Founding Account Executive

Accountabilities: New Business Development Follow up with qualified company registrations and inbound leads to understand customer needs and identify opportunities for broader adoption. Convert individual users into team, departmental, and enterprise-level customers. Develop relationships with prospective customers and identify opportunities to expand the customer base across relevant market segments. Account Growth and Expansion Manage and develop existing customer accounts, increasing adoption across additional teams and product modules. Identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities for CRM, WhatsApp, AI-powered notes, e-signatures, invoicing, and other platform capabilities. Build long-term customer relationships by understanding evolving business needs and demonstrating relevant product value. Full-Cycle Sales and Deal Closing Own the sales process from discovery and product demonstrations through proposals, negotiations, security and legal reviews, and contract signature. Manage booked sales meetings and maintain momentum throughout the sales cycle. Work directly with the founders on strategic opportunities and high-value deals. Consistently monitor sales performance and work toward agreed revenue and activity targets. Sales Process Development Build the foundational sales infrastructure, including pipeline management, CRM standards, forecasting, sales playbooks, and effective handover processes. Document successful approaches and turn individual wins into repeatable sales practices. Track performance data, identify process improvements, and establish a more predictable approach to revenue growth. Strategic and Cross-Functional Collaboration Share customer feedback and market insights to influence pricing, packaging, product development, and go-to-market strategy. Work closely with the founders to prioritize opportunities and refine the commercial approach. Help establish a scalable sales motion that can support future team expansion and entry into additional markets. Requirements Approximately 4–8 years of B2B software sales experience, including at least 2 years with direct responsibility for closing deals. Native-level German proficiency or German at C2 level, together with good English communication skills. Demonstrated experience independently managing the full sales cycle, including discovery, product demonstrations, proposals, security and legal discussions, negotiations, and closing. Proven ability to expand existing customer accounts, in addition to acquiring new customers. Strong understanding of sales performance metrics, with the ability to clearly communicate targets, attainment, average contract value, and average sales cycle length from previous roles. Experience maintaining accurate CRM records, managing pipeline activity, forecasting, and building structured sales processes. Strong commercial judgment, customer discovery skills, and the ability to identify opportunities for broader product adoption. An independent, accountable, and execution-focused working style, with the confidence to communicate early when assumptions or strategies are not working. Comfort operating in a fast-growing environment where processes are still being developed and priorities may evolve quickly. Preferred experience: Working in a bootstrapped, profitable, or rapidly scaling software company with fewer than 200 employees. Preferred experience: Managing longer sales cycles involving German mid-market and enterprise customers. Preferred experience: Building repeatable sales processes from product-led growth or inbound demand. A specific degree, corporate background, prior knowledge of the product, or residence in Cologne is not required. Practical sales performance, customer understanding, transparency, and reliable execution are the priorities. Benefits Competitive compensation: €45,000–€55,000 annual base salary plus €65,000–€75,000 in target variable compensation, for total on-target earnings of €110,000–€130,000 at 100% quota attainment. Uncapped commission: No upper limit on commission earnings. Accelerators for overperformance: 1.25x commission rate above 100% of quota, 1.5x above 120%, and 2x above 150%. Illustrative earning potential: With a €50,000 base salary and €70,000 target variable compensation, total compensation would be approximately €120,000 at 100% attainment, €138,000 at 120%, €169,000 at 150%, and €239,000 at 200%. Guaranteed variable compensation: The variable component is guaranteed during the first three months. Transparent compensation structure: Quotas, commission calculations, performance measurement, and payout timing are documented in writing before each performance period begins. Fully remote work: Work from anywhere, with no requirement to live in Cologne. Direct access to founders: Collaborate closely with company leadership on strategic deals, commercial decisions, and business growth. Meaningful ownership: Build the sales function and establish processes rather than simply inheriting an existing system. Career progression: Opportunity to recruit and develop future sales team members and progress toward a commercial leadership role across Europe and potentially additional markets. Profitable, bootstrapped environment: Contribute to sustainable growth in a business focused on customer value rather than dependence on external fundraising. Product and market influence: Help shape pricing, packaging, product priorities, and go-to-market strategy through direct customer feedback.