome shots from recent placements/events in our network: