Business Development Representative

Hedge (YC P26); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Direct coaching from founders

Career path to Account Executive

Job summary

Hedge is building an AI-native specialty insurance company in San Francisco. We seek a Business Development Representative to open new agency relationships and turn them into durable submission flow, working directly with the founders to learn commercial insurance and help build the revenue playbook.

You will own tasks from researching agencies to earning meetings and creating clean handoffs, all while using AI, data, and automation to speed outreach and improve results.

Qualifications

• Experience with CRM and sales-engagement platforms is helpful.
• Agency sales or outbound sales experience encouraged.
• Insurance industry experience is useful but not required.

Responsibilities

• Research and prioritize independent retail insurance agencies and commercial producers.
• Build relationships via phone, email, LinkedIn, referrals, conferences, and outbound.
• Qualify agencies based on business mix, submission potential, decision-making authority, and fit.
• Earn held meetings with agency owners, producers, practice leaders, and operations executives.
• Create clear CRM handoffs with context, next steps, and CRM records.
• Test messaging, sequences, and follow-up cadences.
• Track conversations to active agencies, submissions, and bound premium.
• Use AI, data, and automation to speed prospect research and follow-up.

Skills

Phone sales

Multichannel outreach

CRM experience

Research skills

Written communication

Opportunity creation

Tools

CRM system

Sales engagement platform

Job description

THE OPPORTUNITY

Hedge is building an AI-native specialty insurance company. We help independent retail insurance agencies place difficult commercial risks faster and with better market access.

As a Business Development Representative, you will open new agency relationships and help turn them into durable submission flow. You will work directly with the founders, learn commercial insurance from the inside, and help build the playbook that future revenue teams will use.

Compensation And Upside

$200,000 target OTE at an $80,000 base salary.

• Base salary: $60,000 to $100,000, depending on experience
• Target cash compensation: $180,000 to $220,000 across that base range
• Variable plan: sourced bound-revenue incentive plus $50 for each held, qualified meeting, with meeting pay capped at $15,000 per year
• Revenue upside: uncapped, with accelerators above quota
• Equity: intended 0.10% initial grant plus a 0.05% performance grant, subject to board approval and final grant documentation
• Annual production target: $2.5 million of sourced bound new premium

OTE means on-target earnings. It assumes the role achieves its annual performance targets and is not guaranteed compensation.

What You Will Own

• Research and prioritize independent retail insurance agencies and commercial producers
• Build new relationships through phone, email, LinkedIn, referrals, conferences, and creative outbound
• Learn where an agency's commercial accounts are getting stuck and identify where Hedge can help
• Qualify agencies based on business mix, submission potential, decision-making authority, and fit
• Earn held meetings with agency owners, producers, practice leaders, and operations executives
• Create complete handoffs with clear context, next steps, and CRM records
• Test messaging, targeting, sequences, call scripts, and follow-up cadences
• Track which conversations become active agencies, submissions, and bound premium
• Use AI, data, and automation to make prospect research and follow-up faster without making the outreach generic
• Help recruit and coach future BDRs as the team grows

What Success Looks Like

In your first 30 days, you will learn Hedge's target agency profile, appetite, and brokerage workflow; build an initial account list; and begin live outreach.

By 60 days, you will run a consistent multichannel prospecting rhythm, book qualified meetings, and show that your targeting and message improve from real conversations.

By 90 days, you will be producing repeatable qualified pipeline, maintaining a clean CRM, and showing a credible path toward the annual sourced-premium target.

What You Bring

• Evidence that you can create opportunities, not just complete activities
• Comfort spending meaningful time on the phone
• Clear, concise writing and professional follow-through
• Strong research, organization, and attention to detail
• Resilience, curiosity, and comfort receiving direct feedback
• Interest in building a sales system rather than inheriting a finished playbook
• Experience with a CRM, sales-engagement platform, recruiting, agency sales, or outbound sales is helpful
• Insurance experience is useful but not required

WORKING AT HEDGE

This is a full-time, in-office role in San Francisco. We work six days a week as a small, high-urgency founding team. Hedge provides health benefits, direct coaching from the founders, and a path toward Account Executive, brokerage distribution, or revenue leadership.

How We Hire

• A 30-minute founder conversation about your background, goals, and evidence of performance.
• A live prospecting exercise using a hypothetical independent insurance agency. There is no take-home assignment.
• A short cold-call simulation focused on preparation, clarity, curiosity, and objection handling.
• A final founder conversation covering the compensation plan, equity, working style, and first 90 days.

When there is strong mutual fit, our goal is to move from the first conversation to an offer in approximately five days.