Founding AE - Hack

Explicitly expects 'vibe coding' style rapid prototyping using AI assistants (e.g., Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT) to unblock deals between calls.

About the Role

Founding Account Executive for Hackathon will own full-cycle B2B SaaS sales for a single product, generate outbound pipeline, close deals, and rapidly prototype missing capabilities using AI tools to unblock opportunities while helping build the GTM playbook for the spun-out startup.

Job Description

Role

Founding Account Executive (Hackathon) — a full-cycle B2B SaaS sales role focused exclusively on selling Hackathon. The hire will generate their own pipeline, run discovery and demos, negotiate and close, and use AI coding tools to prototype solutions that bridge product gaps during the sales process. As the first go-to-market hire, you will also help define ICP, messaging, playbooks, and tooling.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end sales for Hackathon: source, qualify, run discovery and demos, negotiate, and close.
• Prospect proactively using outbound channels (email, LinkedIn, calling) in addition to inbound leads and warm intros.
• Identify where the product falls short in discovery and build lightweight prototypes or automations with AI tools to demonstrate solutions.
• Assess feasibility quickly and reposition deals when a solution is not viable to avoid overpromising.
• Feed field learnings back to product and engineering to inform formal scoping and product priorities.
• Forecast accurately and manage pipeline discipline in the CRM.
• Help define ICP, refine messaging, and document the sales playbook for future hires.
• Influence selection and implementation of CRM, sales engagement, and AI tooling for the GTM stack.
• Partner cross-functionally with product, marketing, and customer success; contribute to pricing and packaging decisions; and assist in recruiting and onboarding future sales hires.

Requirements

• 5+ years of full-cycle B2B SaaS sales with a track record of self-sourced pipeline and closed-won deals.
• Prior experience as an early or founding sales hire, or strong interest in building process from scratch.
• Hands-on comfort with modern AI coding tools (examples cited: Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT).
• Technical fluency to assess feasibility (quick scripts, API integrations, engineering lift).
• Strong outbound instincts and ability to engage both technical and executive buyers.
• Ability to turn customer signals into positioning, playbooks, and product input.
• Comfortable operating as the sole initial go-to-market hire in a startup context and energized by ambiguity.

Nice to Have

• Experience selling to innovation, HR, people ops, event, or L&D buyers.
• Prior early-stage/lean-team SaaS experience where AEs wore multiple hats.
• Experience selling event, community, or engagement-platform products.
• A portfolio, GitHub, or demo of something you’ve “vibe-coded.”
• Experience helping build or formalize sales processes, playbooks, or tooling at a spinout or backed startup.

What Makes This Role Different

This role blends closing deals with building prototypes and GTM infrastructure: you will often prototype fixes between calls to close deals and then codify those learnings into repeatable playbooks for future AEs.

Compensation

Claude Cursor ChatGPT CRM Sales engagement tools AI coding tools API integrations GitHub

Skills

Full-cycle sales Outbound prospecting Pipeline generation Discovery and demo delivery Negotiation Forecasting CRM management Sales playbook development GTM strategy Cross-functional collaboration Technical feasibility assessment Rapid prototyping Communication Recruiting/sourcing