← Kong
Kong role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
Software that lets companies manage, secure and connect their APIs, the links between apps and services.
Who you'd be calling
VP Engineering, Head of Platform, API and architecture leads at large enterprises across the UK, Benelux and Nordics.
Your opener
“Hi {name}, this is {me} from Kong. I'm reaching out because platform teams are finding APIs hard to keep secure and consistent as they grow, do you have a minute?”
Problems you solve for them
- APIs spread across teams with no central control or security
- Slow, unreliable connections between services
- Hard to scale and govern APIs as the company grows
Discovery questions to ask
- How many teams at your company build and publish APIs?
- How do you keep security and rules consistent across all of them?
- What tools do you use today to manage API traffic?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy right now.”
→ Got it, I'll be quick. Could we find ten minutes next week to talk about how you manage your APIs?
“Not interested.”
→ Fair enough. Are your APIs already well under control, or is it just not a focus right now?
“We already use a gateway from our cloud provider.”
→ A lot of teams do. When you run across several clouds or teams, how do you keep things consistent?
“Send me an email.”
→ Happy to. Who owns API strategy on your team, so I send it to the right person?
Competitors worth knowing
Apigee, MuleSoft, Amazon API Gateway
Interview tips for this company
- This role is Team Lead in Europe (UK, Benelux, Nordics), so read up on the region and on leading while carrying a target.
- Learn what an API is in one plain sentence, and why a gateway sits in front of it.
Written from public information about Kong to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.