Founding Account Executive

Founding Account Executive (Full-Cycle)*

Starboard | New York, NY (Hybrid)

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About Starboard

Starboard is building the AI-native operating system for global trade. Our flagship product is an autonomous AI quoting agent for freight forwarders that handles approximately 80% of customer quotes without human involvement, returning priced offers in under 30 seconds across 150+ airline integrations. We sell to mid-market freight forwarders (20–200 employees) across North America, Europe, and Asia.

The company is seed-stage and backed by Eclipse Ventures and Garuda Ventures. Our headquarters is in Toronto, Canada, with a growing commercial presence in New York. We are scaling through a validated go-to-market motion that pairs conference-led top-of-funnel with outbound and inbound sales, and have recently launched at industry events including GLA Cape Town, JCtrans Bangkok, and TPM Long Beach.

The Opportunity

We are hiring our Founding Account Executive — a full-cycle commercial role based in New York City. This is a career-defining step-up role for a top-performing mid-market SDR who is either newly promoted to AE or ready to make that transition now.

You will own every stage of the sales cycle, from outbound prospecting through signed contract. You will inherit a validated two-meeting sales motion with a 58% qualified-demo-to-paid conversion rate and an average deal size of approximately $18,000. The outbound muscle you have built as a mid-market SDR is exactly the muscle that drives this role — the difference is that you now also run discovery, demo, negotiation, and close on the same accounts you source.

You will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer until a VP of Sales is hired post-Series A, at which point you will transition under that leader.

Who This Role Is For

This role is designed for one of two profiles:

— A top-performing mid-market SDR or BDR (consistently top decile in their cohort) who has overachieved on pipeline generation and is ready to step up to closing.

— A recently-promoted Account Executive (0–18 months of closing experience) who came up through an SDR role and is hungry for founding-level ownership at a venture-backed startup.

This role is not designed for:

— Senior AEs with 4+ years of closing experience seeking a lateral move.

— Sellers who want pre-qualified pipeline handed to them.

— Career-SDRs who do not want to learn the closing side of the cycle.

Key Responsibilities — Full-Cycle Ownership

You will personally own each of the following stages of the sales cycle:

— Prospecting. Build and execute outbound campaigns to source your own pipeline through email, LinkedIn, phone, and in-person at industry conferences. The majority of your pipeline is yours to generate.

— Qualification. Run discovery calls to confirm fit against our ICP and identify decision-makers, budget, and timeline.

— Demonstration. Lead product demonstrations tailored to each prospect's freight operations.

— Negotiation. Manage commercial terms, security review, and procurement processes through to mutual agreement.

— Closing. Drive contracts to signature.

— Handoff. Transition signed accounts cleanly to the Director of Implementation. This role does not own post-sale go-live, customer success, or renewals.

In addition, you will:

— Carry an annual new ARR quota of approximately $600,000 in Year 1, with a structured 6-month ramp.

— Partner with the New York-based Sales Development Representative and the broader Toronto-based SDR pod for incremental pipeline support — supplemental to, not a substitute for, your own outbound work.

— Represent Starboard at industry conferences and customer events, with occasional domestic and international travel.

— Provide structured feedback to the product and marketing organizations on ICP refinement, competitive intelligence, and feature gaps observed in the field.

— Maintain accurate forecast hygiene and pipeline discipline in the company CRM.

Required Qualifications

— 1–4 years of B2B SaaS sales experience.

— At least 12 months as a Sales Development Representative or Business Development Representative selling into mid-market accounts.

— Documented top-quartile performance against pipeline-generation or quota targets in your current or most recent seat.

— Comfort with high-volume, high-quality outbound activity across email, LinkedIn, phone, and in-person channels.

— Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

— Authorization to work in the United States.

Preferred Qualifications

— 6–18 months of full-cycle or closing experience as an Account Executive.

— Direct experience selling into freight forwarding, logistics, supply chain, or adjacent vertical software markets.

— Prior experience at a Seed- or Series A-stage startup.

— Familiarity with modern sales tooling (e.g., Apollo, Outreach, HubSpot, or comparable platforms).

— Existing network within the freight forwarding or logistics technology community.

Compensation and Benefits

— Base salary: $80,000–$120,000 USD

— On-target earnings: $160,000–$240,000 USD (50% base / 50% variable)

— Uncapped commission structure with accelerators above quota

— Founding equity grant, vesting over four years with a one-year cliff

— Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits

— Paid time off and standard United States holidays

Reporting Structure

This role reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer until a VP of Sales is hired. The Founding Account Executive will work alongside the New York-based Sales Development Representative and partner with the Director of Implementation, Head of Product, and Head of Engineering as needed.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit a brief note of interest along with their most recent pipeline or quota attainment record to Sumeet Trehan via LinkedIn message.

Starboard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.