Founding GTM Lead

About the Role

This is a founding commercial role at an early-stage AI/ML startup, sitting directly alongside the CEO and COO to build the go-to-market engine from scratch. You will own the full sales pipeline, from first discovery call through close, while also laying the foundation for a high-performing commercial team. The role matters because you are not just filling a quota, you are defining how this company sells and who it sells to.

What You'll Do

• Define and execute the go-to-market strategy, owning pipeline targets and the end-to-end sales process.

• Partner with founders on enterprise customer conversations, leading calls with industrial decision-makers across Europe.

• Build enterprise-grade sales materials including decks, business cases, and ROI models tailored to each stakeholder.

• Optimize the funnel across discovery, qualification, demo, and close by identifying bottlenecks and running conversion experiments.

• Represent the company at customer sites, trade fairs, and industry forums across Europe.

• Run deals with structured discipline (MEDDIC/MEDDPICC), maintaining clarity on status, next steps, and blockers at all times.

• Refine the ideal customer profile week over week based on field signals, adjusting for industry, company size, persona, and pain point.

• Turn customer wins into reusable proof points: case studies, references, testimonials, and joint go-to-market plays.

• Hire and develop the founding commercial team, including first Account Executives, setting performance standards and running deal reviews.

What We're Looking For

• 1 to 3 years of hands-on experience closing ARR in B2B or enterprise software sales, consulting, or an equivalent role with direct quota responsibility.

• Demonstrated ability to design and execute outbound sales processes from scratch, with measurable conversion outcomes.

• Fluency in industrial enterprise sales dynamics: procurement cycles, budget timing, and multi-stakeholder sign-off.

• Experience running complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles end-to-end with documented deal progression discipline.

• Track record selling or building GTM for emerging or category-defining products where market positioning required co-creation with buyers.

• Experience recruiting, onboarding, and developing commercial talent with high performance standards.

• Background as a first commercial hire at a scaleup, an ex-founder, or a management consultant with hands-on execution experience is a strong plus.

• Native German proficiency and professional English at C1 or above, comfortable in both investor-grade and industrial buyer conversations.

• AI-native mindset with comfort in ambiguity and a builder's mentality.

Location

On-site in Berlin, Germany. Visa sponsorship is not available.