Founding AE
houston, tx
$150 - $180
Founding Account Executive — AI SaaS | Energy & Industrial Sector
Houston, TX (Hybrid) | $150K–$180K Base | $300K–$360K OTE | Equity
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🚀 Why I'd Be Jumping at This One
This is a Seed-stage AI company that just closed $8.1M in fresh funding, bringing total backing to $10.3M from a blue-chip investor syndicate including True Ventures, Accomplice, Analog Ventures, Flybridge, and Benchstrength. They're sitting at nearly $2M in ARR.
That's not a science project that's a company that has figured out product-market fit and is now ready to pour fuel on the fire.
The market they're going after? $20 trillion. Energy, oil & gas, power, utilities, chemicals — industries that are desperate for AI that actually works in their environment.
They're transitioning out of founder-led sales. That means you get to write the playbook. If you've ever wanted to be the person who builds the GTM motion from scratch, shapes how a category-defining company sells, and gets compensated like a founder for doing it — this is it.
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This company has built an AI Copilot for Asset Performance Management — think of it as giving energy companies the ability to "ask their assets anything." They take complex operational and asset performance data and turn it into instant, actionable insights for the people who run plants, manage reliability, and make operational decisions worth millions of dollars.
The problem they're solving is real and urgent: knowledge in heavy industry is trapped in siloed systems, aging documentation, and the heads of experienced engineers who are retiring. Their AI platform changes that and the early revenue proves customers are paying for it.
Now they need closers.
The Role: Founding Account Executive
You'll be one of two founding AEs hired into this company. You report directly to the founder. You're not inheriting a territory — you're building one.
This is a full-cycle enterprise sales role with a heavy outbound mandate. If you need an SDR to hand you warm leads before you feel comfortable picking up the phone, this isn't your role. But if you thrive on hunting, love the energy sector, and know how to navigate a complex enterprise deal from cold outreach to signed contract — read on.
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What You'll Own
• Full sales cycle ownership — from cold outbound prospecting all the way through stakeholder mapping, demo, pilot management, and close
• Pipeline generation — 80–90% outbound. You'll leverage outreach, industry events, channel partners, and your existing network in energy/industrial
• Enterprise deal execution — initial pilots in the $50K–$100K range expanding to $120K–$1M+ multi-year contracts across oil & gas, power, utilities, and chemicals
• Consultative discovery — running high-quality conversations with plant managers, VPs of Operations, reliability leaders, and C-suite executives who have real budget and real pain
• Custom demos and pilot management — building demos on real customer data and managing hands-on pilots that convert to long-term contracts
• GTM co-creation — feeding field insights back to product and helping define the repeatable sales motion that will scale this company to the next level
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What the Right Person Looks Like
Hard Requirements:
• 5+ years of enterprise technology sales experience — specifically into energy, oil & gas, power, utilities, or heavy industrial verticals
• Proven track record closing $100K+ ACV deals — you know what a complex enterprise sale feels like and you've won them
• Experience at an early-stage company (Seed through Series B) — you know how to operate without a fully built-out support structure
• Based in Texas (Houston preferred) or genuinely willing to relocate — this is a hybrid role with 3 days in-office once the Houston office opens
• An existing Rolodex in the energy/industrial sector — you can pick up the phone and get a meeting
The Intangibles That Matter:
• Hungry self-starter — you don't wait to be told what to do
• Confident but low-ego — you can walk into a room with a C-suite executive and hold your own, but you're also coachable and collaborative
• Builder mentality — you get excited by ambiguity, not paralyzed by it
• Intellectually curious about AI and how it applies to industrial operations
What Will Get You Screened Out:
• Zero exposure to energy, utilities, or heavy industry — domain knowledge is non-negotiable here
• A pattern of job-hopping with multiple roles under 12 months without clear context — this company needs someone who will commit and build
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Why Now Is the Moment
companies at this stage — real revenue, fresh institutional capital, proven product, and a founder ready to hand off the sales motion don't stay at this stage for long. The playbook is being written right now. The AEs who join in the next 60 days will have equity, influence, and a story that follows them for the rest of their career.
The energy sector is in the middle of a generational technology shift. AI adoption in industrial operations is accelerating fast, and this company is positioned at the center of it with a product that's already generating revenue and a customer base that's expanding.
If you've spent years selling into energy and you've been waiting for the right early-stage bet — this is a very compelling one.
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Reporting Structure
You will report directly to the Founder & CEO — a hands-on leader who has been running sales personally and is now ready to bring in the right person to scale what's working.
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Location
Houston, TX (primary) | Austin, TX considered
Hybrid — 3 days in-office
July 27, 2026