The $3-5M Rule for Hiring SDRs Is Wrong

The $3-5M Rule for Hiring SDRs Is Wrong

From The Ray J. Green Show by Ray J. Green

April 16, 2026 · 4 min

About this episode

Ray J. Green challenges the conventional $3-5M rule for hiring SDRs, advocating for a revenue-driven approach to hiring.

"Wait until you're at $3-5M before hiring an SDR" — Ray heard this from an attendee at a Dallas event who'd been given the rule by an EOS-type advisor. His problem with it: that rule treats the SDR as an expense you need to afford, not a revenue multiplier that helps you generate the money in the first place. "I can't afford to make more money until I've made a certain amount of money" doesn't hold up. At MSP Sales Partners, Ray's first two hires were SDRs — because when you're starting a business and need to drive demand, you hire the person who creates revenue, not wait until revenue shows up on its own. The bigger lesson goes beyond SDRs. Business isn't paint-by-numbers, and most "rules" are just someone projecting their personal experience onto every business. Whether to hire — and when — depends on your demand, your constraints, and what role actually multiplies output at your stage. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why the $3-5M SDR rule treats a revenue multiplier like a fixed expense — and why that logic breaks down How Ray's first two hires at MSP Sales Partners were SDRs, and what he learned when organic demand changed the equation Why most business "rules" are…

People in this episode

Host: Ray J. Green

Topics covered

  • hiring
  • SDRs
  • business rules
  • revenue generation
  • entrepreneurship

Keywords

  • SDR
  • hiring
  • revenue multiplier
  • business strategy
  • entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MSP Sales Partners

Places: Dallas

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