Founding Sales Lead (w/ Equity)
Full-time | NYC | $70,000–$200,000/year + Equity
About the Company
An AI-native web search API company building the search layer for AI agents — backed by a Google AI spin-off VC fund. Founded in 2024, headquartered in Paris with planned US expansion. Team of ~10, very senior (6–15+ years of experience), with backgrounds from companies like Lyft, Spotify, and McKinsey. The company sits at the center of a rapidly expanding AI infrastructure category.
About the Role
You'll be the first account executive on the go-to-market team, working hand-in-hand with the founders. You'll drive the full sales cycle — from outreach and discovery to product demo, negotiation, and close — bringing an innovative search layer for AI agents to market and working with some of the most advanced teams in AI.
Core Responsibilities:
- Own the full sales cycle from outreach and discovery to demo, negotiation, and close
- Partner with high-intent inbound leads across AI, data, and enterprise segments
- Run compelling product demos and solutioning sessions with technical teams
- Understand customer workflows deeply and position APIs and infrastructure as the foundation for their AI systems
- Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering to craft custom solutions and feed insights from the field
- Build repeatable playbooks for selling to AI-native teams and enterprise innovation groups
- Contribute to GTM strategy, pricing, and messaging based on market feedback
- Track and report key metrics across pipeline, win rate, and expansion opportunities
Requirements:
- 4+ years of experience in B2B SaaS or technical sales (AI, developer tools, or data infrastructure a plus)
- Comfortable engaging with technical buyers, founders, CTOs, engineers, and data teams
- Consultative sales approach — focus on understanding pain points before pitching
- Proven track record of closing multi-stakeholder, high-value deals
- Experience in closing enterprise deals
- Experience with devtool companies preferred
- Autonomous — able to build and scale a sales pipeline from scratch
- Thrives in a fast-paced, high-ownership startup environment
Ideal Background:
- Mix of big tech (e.g., Google, Criteo, Algolia) + startup experience
- Strong academic pedigree appreciated but not mandatory
Growth Opportunities:
- Foundational role in building the revenue engine — shape sales playbooks, pricing, and GTM motion
- Fast path to VP Sales as the team scales
- High ownership over territory and strategy
- Exposure to top-tier customers in a fast-growing AI infrastructure market
Interview Process:
- 1st screening — Hiring Manager (15–20 min)
- 2nd screening (Sales) — Sales Lead (20 min)
- 3rd screening (Sales) — Founder (20 min)
- Live case — Sales Lead + Hiring Manager (1.5 hrs)
- Culture fit — Technical Co-founder + reference calls
Additional Details:
- Hybrid preferred; max 2 days remote/week
- Benefits: 401k, health/vision/dental insurance, equity
- Reports to COO