Founding Sales Lead w/equity (backed by Gradient - Google AI spin off VC fund)
Bounty Amount: $5,250 - 15,000
Company Name: Linkup
Role Type: Full-Time
Location: 2 Founding Sales - 1 US (NYC or San Francisco) & 1 Paris - Onsite
Salary / Hourly Rate: $70,000 - $200,000 per year
Benefits: Offers Equity,Remote Policy: Hybrid preferred. Max 2 days remote/week.
Role Information
Role Overview: N/A
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 Linkup’s 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
Qualifications: Are excited to help build Google for AI agents, and believe in Linkup’s mission, Have 4+ years of experience in B2B SaaS or technical sales (AI, developer tools, or data infra a plus), Are comfortable engaging with technical buyers, founders, CTOs, engineers, and data teams, Bring a consultative approach, you focus on understanding pain points before pitching features, Have a proven track record of closing multi-stakeholder, high-value deals, Communicate clearly, tell a compelling story, and can tailor the narrative to any audience, Thrive in a fast-paced, high-ownership startup environment
Minimum Requirements: 4+ years of experience in B2B SaaS or technical sales,Enterprise Sales,Building and scaling sales pipelines,Autonomous on the sales process,Can run a full sales cycle with technical buyers & tech teams,Experience not only in Tiers 1 companies with easy market access (cf Datadog),Experience with Devtools (nice to have skill),Academic background: Not mandatory, but strong academic pedigree appreciated (e.g. top schools).,Professional background: Ideally: mix of big tech (e.g. Google, Criteo, Algolia) + startup experience.
Screening Questions: Walk me through a deal you closed end-to-end.,How do you build pipeline from scratch?,Describe a time you sold to both technical and non-technical stakeholders in the same deal.,What metrics do you personally track in a founding sales role?,Why do you want to work at Linkup?
Company Information
About Company: N/A
Culture: N/A
Additional Information
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 – 1h30, Culture fit – Technical Co-founder + reference calls
Day to day: - First Account Executive- 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 segmentsRun compelling product demos and solutioning sessions with technical teams- Understand customer workflows deeply and position Linkup’s 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
Team: 10 people total, including founders, 3 co-foundersProduct – Philippe MizrahiTechnology – Denis CharrierBusiness / GTM – Boris Toledano, Product – Philippe Mizrahi, Technology – Denis Charrier, Business / GTM – Boris Toledano, ML Engineers and Software Engineers, Team mostly based in Paris, with planned expansion to the US, Very senior team6–15+ years of experienceBackgrounds from Lyft, Spotify, McKinsey, and similar high-performing environments, 6–15+ years of experience, Backgrounds from Lyft, Spotify, McKinsey, and similar high-performing environments, Philippe Mizrahi (Product)Led development of Lyft’s Autonomous Vehicles marketplacePreviously launched Amundsen, an open-source search engine, Led development of Lyft’s Autonomous Vehicles marketplace, Previously launched Amundsen, an open-source search engine, Denis Charrier (CTO / Tech)Founding Engineer at Niland (audio search company, acquired by Spotify)Former Staff Engineer at Spotify15 years of software development experience, Founding Engineer at Niland (audio search company, acquired by Spotify), Former Staff Engineer at Spotify, 15 years of software development experience, Boris Toledano (COO / Business)Led robotics at CarrefourPreviously 3 years at McKinsey & Co working on public affairs and digital transformation, Led robotics at Carrefour, Previously 3 years at McKinsey & Co working on public affairs and digital transformation, Is someone doing this today?Currently shared by founders and the first employeeNeed 2 dedicated hires, Currently shared by founders and the first employee, Need 2 dedicated hires, Is success dependent on this hire?Yes – critical role to scale revenue and compete in a nascent but competitive market, Yes – critical role to scale revenue and compete in a nascent but competitive market, Reports ToCOO, COO
Growth: Foundational role in building the revenue engine As one of the first sales hires, this role will directly shape how Linkup sells to AI-native teams and large enterprises, including defining sales playbooks, pricing feedback loops, and GTM motion.Fast path to leadership Strong performers can grow quickly into a VP Sales role as the team scales and new sales hires join.High ownership over territory and strategy You’ll own an entire market early on, with autonomy to build pipeline, close flagship accounts, and influence how the sales org is structured.Exposure to top-tier customers in a fast-growing market The role sits at the center of a rapidly expanding AI infrastructure category, working closely with technical buyers, founders, and enterprise innovation teams.Long-term upside tied to company growth As the company scales its revenue and US presence, this role grows in scope from individual contributor to team builder and GTM leader.
Ideal Candidate Profile: - Experienced in key sales roles (6+ yrs)- Comfortable engaging with technical buyers, founders, CTOs, engineers, and data teams- Experience in closing enterprise deals- Experience in Devtool companies- Autonomous to build and scale a sales pipeline
