SDR Series: Meet our EMEA team

In this SDR series, we get to know an SDR and an SDR manager in each of our three core regions: EMEA, North America, and APJ. In EMEA, we have SDR teams based in London and Tel Aviv. In this blog post, Jonathan Chetrit and Paula Kanikuru share what it’s like to be a part of our SDR team in EMEA!

Jonathan Chetrit, SDR, Tel Aviv

I am originally from Paris, and I moved to Israel a few years ago. Once I moved to Israel, I volunteered in the army for a few years, and then pursued an MBA before building a career in tech sales at Snyk! I first came across Snyk on LinkedIn when I was applying for SDR roles. Snyk’s job description stood out to me because their approach seemed quite different from other companies. They place a huge emphasis on culture and diversity, and I was very impressed with their product and series of funding. I also had a particular interest in developer security since it’s still quite new, has a huge impact on companies, and has a strong future. After rounds of interviews, I was finally accepted to Snyk as an SDR for the European market, and about 7 months later, I couldn’t be more happy and excited to be here!

As an SDR at Snyk, you’re responsible for bringing in new potential customers and creating the pipeline for your account executive (AE) who is responsible for closing deals. SDRs and AEs work very closely to ensure the success of their territory. What I love about this role is that SDRs are the first human interaction customers have with a company – we are the first image of the company we represent and the first step in the sales funnel. The SDR role can also be quite challenging. You must learn how to handle rejections and find new ways to create business opportunities in order to hit your targets. You learn so much in this role and have a full team supporting you here.

On a day-to-day basis, you are in charge of activating all of the inbounds for your territory (freemium of our platform, events, webinar etc.), performing some outbounds (through emails, LinkedIn, and calls), and booking as many qualified meetings for your AE as possible.

You’re always in touch with potential customers and one of your main goals is understanding their needs. You need to know when the right time and best approach them for each case. A large portion of your time is spent attending internal and external meetings and utilizing tools such as Sales Navigator, Salesforce, Salesloft, and Slack.

In addition to your AE, you also work very closely with the marketing team to stay aware of any upcoming events in addition to Snyk’s marketing strategy within your territory. You also get the chance to partner with various members of our sales teams, such as sales managers, other SDRs, solutions engineers, and more. Each person on the team is there to share tips and experiences to help you grow and build your skillset.

The culture on the SDR team and Snyk’s overall Sales team is just incredible. We are all One Team, working toward a common goal and constantly helping each other along the way. I have never seen a company with so many different personalities, backgrounds, and experiences – there are so many different languages used in our office.

I would recommend the SDR role at Snyk to anyone looking to enter the tech industry or build a career in Sales, even if you aren’t technical. You do not need experience in the role to begin your career here. Snyk really cares about their employees and there are so many talented and smart people who you can learn from here, as well as immense growth opportunities. I feel like this role is also the equivalent to having a diploma in tech sales. A few years in this company will open so many doors within the tech industry. We are a multi billion dollar company, with 1200+ employees, who hire top talent worldwide and have incredible growth in all the domains. Our purple doberman is already well known in the industry, and we are working with the strongest companies in the world. What is unbelievable, is that we have been around since 2015 and are still a “startup” where nothing is impossible, with an amazing future ahead of us. 

My advice to other SDRs or those who are considering joining our team here at Snyk is to follow our “Persona, Personalization, Persistence” model. Success in an SDR role can look like a pyramid – the top of the pyramid is the amount of meetings you’re bringing and are good sales opportunities. However, you need to look at the foundation of your pyramid, which is the activities you are doing every day (number of emails sent, messages on linkedin and calls). Be strong in your foundations and the rest will come naturally.

Personally, I am super motivated in my role and keep challenging myself to reach — and exceed — my sales target. I know that Snyk, as a company, is growing very fast and there are a lot of opportunities to grow along with it. I want to give 200% of myself to this role and to the company. If you’re looking for the same drive and motivation, joining Snyk’s SDR team may be the perfect next step in your career!

Paula Kanikuru, Manager, Sales Development London, UK

Being an SDR is a great role because it’s an amazing way to learn the business. As an SDR at Snyk, you get the chance to work with all departments such as marketing, engineering, sales, and developer relations, so that by the time you are ready to transition to a new role, you know the product and the company inside and out. It’s a great way to gain insight into what you want to do next because as an SDR, you help with expansion and are able to watch sales account executives speak to customers, which is unique in this role. Normally, an SDR is the first point of contact a potential customer has with a company, before handing over those sales opportunities to sales executives. But at Snyk, we take great pride in SDRs being integrated throughout the process, helping account executives with expansions and current customer relationships.

When it comes to helping my team grow, I take an individual growth path approach for each person. It’s not a one size fits all situation since not everyone wants the same growth path. In my role, I get to mentor each team member individually, and get to know what drives them. Getting to know each person and what their core strengths are as well as helping to nurture their weaknesses to convert them into strengths is really gratifying. As someone who was an SDR myself for several years, I’m able to put myself in my team’s shoes and help them align to their territories, as well as show them how to best diversify messages across different cultures. For me as a manager, my biggest achievement is seeing my team members promoted into new roles. Being an SDR is a stepping stone for anyone’s career whether you choose the path of becoming an enterprise account executive, solutions architect, customer success manager, solutions engineer, or something else. It's a great way to build a core skill set to help launch your career in whatever direction you want to take it.

It’s my job to not only show you how we will help you reach your goals, but also connect you with people who are in the roles you're interested in so they can be a mentor. We are so proud of our team and we provide them with a lot of training. For example, senior SDRs train incoming SDRs with product-led training, LinkedIn tools training, and shadowing calls. We also provide management training, leadership skill building, and each SDR team is aligned with their own region, which definitely resonates when it comes to understanding different cultures.

SDRs at Snyk come from a variety of different backgrounds. Some SDRs are new graduates, and others are changing careers – we’ve had people on my team who had backgrounds in catering, customer service, the hospitality industry, marketing, and more. Being an SDR at Snyk gives you the opportunity to change your career with world-class training.

When I first joined Snyk, the global SDR team was around 14 people. Today, my team alone in EMEA has 12 people. My biggest source of pride is leading a team and seeing their career progression — I am very passionate about my team and about Snyk’s overall culture.

Interested in building a career at Snyk? Check out our open roles and learn more about what life at Snyk is like.