Founding Account Executive

Job description

Coding AI IDEs changed how software is built. Catio is reinventing how software is decided and governed. As AI accelerates code, the real bottleneck has moved upstream: what to build, what to modernize, and how to make architectural decisions with speed and confidence. Catio is the Architecture IDE https://catio.docsend.com/view/3e5x8wtpw4py8cdq — the control plane for modern software systems. We build a living model of production systems, align business goals with technical reality, and generate decision-grade insights, modernization and optimization plans, and execution-ready feature specs. Catio amplifies architects and engineering leaders the way coding copilots amplify developers. See this Demo https://docsend.com/view/d9pqni5xzwx98bzc. Backed by Eniac Ventures, RRE, and operators from Databricks, Dropbox, Akamai, and Cerner, we’re defining a new category in software and infrastructure. THE ROLE We’re hiring our Founding Account Executive to build Catio’s commercial engine alongside the CEO. This is not a traditional AE role. You are helping define how a new category is sold — where there is no clear budget, no incumbent to displace, and no established playbook. You will own complex, consultative enterprise sales cycles and land the lighthouse customers that establish Catio in the market. This is a hybrid motion: you will generate and shape demand from the ground up — engaging architects, staff+ engineers, and platform teams through scrappy outbound, events, and direct engagement — while also converting product-led usage and technical validation into structured sales processes. Your role is to turn bottoms-up engagement and product signals into executive alignment and funded decisions — multi-threading to CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and platform leadership, and partnering closely with the CEO in those conversations. You will partner closely with a Solutions Architect to turn architecture discovery and proof-of-value work into decision-grade artifacts that enable confident executive decisions. The sale is consultative, technical, and multi-stakeholder. You will help engineering leaders frame architectural challenges, connect modernization efforts to business outcomes, and guide adoption of a new system of work for architectural reasoning. You’ll work directly with the CEO, with product and engineering close at hand. Your insights from the field will shape positioning, ICP, and the go-to-market system that scales the company. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Own full-cycle enterprise sales from pipeline creation through close - Generate pipeline through scrappy outbound, network-driven opportunities, and high-conviction account engagement - Engage primary users early to understand their architecture challenges, modernization goals, and organizational imperatives and constraints - Partner with the Solutions Architect to turn technical validation into decision-grade artifacts - Multi-thread across engineering, platform, and executive stakeholders - Convert technical proof into clear business narratives (BVAs, ROI, velocity, risk reduction) - Structure and drive proof-of-value engagements with clear success criteria and mutual action plans - Partner with the CEO to secure executive alignment and drive deals to close - Help define and refine the sales-assisted playbook for a new category - Feed high-fidelity market insight back into product, positioning, and activation WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR EXPERIENCE - 6–10 years of enterprise SaaS sales experience selling complex platforms into technical buyers - Experience selling infrastructure, cloud, AI/ML, DevTools, data platforms, or other architecture-level technology offerings - Demonstrated success generating pipeline and closing net-new enterprise business in emerging or category-creation markets - Experience navigating multi-stakeholder enterprise buying processes with technical champions and executive sponsors - Experience operating in early-stage or founder-led environments where GTM systems were still being defined - Exposure to modern cloud-native ecosystems (hyperscalers, data platforms, developer infrastructure, AI platforms) - Proven ability to sell into skeptical, highly technical users (not just economic buyers) HOW YOU WIN - Diagnostic and consultative — you frame the situation before pitching and bring structure to ambiguous problems - Technically credible — you can engage confidently with architects, principal engineers, and engineering leadership - Artifact-driven — you translate technical validation into clear, decision-grade deliverables that move deals forward - PLS-native — you know how to convert product usage and intent signals into structured enterprise sales - Champion builder — you identify and enable internal advocates who drive adoption - High-trust operator — you will represent Catio and our culture in the market and help scale our standards through how you sell and operate - Builder mindset — you want to shape the early commercial system of a category-defining company - High grit — you thrive in 0→1 environments and continue producing through ambiguity SHAPE THE FUTURE WITH CATIO Category Creation We are defining a new layer in the modern software stack — the system of work for architectural reasoning. This is not incremental tooling. It’s foundational. Cutting-Edge AI Catio sits at the intersection of AI, infrastructure, and enterprise systems — empowering architects and engineering leaders the way coding copilots empower developers. Ground-Floor Impact You will help shape our foundation — and in doing so, define the company’s trajectory. Team & Ambition We bring deep experience across AI, enterprise systems, and high-growth environments — we’re building a durable, category-defining company with the ambition to set the standard for how modern software systems are designed and governed. Principled Culture We operate with high trust and integrity — internally and externally. We work with senior technical leaders who expect rigor, clarity, and principled communication; we hold ourselves to that same bar. We move with urgency, but optimize for long-term, principled outcomes — never short-term gains that compromise trust.