← Blacksmith
Blacksmith role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
Faster, cheaper servers for running GitHub Actions CI jobs, so software tests and builds finish sooner.
Who you'd be calling
Engineering managers, VPs of Engineering, DevOps and platform leads at software companies of mid-size.
Your opener
“Hi [Name], this is [Your Name] from Blacksmith. I'm calling because we help teams make their GitHub Actions builds run a lot faster and cost less. Got a quick minute to see if that's something your team deals with?”
Problems you solve for them
- Slow CI builds that make developers wait
- High GitHub Actions and cloud compute bills
- Time spent maintaining build infrastructure
Discovery questions to ask
- How long do your CI builds take today, and does your team complain about it?
- Roughly how much do you spend on GitHub Actions each month?
- Who owns your build setup, and how much time does it take them?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy right now.”
→ No problem, I'll be brief. Can I grab two minutes later this week to ask a couple of questions about your build times?
“We're not interested.”
→ Understood. Just so I know, is it that builds are already fast and cheap for you, or that it's not a priority right now?
“We already use something for that.”
→ Makes sense, many teams use GitHub's default runners or self-host. How happy are you with the speed and the bill?
“Just send me an email.”
→ Sure thing. To make it relevant, are slow builds or cost the bigger concern for your team?
Competitors worth knowing
Namespace, BuildJet, Depot
Interview tips for this company
- Learn what CI means (automatic testing and building of code) and why developers hate waiting on it.
- Know that the pitch is simple: same GitHub Actions workflow, faster and cheaper. Practice saying it in one sentence.
Written from public information about Blacksmith to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.