Account Executive

Light Labs; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Light Labs is seeking an Account Executive in Austin to own the new-logo motion for leading CPG brands and co-manufacturers. You’ll hunt relentlessly, use AI-enhanced outreach, and move quickly to secure the first order.

This in-office, Austin-based role sits with the founders as we scale Light Labs toward a $50M run rate by 2027, handing off clean accounts to the growth team and building scalable, high-velocity enterprise relationships.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of quota-carrying, high-velocity sales experience with outbound wins.

Responsibilities

• Own the new-logo motion for named co-manufacturers and large CPG brands.
• Leverage AI for ABM with personalized outreach to accounts.
• Turn customers into pipeline by generating referrals and introductions.
• Respond within minutes to inquiries and keep deals moving daily.
• Qualify, size, and stage trials to reduce friction from first talk to first sample.

Skills

New logo sales

Hunter mentality

AI in selling

Enterprise sales

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Role Overview

As an Account Executive at Light Labs, you’ll be our first pure hunter. Your job is breaking into new co-manufacturers and large brands in CPG: getting us in the door, landing the first order, and handing a clean account to the Account Management team to grow. Today, hunting and farming are blended across our AEs; this is the first role resourced exclusively for net-new logos, and you’ll own that motion end to end. We’ve grown from zero to a multi-million-dollar run rate in under 2 years, and you’ll play a key role in scaling Light Labs to a $50M run rate in 2027.

Responsibilities

• Own the new-logo motion. Work a named list of co-manufacturers and large CPG brands and get in however you can: referrals, warm intros, cold calls, trade shows, inbound. Whatever it takes. You’re measured on new logos landed each month. This is a high-velocity motion, but your buyers are enterprise: quality and ops leaders at some of the largest manufacturers and brands in the world.

• Leverage AI to out-execute every other lab. Use AI for ABM at a level nobody else in this industry is touching: personalize every aspect of outreach to the account, the plant, the person. Be insanely creative. Wow prospects with a level of polish and relevance no other lab matches.

• Turn customers into pipeline. Our happiest customers know every coman and brand in their category. Systematically generate referrals and intros from the existing base, and design incentives that make introducing Light Labs a no-brainer.

• Respond within minutes. Speed wins trust and deals. It’s the number one reason customers work with us, and it’s the standard for every email, call, and follow-up in your pipeline.

• Compress cycle time. Make it fast and easy for a prospect to qualify our lab. Kill every step that slows the path from first conversation to first sample, and keep deals moving daily.

• Qualify, size, and stage trials. Understand each account’s whitespace, size the opportunity, and stage trials so prospects can test us with near-zero friction. Then crush the trial experience so the account is set up to scale.

• Be a true problem solver. Lead with curiosity. Every prospect has a testing pain: turnaround time, cost, failed results, a compliance deadline. Find it, get creative, and build the wedge that gets us in.

• Always get on the plane. Nothing beats in-person time. Visit plants and HQs, walk the floor with quality and ops teams, and work the trade shows where comans and brands actually make decisions.

• Learn the science and how a lab operates. We work in a complex, highly technical industry. Learn what matters to prospects, speak their language, and know enough of the science (methods, contaminants, specs, regulatory thresholds) to build rapport and trust with technical buyers.

• Hand off clean. Once the first order is placed, transition the account to an Account Manager with relationships mapped and context documented, so expansion starts on day one instead of from scratch.

• Scale impact. Help drive Light Labs to a $50M run rate in 2027 by consistently opening the doors our Account Managers grow through.

Requirements

• 2+ years of quota-carrying, high-velocity sales experience with a track record of outbound-sourced wins, ideally in a fast-paced or early-stage environment.

• True hunter. Breaks into accounts cold, comfortable on the phone, and energized (not drained) by a monthly new-logo number. Knows how to run fast without cheapening the experience for an enterprise buyer.

• AI-native seller. Already uses AI daily for research, personalization, and outreach, and is excited to push it further than anyone in this industry has.

• Scrappy and creative. Finds the referral path, the trade show booth, the mutual connection, or the side door when the front door is closed.

• Relentlessly responsive. Operates with urgency and treats speed as a competitive advantage, not a courtesy.

• Excellent communicator. Skilled in discovery, storytelling, and objection handling, with a clear, persuasive writing style.

• Entrepreneurial mindset. Operates independently, thrives in ambiguity, and builds structure where none exists. You’ll be defining this motion, not inheriting it.

• Fast learner. Quickly absorbs technical and scientific concepts and translates them into business value.

• Willing to travel. Regular time on the road with prospects; expect meaningful travel to plants, HQs, and industry events.

• Mission-aligned. Motivated by improving transparency and integrity in the food system.

• Austin, TX (in-office 5 days per week). This role sits side-by-side with the founders and broader team as we scale Light Labs’ GTM engine.

Who We Are

Light Labs is building the modern platform for lab testing, starting with consumer goods brands. We help companies test more cheaply, quickly, and enable them to use lab results to automate regulatory compliance and grow revenue.

We believe consumers deserve to know the purity and accuracy of every product that affects their families’ health. Improving our food system starts with increasing transparency and creating a more informed customer. Not only are we building a lab that makes testing faster, cheaper, and easier, but also the infrastructure that allows brands to:

1. Market and highlight their lab results by making it easy to push lab data directly to product display pages. Here, brands will highlight what’s in their product (active ingredients + they meet their claims) and what’s not in their product (heavy metals, environmental toxins, PFAs, etc)

2. Automatically comply with regulations like Prop 65, CA AB 899, Amazon testing requirements, etc.

By integrating the full experience – from testing to the data sharing with customers – we’re building a more efficient and streamlined process. Brands can now differentiate themselves and become the no-brainer choice in their category through testing and great transparency.

We’re a team of experienced founders that have raised $30M+ from top VCs (8VC and Valor), with top CPG founders and strategics who participated into the round. Whether you’re lab tech, engineer, sales, marketing, or customer support, you’ll have a seat at the table as we work to increase transparency in the food system.

Our Mission

Almost everything people consume is becoming increasingly toxic (and bereft of nutrition) which leads to massive health dysfunction while simultaneously destroying our planet. No one knows about it because you can’t see, taste, smell, or quantify the problem:

• Cinnamon Apple Puree pouches, marketed for children and labeled as preservative-free, kosher, and gluten-free, contained lead levels 200 times greater than the FDA’s proposed guidelines

• Over 1300 chemicals are banned in cosmetics in the EU, while only 11 are in the United States

• The US also allows thousands of food additives which are banned in other countries

• A study of 168 baby foods revealed that 95% contained at least one heavy metal (arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium), with a quarter containing all four

• Seven out eight samples of kale contained ‘disturbing’ levels of PFAs, with organic kale containing higher levels of the toxic compounds

Today, even if consumer brands or manufacturers wanted to test for purity of their products, the experience is slow, cumbersome, expensive, and nearly impossible to interpret or share the lab results unless you have a PhD in the area you’re testing for.

Because there is no feedback loop or standardized transparency that brands offer, there is no consumer pressure on change of practices and sourcing. If people knew what was in their food, they’d be shocked. They would shop differently.

Our mission is to bring this transparency to the food system. Allow customers to buy products and brands that are free of toxic ingredients. Transparency is the first step in creating demand for cleaner products, and ultimately a cleaner supply chain.

Founding Team

• Nick Mares: 2x founder, Kettle & Fire and Upside Financing. Kettle & Fire is a $100 million/year brand while Upside Financing exited in 2022. He’s raised more than $60M across the two companies and been both in the CEO and COO roles. Nick is a Thiel Fellow.

• Vijay Manohar: growth and GTM leader. He helped Samsara scale to be one of the fastest growing B2B software companies ever to reach $1B ARR, including an IPO (NYSE: IOT). B.S. in computer engineering from UT Austin.

Values We’re Looking For

• First Principles

• Standard of Excellence

• Bias for Action

• Low Ego