Founding Account Executive - US

Job description

The way companies innovate is broken. The systems built to create and protect ideas can’t keep up with the pace of change. Today, 90% of S&P 500 company value is intangible (e.g., in intellectual property) - yet R&D and IP teams spend half their time buried in manual work, sifting through patents and paperwork instead of pushing the frontier forward. The tools of creating and protecting are stuck in the past. We’re here to fix that.Ankar is building the AI operating system for innovation, reinventing how companies generate and protect their inventions. Our platform orchestrates how ideas become defensible IP with a suite of AI modules such as patent drafting, office action response, and infringement detection.We’re at an inflection point: - We’ve raised >$24M to date from Tier-1 VCs like Atomico, Index Ventures, Norrsken, Daphni, and angels like the Founder of Hugging Face, CEO from Datadog, and Leaders from DeepMind and OpenAI. - We’re already working with the world’s most innovative companies including Fortune 500 companies such as L’Oréal and global law firms such as Vorys - Expanding our world-class team with alumni from Palantir, Amazon, and BCG to tackle the $1T+ innovation market. We’re just getting started. We are growing our team and looking for people who take ownership of ambitious projects, solve complex & high-impact problems, and want to play a defining role in building our US presence - bringing a new generation of AI-driven capabilities to market from the ground up. US Revenue Focus The US will be our largest market; we already have early customers, pipeline and revenue in the US and are seeking the person to turn this into a robust pipeline, portfolio and ultimately - scaled operation. Today we have: - Active customers across US corporate IP teams, innovation teams and leading law firms - Mid-five to mid-six figure ARR from US accounts - Ongoing enterprise conversations with larger US-based organizations The US is generating meaningful revenue already, without a local team. We’ve validated demand and built pipeline from the UK. Now we’re formalizing our US go-to-market. Over the next year, our ambition is to: - Close multiple six-figure US enterprise accounts - Lay the foundations for long-term US infrastructure and leadership - Build our first US enterprise sales pod (AEs, patent engineers, GTM support) - Establish Ankar as a category leader in AI for innovation creation and protection in the US What you’ll be doing As one of our Founding AEs, you’ll work closely with our co-founders, SDRs, Patent Engineers and GTM team to drive new business and expand our customer base. You’ll be the spearhead in the US - strategising, operating - opening doors and closing deals, managing your pipeline and the full sales cycle with enterprise and mid-market accounts, helping the world’s most innovative organizations adopt our AI platform to accelerate their IP and R&D work. You will: - Flesh out and develop the US revenue playbook - work with founders to develop the consistent, predictable and scalable motions, proving by way of doing - action and delivery. - Own and drive the end-to-end US sales process: prospecting, discovery, demos, solution positioning, negotiation, and closing (deals ranging $100K-1M ACV) - Build and manage a strong pipeline via outbound, inbound, and industry events. - Develop trusted, long-term relationships with prospects and customers, supporting Ankar’s client base and market position. - Develop and execute our GTM strategy by bringing messaging, ICPs, and sales methodologies to life with rigour and disciplined processes. - Develop and deliver compelling presentations, proposals, and reports tailored to customer needs. - Partner with the founders and the broader sales team to refine our sales processes, share market insights, and contribute to a culture of learning and improvement. - Collaborate with marketing, product, and engineering to provide feedback and influence our roadmap and go-to-market initiatives. This role is for an energetic, curious, and ambitious operator - with exceptional communication and problem-solving skills - who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment. We see this role as a continuous escalator towards taking more responsibility at Ankar. What we are looking for This is a founding AE role. We are not hiring traditional enterprise reps; we are hiring high-agency, revenue-obsessed hunters who can build and close from zero. - Proven 0→1 closer: Demonstrated track record of independently generating pipeline, running an enterprise sales motion and closing multiple 6-figure entreprise deals. You don’t wait for leads; you create and convert them. - End-to-end ownership: Able to run the full sales cycle autonomously, from first touch to close, while leveraging founders for strategic moments (exec alignment, complex negotiations). - Pipeline builder, not pipeline manager: Comfortable operating without brand pull or established playbooks. You know how to break into accounts, multi-thread, and create momentum from scratch. - Executive presence: Credible with C-level stakeholders. You can navigate complex organizations, build trust quickly, and drive decisions across multiple stakeholders. - Thrives in ambiguity: Operates effectively in an unstructured, fast-moving environment. You don’t need a playbook; you help build it. - High slope, low ego: Curious, coachable, and intellectually honest. You actively seek feedback and iterate fast. - Intensity and drive: High energy, high urgency, and deeply motivated by revenue and impact. You show up, push deals forward, and don’t let them stall. - Bonus points if you: - Have sold into patent, legal, or R&D teams (IP, innovation, engineering orgs) this will help reduce ramp, but not required - Have closed deals in ambiguous products / early-stage startups (no clear category, evolving positioning). This is a strong proxy for success at Ankar - Have experience selling technical or AI-driven product, especially where you had to translate complexity into business value - Have built pipeline in new markets or geographies from scratch, this is directly relevant to our US expansion - Have worked closely with founders on deals. This signals your ability to leverage (not depend on) exec involvement. - Have consistently outperformed quota in a high-scrutiny environment e.g. early-stage startup, new segment, or competitive category Culture at Ankar: Culture at Ankar is how we think, build, and operate. We’re building a generational company that redefines how the world’s best R&D teams create and protect ideas. - Contrarian - we think from first principles: We think deeply, question assumptions, and build from first principles. The best ideas come from clarity and rigour. - Creative - we build with taste: We’re building the R&D tools for the AI era and shaping what applied research looks like over the next 20 years. We care about precision, quality, and systems that last. - Competitiveness - we play to win: We move with urgency and set a very high bar for ourselves and each other. Every win raises the bar. Every challenge sharpens us. This role is not for you if... - You need a highly structured environment, a predefined playbook, regular working hours, or a schedule that never requires travel. We operate with high autonomy and ownership, expect our team to go above and beyond, be obsessed with our mission and thrive in ambiguity rather than wait for direction. - You prefer long planning cycles and certainty before acting. We move quickly, ship often, and adapt based on customer feedback and new information. - You want to manage the work rather than do the work. We're builders first, and everyone is expected to contribute directly to creating exceptional products. - You take it personally when ideas are challenged, priorities shift, or work gets redirected. We care more about finding the right answer than defending a particular one.