Episode 6: Outbound Playbook

1. Building Culture Like a Product: High Standards, High Urgency

Before becoming a team lead, Alex Choi was in the trenches. Booking meetings. Learning the script. Testing objections.

That experience shaped how he built HockeyStack’s SDR team from the ground up: a culture of "super-pumped intensity" and "extreme urgency."

It’s not for everyone. And that’s the point.

"You can be a different shade, but you have to be the same color," Choi explains. "If not, you’ll churn."

Takeaway: Don’t hire for talent alone. Hire for speed, grit, and alignment with the pace of your startup.

2. Outbound Is a Muscle: Why Role Play > Practice on the Company’s Dime

Every weekday at 8:30am, the HockeyStack SDR team roleplays for 30-45 minutes.

Why?

Because dialing without practice is like playing a championship game without warming up.

"You do not practice on the company’s money," says Choi. Every call is a cost. Every dial is a chance to win or waste pipeline.

Even leaders get involved. Choi admits he's grown rusty after six months off the phones. Roleplays keep him sharp, and more importantly, connected to the team.

Takeaway: Great outbound orgs treat sales like a sport with warmups, scrimmages, film review. Reps need reps.

3. Why Cold Calling Still Wins (Even in 2025)

Yes, email works. Yes, LinkedIn matters. But for GTM buyers, phone still reigns supreme.

"Calls are our best channel," says Emir. The phone is the fastest feedback loop. When testing new messaging or launching a new product, the phone tells you what’s resonating in seconds.

Takeaway: Use the phone to stress-test GTM assumptions in real time. Feedback is faster than clicks.

4. Feedback Loops: Good Calls, Bad Calls, Every Single Day

Every rep at HockeyStack sends one good and one bad call to leadership each day.

Not just for praise. But for pattern recognition.

"You don’t build a 1% team with once-a-week teardown sessions," says Choi. Daily feedback tightens the loop and turns coaching into a system.

Takeaway: Make feedback part of the daily rhythm. Good calls show what to scale. Bad ones show what to fix.

5. Sales Leaders Need to Be Technical Now

Choi recently added "GTM Operations" to his title. Why? Because you can’t lead modern sales teams without understanding automation, CRM architecture, and AI tooling.

"The people building the systems don’t know our ICP," he says. "So I had to learn their world."

That means SQL. Salesforce. Clay. List enrichment. If you want to scale speed, you need to understand the backend.

Takeaway: Sales ops isn’t a support function. It’s the new GTM differentiator.

6. AI, Titles, and Unlocking TAM

One of the most powerful AI use cases? Title expansion.

For teams selling into sales and marketing, the ICP is a moving target. AI helps HockeyStack differentiate between GTM ops, sales ops, and marketing ops, surfacing contacts that would otherwise be missed.

The result? 70-80% list expansion. TAM unlocked.

Takeaway: AI isn't just about sequences and summaries. It's about surfacing opportunities you didn't know existed.

7. Where Should SDRs Sit? (Hint: It's Not Marketing)

Both Emir and Alex agree: SDRs belong under sales.

Why? Because the best SDRs want to become AEs. That means they need to sit with AEs, join forecast calls, learn the craft.

In startups, proximity is everything.

Takeaway: Career progression, mentorship, and cultural alignment all start with org structure. Put SDRs where they can grow.

8. Closing Thoughts: Hiring for Color, Not Just Skill

"There’s no right or wrong," says Choi. "Just different colors."

HockeyStack is hiring. But the bar is clear: you need to move fast, think sharp, and run hard and with purpose.

If that sounds like your shade, reach out.

Takeaway: Outbound is evolving. The best teams are building with speed, structure, and soul.

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