Founding Account Executive, Brand Sponsorships

Founding Account Executive, Brand Sponsorships | Seed-Stage Sports Sponsorship Marketplace

New York, NY | $185K-$310K OTE ($110K-$160K base) + uncapped commission + meaningful equity

Most sports and live event sponsorships are still sold through cold emails, spreadsheets, and one-off negotiations. Our client, a venture-backed seed-stage startup, is building the marketplace that changes that, where brands find, compare, and close sponsorship deals. Their clients include major national brands and professional sports teams, leagues, venues, and entertainment properties.

The role

This is a founding sales hire, and the company sees it as one of its most important. The founders have proven the sales motion: brands are buying and revenue is flowing. Your job is to take it over, outsell the founders, and turn what works into a repeatable process.

You’ll close the larger, high-touch brand deals that need real discovery, multiple conversations, and a sharp seller leading them. A BDR sources and qualifies pipeline, books meetings for you, and handles smaller transactional deals. You’ll also generate your own pipeline. Every deal you work is yours from first touch to signed contract.

What you’ll do

• Own the full brand sponsorship sales cycle: first outreach to signed contract to post-sale relationship

• Build and run outbound to brand marketing leaders across CPG, beverage, fintech, gaming, DTC, and other categories

• Lead discovery and demos that surface sponsorship opportunities buyers can’t find elsewhere, and capture a clear brief

• Own your metrics: pipeline, conversion, deal velocity, and revenue

• Build the sales playbook (cadences, objection handling, deal desk) so the motion scales beyond you

• Bring buyer feedback directly to the founders and engineering team

• Represent the company at major brand marketing events and industry dinners

• Over time, hire and lead the sales team that follows you

What they’re looking for

• Results over pedigree: they care what you’ve accomplished, not where you went to school or how long it took

• A track record of winning: you can state your quota and attainment, and you’ve been at or near the top of every leaderboard you’ve been on

• Zero-to-one experience: you built a new territory, vertical, sales motion, or company without being asked

• At least one deal you closed that nobody thought was closable

• A high-level competitive background as an athlete, founder, or top rep

• Comfort selling without a finished playbook, and energy from ambiguity

• An understanding of how brands buy, or the ability to learn it faster than anyone

Growth path

There’s a clear path to building and leading the sales team.

Culture and perks

• Early-stage, fast-paced, with ambitious goals

• Customer obsessed: listen closely, iterate quickly, deliver exceptional service

• Full ownership, no task too small

• Original thinking and respectful disagreement are encouraged

• Backed by established sports tech and venture investors

• Meaningful early-stage equity

• Travel and entertainment budget for client meetings, events, and dinners

• Lunch provided

• Personalized perks: instead of a fixed benefits menu, they work with you on what matters, whether that’s a gym membership, an education budget, great dinners, or a standout vacation

Best for people who want to be pushed and who turn ambiguity into