Account Executive -
Description
Account Executive - Founding Sales Team
Location: Remote – US time zones only – West Coast preferred
Full time employee
Citizen or Green Card holders only – cannot sponsor at this time
Compensation: $120K - $140K base + equity
Our client is building AI that connects people with others who've achieved similar goals. Their unique platform helps users find mentors, peers, and guides based on shared experiences—not just keywords. They are a lean, AI-native team. They don't scale by adding headcount. They scale by shipping faster with better tools. If you've built features in an afternoon that used to take a sprint, you'll fit right in.
They are a seed-stage company with a working product, early customers, and an enormous greenfield market. What they donʼt have yet is a sales machine. Thatʼs where you come in. Youʼll be working directly with their Head of Sales to go from founder-led sales to a repeatable, scalable revenue engine. If you need a playbook handed to you, this isnʼt the role. If you want to help write the playbook, keep reading.
What You’ll Do
- Hunt relentlessly. Build outbound pipeline from scratch targeting association executives, membership directors, and knowledge leaders. Cold calls, cold emails, LinkedIn, conferences, warm intros — whatever it takes to get in the door.
- Own the full cycle. From first touch to signed contract — prospecting, discovery, demos, proposals, negotiation, and close. No hand-offs to a closer. You are the closer.
- Run discovery like a consultant. Their buyers are association leaders who may not yet know they have a knowledge management problem. Youʼll need to diagnose pain, map stakeholders, and build urgency around a category thatʼs still emerging.
- Lead with understanding and connect dots to ensure comprehension.
- Help build the sales infrastructure. CRM workflows, email sequences, call scripts, competitive battle cards, proposal templates, pipeline dashboards - youʼll create the toolkit that the next five AEs will inherit.
- Be the voice of the market. Relay what youʼre hearing from prospects directly to the founder and product team. Your field intelligence will shape our roadmap, positioning, and go-to-market strategy.
- Work trade shows and events. Professional associations live and breathe at conferences. Youʼll represent Sapience AI at industry events, facilitate workshops, and turn handshakes into partnered growth.
- Collaborate across the company. Partner with Customer Success on onboarding and expansion, Head of Growth on strategic partnerships and Product on customer feedback.
Who You Are
- 2-5 years in a quota-carrying B2B SaaS closing role. Youʼve carried a bag, hit a number.
- Early-stage DNA. Youʼve worked at a company with >$10M ARR — or youʼve side-hustled, freelanced, or built something yourself. You know what “scrappyˮ means and youʼre energized by it, not exhausted.
- Full-cycle closer. You donʼt just set meetings. You run demos, handle objections, negotiate terms, and get ink on paper.
- Comfortable selling into a new category. Can learn fast and adapt. You can educate buyers, create urgency without fear-mongering, and sell a vision — not just features.
- Process-minded hustler. You grind, but you also systematize. You document what works so it scales beyond you.
- Excellent communicator. You write tight emails, run crisp demos, and can hold your own in a boardroom with a tenured association CEO just as well as an early-stage dedicated membership director.
- Curious and coachable. You ask great questions, take feedback without ego, and get better every week.
Bonus Points
- Experience selling into professional associations, membership organizations, non-profits, or B2B communities.
- Familiarity with the association management ecosystem.
- Background in AI, knowledge management, or SaaS platforms sold to non-technical buyers.
- Existing network in the professional association or expert-network space.
- Can work independently in a remote environment
Why This Role Is Different
- Meaningful equity. Youʼre not employee #500. Youʼre on the founding sales team, and your equity reflects that.
- Direct access to the founder. No layers, no bureaucracy. Your ideas hit the product roadmap.
- Category-defining market. The professional association space is a $20B market with almost zero modern AI penetration. Youʼre not fighting over scraps in a crowded market — youʼre opening a new one.
- Build your legacy. The playbook you write here becomes the foundation for the entire revenue organization. When SapienceAI scales, your fingerprints will be on everything.