Founding Account Executive (AE)

FounderNest

$100K — $150K *
Business Services
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 2+ years of experience in closing B2B SaaS deals at the enterprise or upper mid-market level.
  • Proven ability to build your own sales pipeline and manage calls, emails, and objections effectively.
  • Experience in consultative selling to senior stakeholders within various strategic corporate functions.
  • Strong familiarity with HubSpot to manage deals in a structured manner.
  • Previous experience in early-stage sales roles that contributed to building go-to-market strategies.
  • Willingness to receive coaching and mentor others.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and lead the US sales strategy from scratch, focusing on pipeline and customer relationships.
  • Manage the entire sales cycle from initiation to contract signing, ensuring a smooth handoff to customer success.
  • Drive outbound outreach using various channels such as phone, email, and LinkedIn, backed by proven European strategies.
  • Conduct structured discovery sessions, deliver customized demos, and navigate pricing negotiations.
  • Provide insights on US market intelligence to refine product messaging and sales sequences.
  • Maintain disciplined pipeline management in HubSpot for transparent performance tracking.

Benefits

  • Ownership role with significant equity opportunities and input in shaping the US market strategy.
  • Dynamic work environment alongside ambitious colleagues and clients.
  • Opportunity for travel and participation in industry events to strengthen customer relationships.
  • Access to a strong network in Silicon Valley, including investors and advisors.
  • Competitive compensation with uncapped bonuses and stock options.
  • Flexible working hours, allowing for personal scheduling.
  • Unlimited paid time off to promote work-life balance.
  • A straightforward, high-standard company culture that emphasizes direct feedback and a focus on results.
Full Job Description
Most sales roles have you building credibility from scratch. This one has you walking in with some of the world's largest corporations already as customers, a working sales engine and a green field to grow our US market and other geographies.

🌎 Remote -Anywhere in the US
What We Do

FounderNest is building AI that changes how the world's largest organizations do market intelligence. This is a category we are disrupting and hundreds of teams at corporations such as L'Oréal, Honda, Audi, Johnson & Johnson, Bloomberg, Bain & Co or Moodys are already our customers.

As our first US Account Executive, you won't just be selling that intelligence - you'll be building the presence, the motion, and the market position that makes FounderNest the default choice for the teams that need it most. You will also have a chance to contribute to our sales playbook.
Why This Role Exists

It's very simple. We have more pipeline that we can handle and we need more hands.

We're growing quickly, driven by a product that impresses from the very first demo. AI is rewriting how companies understand markets, and FounderNest was built AI-native from day one to move faster than anything legacy tools can match.

We're already seeing stronger win rates and faster cycles as budgets move toward productivity, and the category is still being defined right now. This is the moment to shape the playbook, the narrative, and the outcomes.

Our ambitions are bold, and we're looking for people who thrive on building pipeline, picking up the phone, owning deals and making an immediate impact.
What You'll Own
  • US market development: Build and own the US sales motion from the ground up - pipeline, process, ICP refinement, and the early customer relationships that define our market position.
  • End-to-end deals: Run the full sales cycle from first conversation to signed contract and clean handoff to Customer Success.
  • Pipeline creation: Drive targeted outbound across phone, email, and LinkedIn - focused, high-quality outreach backed by a proven motion from our European business.
  • Deal execution: Lead structured discovery, deliver tailored demos, build mutual action plans, and navigate pricing, procurement, and negotiation.
  • GTM input: Bring US market intelligence back to the team. Help adapt messaging, sequences, and ICP for the American buyer.
  • Forecast discipline: Own clean, reliable pipeline management in HubSpot with full visibility into your numbers.
🧠 What You Bring
  • 2+ years closing B2B SaaS deals in enterprise or upper mid-market.
  • You build your own pipeline and are strong on calls, email, and objection handling.
  • Confident consultative selling to senior stakeholders in Strategy, Innovation, M&A, CVC, R&D, or Venture teams.
  • Strong HubSpot discipline and a structured, repeatable way of running deals.
  • Experience in early-stage or founding / first sales roles, helping build GTM from the ground up.
  • Openness to be coached and coach others
🧭 About You
  • You're driven by outcomes and take ownership of your results without waiting to be managed.
  • You want to help shape how a function operates, not just perform within one that's already fully defined.
  • You value direct, constructive feedback and hold yourself and others to high standards.
  • You're comfortable with ambiguity and use it as an opportunity to build, not a reason to wait.
What We Offer
  • Afounding role: real ownership, meaningful equity, and the chance to shape how FounderNest grows in the US and elsewhere; and our playbook.
  • Fast growth environment: You'll work with top-tier teammates and ambitious customers.
  • Travel and attend events. Meet and hang out with customers!
  • Access to a Silicon Valley network of world-class investors and advisors - many of whom are FounderNest backers.
  • Competitive compensation (with uncapped variable and additional bonuses) with meaningful stock options. We value closers, period.
  • Flexible hours (you own your own schedule) - Just deliver
  • Unlimited PTO
  • A no-BS culture: no fluff, high standards, high pace, radical candor, experimentation, we pick up the phone, we learn, we win, and we celebrate together.
🤝 Hiring Process
  1. Intro call: A conversation with our People Excellence team to walk you through the role and learn more about you and your experience.
  2. Deal Walkthrough & Product Demo: You'll get to showcase one of the deals you've worked on and learn from our product, and join a live selling simulation with our Chief of Staff.
  3. Meet the team: Final conversation with our CEO and our Head of Customer Excellence.


Department Sales Locations San Francisco, New York City Remote status Fully Remote Employment type Full-time

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