Founding GTM, AI Equipment Technology (SF)

Lavendo partners with startups and high‑growth companies to help them hire top‑tier sales, GTM, and technical talent. This role is with one of our clients; we’ll share full details about the company and interview process as we get to know you and confirm mutual fit.

About the Company

Our client is a YC-backed AI startup operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence, industrial SaaS, and equipment technology. With their team based in San Francisco's South Park neighborhood, they are a small, fast-moving founding team targeting one of the most underserved markets in North America.

The Mission

Hundreds of thousands of equipment dealers and rental companies — the people who keep construction sites running, farms operating, and industrial fleets moving — are being left behind by software. Our client is changing that by deploying AI agents that work 24/7 to help these businesses respond faster, sell more, and maximize fleet utilization. The platform plugs directly into a dealer's existing tech stack to handle sales inquiries, rental requests, service follow-ups, CRM updates, and outbound communications — all without adding headcount.

This is not a pre-revenue idea. There is real product-market fit, paying customers, and a massive greenfield market ahead.

The Opportunity

100,000+ equipment dealers and rental companies across North America. A market that software has barely touched. And you're the first one in.

This is the first GTM hire at a YC-backed AI startup — meaning you own the revenue motion from day one: cold outbound, demos, negotiation, close. No SDR to hand you leads. No playbook handed down from above. Just you, the founder, and a massive market that's wide open.

If you've been grinding at a scrappy startup, booking meetings no one thought were possible, selling to real businesses run by real operators — and you're ready to stop being an SDR and start owning the full game — this is your shot.

What You'll Do

• Drive demand generation: Cold calls, LinkedIn outreach, email campaigns, and trade show attendance — targeting equipment dealers and rental companies across North America

• Own the full sales cycle: First call, discovery, demo, negotiation, and close — independently, start to finish

• Get in the field (1–2x/month) to meet customers, walk trade show floors, and build relationships with the people actually running these businesses

• Build the playbook — document what works, systematize the motion, and create the foundation that the next sales team will run on

• Be the intel pipeline — feed market insights and customer feedback directly to the founding team to sharpen product direction and positioning

• Own the CRM — keep HubSpot/Salesforce clean and your pipeline honest

What You Bring

• 2–5 years in B2B sales as a BDR/SDR or early AE — ideally at a startup where you had to figure it out with no playbook and no brand name opening doors for you

• You've sold to real businesses — restaurants, home services, dental clinics, manufacturers, equipment dealers, or similar "Middle America" operators. If your only buyers have been SaaS procurement teams or enterprise IT departments, this isn't the right fit.

• You can show your numbers — calls per day, meetings booked per week, pipeline generated from scratch. Not approximations. Real numbers.

• You can close — or you're ready to. Full cycle from first call through signed contract, independently

• Strong BDR/SDR background is absolutely welcome: if you've been grinding outbound at a no-name startup and crushing your meeting targets, you belong in this conversation — AE title or not

• Fluent with HubSpot, Salesforce, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator

• Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate — the role is in-person, and that's intentional

• Bonus: You've sold into industrial, construction, agricultural, or equipment verticals

Key Success Drivers

The person who wins in this role is not the most polished. They're the most relentless.

• You don't wait to be told what to do. You identify the target, build the sequence, pick up the phone, and go. High agency isn't a buzzword here — it's a survival skill.

• You love the grind. Heavy outbound, field travel, building from zero. That's not a downside of this job — it's the job. And you're into it.

• You speak operator. You understand how equipment dealers and rental company owners think, what they care about, and how to earn their trust. You're not trying to run a polished SaaS demo on someone who's been in the heavy machinery business for 30 years.

• You want to build something. The first GTM hire writes the playbook. As the team scales, this role grows into a leadership seat. If you're motivated by ownership — of the process, the territory, and eventually the team — this is the right stage for you.

• You're money-motivated. Uncapped commission. Early-stage equity. A market with 100K+ potential customers. You do the math.

Why Join?

• Real traction, not a pitch deck. Paying customers are already live. This is a company with directional product-market fit, not a pre-revenue idea looking for a true believer.

• You're employee #1 in sales. The playbook doesn't exist yet because you're the one writing it. As the team grows, so does your role — this is a direct path to GTM leadership.

• Competitive comp + meaningful equity: $80K–$100K base | $120K–$200K OTE (uncapped) | 0.10%–0.20% early-stage equity + travel reimbursement

• The market is wide open. 100K+ equipment dealers and rental companies across North America that software has barely touched. You are not fighting for market share in a crowded category — you're opening a new one.

• You'll work directly with the founder and have the opportunity to engage with the company's investors, including a seasoned operator with deep experience building and scaling sales organizations.

Interviewing Process

1. Intro Call with the Founder (20–30 minutes

2. Mock Sales Presentation / Role Play (45 minutes)

3. Paid Work Trial (2–3 days)

4. Offer extended to successful candidates

We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, disability, genetic information, veteran or military status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.