How to get a sales, BD or partnerships job at an Indian startup

Sales is the startup category where the title tells you the least. "Business Development" at a B2B SaaS company and at a consumer fintech are different careers.

Map the role to the motion

• SDR / BDR (outbound prospecting, booking meetings) — entry point into SaaS sales; Nanonets and similar companies hire these for India and international markets.
• Account Executive (closing) — mid-market or enterprise; judged on quota. Ask what percentage of the team hit quota last year.
• Partnerships / BD (channel, ecosystem, integrations) — at fintechs like CRED this means merchant, bank or brand partnerships; longer cycles, relationship-led.
• Customer Success / Account Management — retention and expansion; increasingly a revenue role with its own targets.
• Solutions / Pre-sales — technical selling; a good route for engineers who like people.

What the interview tests

A mock discovery call or pitch of the company's own product, a discussion of your pipeline and numbers, and a founder round. Bring a clean story: territory, quota, attainment, deal sizes, sales cycle. Know the company's product well enough to sell it in round one — startups notice.

OTE, not CTC

Sales offers are expressed as on-target earnings: fixed plus variable at 100% of quota. Ask for the split, the accelerator above quota, how variable is paid (monthly or quarterly, on booking or on cash), and what the ramp period is. A high OTE with a low fixed and an unrealistic quota is a low salary.

Roles right now

Sales and partnerships roles are listed beside this article; city pages filter by "Sales".