Founding Account Executive
Antler, International Falls, MN, United States
Founding Account Executive @ Merchkit
Own the Commercial Engine at the Start of a Category
The Opportunity Ecommerce is going through a structural shift. AI shopping surfaces - ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Amazon Rufus - are changing how products get found and purchased. They don't browse pages. They parse structured data, compare content quality, and recommend based on richness. Products with thin attributes, generic descriptions are invisible.
No traditional PIM does what Merchkit does. No feed tool addresses content quality for LLM retrieval. No competitor is positioned around continuous content optimization for agentic commerce. McKinsey projects $3–5 trillion in global retail revenue from agentic commerce by 2030. Merchkit is the product catalog platform built for that world - and the window to own this category is 12–18 months.
We have paying customers, strong product-market fit in furniture and home furnishings, and a positioning advantage in a market that’s about to get very big very fast. Now we need someone to turn that traction into a scalable sales engine.
You’ll be the first dedicated sales hire. You’ll work directly with the CEO. You’ll own how Merchkit gets in front of buyers, opens doors, and builds pipeline. This is a founding role - not a seat on a team.
What You’ll Do
Own pipeline generation : outbound, partners, events, creative channels - whatever gets qualified meetings on the calendar
Be the first point of contact : run first calls, qualify hard, and set up deals to close
Co-sell with the CEO
to progress and close large ACV deals, taking increasing ownership of the full cycle over time
Build partner and referral channels : Shopify agencies, ecommerce consultancies, tech ecosystem - as a pipeline multiplier
Bring market signal back : what resonates, what doesn’t, where competitors show up, where deals stall
What We’re Looking For
3–7 years in B2B SaaS sales
— you’ve carried a quota and built pipeline where none existed
Early-stage experience
— you’ve been at a company under $5M ARR and know what that actually looks like: building the playbook while running it
Outbound is your native language : cold calling, email, LinkedIn, events, creative plays - you don’t wait for inbound
Bias to action that borders on impatience
— speed matters more than polish in the early days
Ecommerce, product data, catalog management, or experience selling into merchandising/ops buyers
is a plus. Not required, but you’ll ramp faster
You want a founding role, not a job
— strong equity, ownership, and the chance to build something from scratch
What You Walk Into This isn’t a cold start.
Product
— A differentiated AI-powered platform with no direct competitor doing what Merchkit does.
Customers
— Live, paying customers across furniture, home furnishings, and appliances. Testimonials you can use in outreach on day one.
Positioning
— A clear narrative built around agentic commerce and AI discoverability — the sharpest hook in the market right now.
Sales Assets
— An AI-native outbound & GTM stack, messaging frameworks, proposal templates, and a defined ICP already in place.
Leadership
— Direct access to the CEO, who knows the product and the market cold. You’ll have a co-seller, not a manager.
Compensation Structure Structure
50% base / 50% variable Variable Split
30% bookings (closed ARR) + 20% pipeline generation Target Deals
$30K+ ACV Equity
Strong early-stage equity participation
What’s Next? If you’re excited about:
Owning commercial motion at a company with real product-market fit
Selling a narrative that’s genuinely ahead of where the market is going
Building a sales function from the ground up — your process, your playbook
Working directly with a founder who will co-sell with you, not manage you
…reach out
At Merchkit, we believe diverse teams build better products. We welcome applications from everyone, regardless of background.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
The Opportunity Ecommerce is going through a structural shift. AI shopping surfaces - ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Amazon Rufus - are changing how products get found and purchased. They don't browse pages. They parse structured data, compare content quality, and recommend based on richness. Products with thin attributes, generic descriptions are invisible.
No traditional PIM does what Merchkit does. No feed tool addresses content quality for LLM retrieval. No competitor is positioned around continuous content optimization for agentic commerce. McKinsey projects $3–5 trillion in global retail revenue from agentic commerce by 2030. Merchkit is the product catalog platform built for that world - and the window to own this category is 12–18 months.
We have paying customers, strong product-market fit in furniture and home furnishings, and a positioning advantage in a market that’s about to get very big very fast. Now we need someone to turn that traction into a scalable sales engine.
You’ll be the first dedicated sales hire. You’ll work directly with the CEO. You’ll own how Merchkit gets in front of buyers, opens doors, and builds pipeline. This is a founding role - not a seat on a team.
What You’ll Do
Own pipeline generation : outbound, partners, events, creative channels - whatever gets qualified meetings on the calendar
Be the first point of contact : run first calls, qualify hard, and set up deals to close
Co-sell with the CEO
to progress and close large ACV deals, taking increasing ownership of the full cycle over time
Build partner and referral channels : Shopify agencies, ecommerce consultancies, tech ecosystem - as a pipeline multiplier
Bring market signal back : what resonates, what doesn’t, where competitors show up, where deals stall
What We’re Looking For
3–7 years in B2B SaaS sales
— you’ve carried a quota and built pipeline where none existed
Early-stage experience
— you’ve been at a company under $5M ARR and know what that actually looks like: building the playbook while running it
Outbound is your native language : cold calling, email, LinkedIn, events, creative plays - you don’t wait for inbound
Bias to action that borders on impatience
— speed matters more than polish in the early days
Ecommerce, product data, catalog management, or experience selling into merchandising/ops buyers
is a plus. Not required, but you’ll ramp faster
You want a founding role, not a job
— strong equity, ownership, and the chance to build something from scratch
What You Walk Into This isn’t a cold start.
Product
— A differentiated AI-powered platform with no direct competitor doing what Merchkit does.
Customers
— Live, paying customers across furniture, home furnishings, and appliances. Testimonials you can use in outreach on day one.
Positioning
— A clear narrative built around agentic commerce and AI discoverability — the sharpest hook in the market right now.
Sales Assets
— An AI-native outbound & GTM stack, messaging frameworks, proposal templates, and a defined ICP already in place.
Leadership
— Direct access to the CEO, who knows the product and the market cold. You’ll have a co-seller, not a manager.
Compensation Structure Structure
50% base / 50% variable Variable Split
30% bookings (closed ARR) + 20% pipeline generation Target Deals
$30K+ ACV Equity
Strong early-stage equity participation
What’s Next? If you’re excited about:
Owning commercial motion at a company with real product-market fit
Selling a narrative that’s genuinely ahead of where the market is going
Building a sales function from the ground up — your process, your playbook
Working directly with a founder who will co-sell with you, not manage you
…reach out
At Merchkit, we believe diverse teams build better products. We welcome applications from everyone, regardless of background.
#J-18808-Ljbffr