Hey there,
Kevin from Astris Partners with another edition.
A founder told me yesterday he's planning to hire an SDR to handle cold email. "It'll be cheaper than an external firm," he said.
I asked him to walk me through the actual costs. By the end of the conversation, he realized building this in-house was going to cost significantly more than he thought. And that was if everything went perfectly.
Most founders drastically underestimate what in-house outbound actually costs.
the salary numbers from 2025 data
Based on current 2025 salary data, the average SDR in the US earns around $70K base salary plus $20K in variable compensation, putting total comp at $90K. If you want someone who can also handle the technical side (data engineering, infrastructure setup, automation), you're looking at a GTM engineer who averages $110K per year.
So if you're building this properly, you need at least one SDR, ideally two for coverage and testing velocity. That's $180K. Add a GTM engineer to handle infrastructure and data, and you're at $290K in base salaries before any other costs.
but salary is just the start
Now add the real costs:
Employer taxes and benefits (roughly 25% of salaries): $72K Recruiting costs
(agencies, job postings, interview time): $15K
Onboarding and training time (3-4 weeks of low productivity): $10K Management
Overhead (your time or a sales leader's time): $25K
You're at $412K before they send a single email.
then there's the tech stack
Cold email infrastructure isn't free. To do this properly in 2026, you need a comprehensive tech stack: multiple mailboxes across different domains, email sending platforms, data verification tools, enrichment services, reply management systems, and scheduling tools.
A solid setup runs around $2K per month. That's $24K per year just on software.
And this is before you even think about the AI research and insights tools that let you do comprehensive prospect analysis at scale. That's extra.
Add it up and you're at $436K for year one.
the hidden costs nobody mentions
Now factor in the risks.
What if they leave after six months? You're back to square one, paying recruiting costs again and dealing with 2-3 months of ramp time for the replacement. The average SDR tenure in the US is 14 months, so this isn't a rare scenario.
What if their results are mediocre? Most SDRs don't have experience across multiple industries and campaign types. They're learning on your dime. Typical in-house ramp time to consistent results is 3-6 months.
What if your infrastructure is wrong? An inexperienced SDR won't know how to properly set up domains, configure authentication, or manage sender reputation. They'll burn through your primary domain and damage your brand in the process.
the alternative approach
Here's what most founders miss: you don't need to build all of this yourself.
Working with a team that already has the infrastructure, experience, and systems changes the equation entirely. At Astris, our value proposition is simple: you get the output of two SDRs and one GTM engineer for less than the cost of hiring one of them.
You get a team who have run thousands of campaigns and know what works. You get proprietary data sources and custom list building, not generic databases. You get infrastructure that's already battle-tested across multiple domains, properly authenticated, and optimized for 2026's requirements.
You get results in weeks, not months, because the systems are already built and the frameworks are already proven.
No hiring risk. No ramp time. No learning curve on your dime. No management overhead. No tech stack to configure. Just qualified meetings flowing to your calendar while you focus on closing.
the question is speed and certainty
Building in-house isn't just expensive at $436K+ for year one. It's slower and riskier. You're betting on multiple people's ability to figure out cold email in a market that changed dramatically in the last six months.
The companies winning in 2026 aren't the ones trying to build everything themselves. They're the ones who found partners who can deliver the output of an entire outbound team at a fraction of the cost.
Talk soon,
KP
P.S. If you've been debating building in-house versus working with a partner, let's talk through your specific situation. I'll show you the real math and help you make the right call for your business. Book a strategy call here.
