Business Development Representative

**Grotto AI** Business Development Representative; $70K–$85K base ($100K–$120K OTE, 70/30 split) + meaningful equity; New York City (On-site)

**About Company** Grotto is building the performance layer for frontline work, starting with AI coaching & intelligence for multifamily leasing teams. Leasing agents are salespeople — their job is converting leads to leases — and Grotto guides them in real time during calls and tours, automates busywork (guest cards, tour notes, daily reports), and coaches the behaviors that drive conversion: their data across millions of interactions shows rapport and laughter predict signings better than scripts. It's AI that supercharges people instead of replacing them.

Traction: best-in-class revenue growth for vertical AI; customers include top-10 largest apartment owners, developers, and managers — including an 80%+ conversion increase at Weidner Apartment Homes (72,000+ units). Grotto closed a $10M seed led by ICONIQ, one of the firm's earliest checks ever. Founders Nick Deveau and Ben Epstein met at EvolutionIQ (insurance AI, acquired for $730M in 2024) and have built vertical AI for a decade. Lean, in-office team in NYC.

**About the Role** One of Grotto's earliest BDR seats, reporting directly to seasoned enterprise sellers with the CEO and GTM leaders coaching you directly — Nick Deveau (CEO) runs this hiring process. You'll write the playbook for AI-native business development aligned with Grotto's humans-first ethos: creative, human-to-human outreach that opens first conversations with owners, operators, and asset managers. Clear promotion path — Grotto would rather promote you into the AE seat than hire above you.

**Responsibilities** - Own outbound: build and run targeted outreach across phone, email, and LinkedIn to open first conversations with owners, operators, and asset managers. - Qualify hard: run structured discovery against the ICP — disqualify fast rather than pad the calendar. - Nurture: follow up with something worth reading and a clear next step. - Hand off clean: partner with AEs so nothing drops between first conversation and deal; log activity and notes accurately in the CRM. - Surface market insight: bring objections back to sharpen messaging and targeting. - Work the conferences — multifamily runs on events; engage leads before and after so they turn into real pipeline. - Use AI tools to get 10x as much done.

**Required Skills** A. 0–2 years of full-time experience. B. NYC-based (or relocating) and able to work in-office 4 days/week. C. High-energy, charismatic phone presence — comfortable with high-volume cold calling. D. Coachable — takes and applies feedback quickly.

**Bonus Skills** - Has competed at a high level — sports, music, or a niche interest pursued seriously. - Familiarity with real estate / multifamily.

**Logistical Info** - Location: New York City, 4 days/week in office (Wednesdays remote). - Compensation: $70K–$85K base; $100K–$120K OTE on a 70/30 split; plus meaningful equity. - **Other:** No visa sponsorship — candidates must already be authorized to work in the US.

**Ideal Background** - Early-career, high-drive profiles: people who have competed at a high level in anything — sports, music, or niche interests pursued seriously (client confirmed: any arena counts, not just athletics) — and are hungry to learn enterprise selling from the ground up ("first-in, last-out"). - Cold-call exercise format (recorded vs. live with the co-founders) is still being finalized by the client's sales lead — prep candidates for both until confirmed.

**Green Flags** - Love of winning; resilience with a short memory — learns from losses, then shrugs them off. - Competed at a high level (sports, music, or niche interests). - AI-native — already uses AI tools to multiply output. - Well-researched on Grotto — knows they sell into residential multifamily.

**Red Flags** - Low energy or flat presence — nearly every pass in Grotto's previous search came down to energy and presence. - Poorly researched — a prior candidate was passed for not realizing Grotto is in residential (not commercial) real estate. - Intro video well over 3 minutes — brevity is part of the skill and counts against the candidate.

**Interview Process** 1. Screening conversation — come prepared with a story of mastering something when the odds were against you. 2. Two-minute intro video — who you are, a fun fact, what motivates you, why you're excited about Grotto, and what success looks like after one year (about 2 minutes; well over 3 minutes counts against you). 3. Cold-call exercise — candidates record a cold call for founder review. 4. Written prospecting exercise — walk through your outreach sequence. 5. References, including one person who has managed the candidate.