← Linear
Linear role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
A fast, modern issue tracking and planning tool where software teams plan, build and ship products, now with AI agents.
Who you'd be calling
Engineering Managers, VPs of Engineering, Heads of Product and CTOs at software startups and growth-stage tech companies.
Your opener
“Hi Priya, this is Chris from Linear. I know I'm catching you in the middle of your day. We make the issue tracking tool many software teams use to plan and ship faster. Do you have a minute to tell me how your team tracks work today?”
Problems you solve for them
- Slow, cluttered tools that engineers hate to use
- Plans and issues drift out of sync with what's actually being built
- Hard to see what's shipping and when
- Teams struggle to bring AI agents into their workflow
Discovery questions to ask
- What do you use to plan and track engineering work today?
- How does your team feel about that tool: do they enjoy it or tolerate it?
- How are you thinking about using AI agents in your development process?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy right now.”
→ No worries, I know a sprint never waits. I'll be brief. Would a quick call later this week work better?
“We're not interested.”
→ Understood. Just so I'm not wasting your time, is your team happy with the way you plan and track work today?
“We already use Jira.”
→ Lots of teams do, and many we talk to started there. What's the one thing your engineers would change about it if they could?
“Send me an email.”
→ Sure. So I make it useful, what's the biggest slowdown in how your team ships right now?
Competitors worth knowing
Jira, Asana, Shortcut, ClickUp
Interview tips for this company
- Use the product before your interview. Linear has a free plan, so try it and mention what you noticed.
- Learn simple dev words: sprint, backlog, issue, roadmap. You don't need to code, just understand what engineers do.
- Engineers dislike hype. Keep your tone direct, honest and low-pressure.
Written from public information about Linear to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.