Founding Account Executive

Zyphe; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Zyphe is looking for a Founding Account Executive to shape sales processes and strategies as employee #1 in the commercial team. You will report directly to the CEO and focus on taking Zyphe from founder-sold to repeatable sales.

The candidate will manage deal execution, own pipeline hygiene, and co-author the sales playbook, aiming for a $1.5M new ARR quota in Year 1. Experience in B2B SaaS sales with a focus on compliance is essential.

The role is remote, with a base salary of $180,000 to $200,000 and potential on-target earnings of $360,000 to $400,000.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of B2B SaaS sales experience.
• At least 4 years selling into compliance or RegTech.
• Experience closing $50K+ ACV deals.

Responsibilities

• Shadow and take over deal-execution follow-ups.
• Close deals to a written LOI.
• Own pipeline hygiene in HubSpot.

Skills

B2B SaaS sales experience

Compliance sales

Deal closing

Strong email discipline

Network in fintech

Fluency in English

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

HubSpot

Notion

Slack

Job description

About the role

Zyphe is hiring its Founding Account Executive, employee #1 on commercial and the second person in the company who can sit across from a Head of Compliance and close. You will report directly to the CEO.

Until now every dollar of ARR has come through the founder. Your job is to take Zyphe from founder-sold to repeatable, and become the foundation we hire the next 3‑5 AEs on top of. We have live engagements with Transak, Interlace, and Binance Italy, an active fundraise with a committed lead, and a self‑serve product shipping in 60 days.

This is not a ramp-on-a-playbook role. There is no playbook. You will help write it.

Responsibilities

• Shadow every active deal (Transak, Interlace, Binance Italy, Trust Wallet, Isilab) and take over deal-execution follow-ups within 30 days.
• Close Isilab to a written LOI in your first 45 days.
• Own pipeline hygiene in HubSpot as the source of truth, with a weekly forecast call.
• Take 50% of new discovery calls by week 8 and run discovery solo by week 12.
• Co-author Sales Playbook v1: ICP, qualification framework, objection library, demo script, and pricing guardrails.
• Carry $1.5M new ARR quota in Year 1, weighted toward self-sourced after Q2.
• Build and run an outbound motion against Tier-2 crypto exchanges and EU fintechs.
• Represent Zyphe in fundraise diligence; investors will speak with you directly.
• Hire AE #2 in months 9-12 if you are hitting plan, and hand the motion off cleanly.

You may be a good fit if you

• Have 8-12 years in B2B SaaS sales, with at least 4 years selling into compliance, RegTech, identity, payments, or financial crime.
• Have personally sat across from Heads of Compliance, MLROs, and CCOs and closed them.
• Have personally closed $50K+ ACV deals in this category and can defend that record under reference.
• Operate as a founding seller, cold discovery, decks on a Sunday night, follow-up emails written yourself, no SDR layer required.
• Arrive with a network in our buyer pool: fintechs, crypto exchanges, neobanks, and payment institutions in EU and UK.
• Are native in HubSpot, Notion, and Slack, with strong email discipline.
• Are fluent in English. Italian, French, or German is a plus.

Strong candidates may also have experience with

• Selling KYB, KYC, or AML tooling such as Sumsub, Onfido, ComplyAdvantage, Chainalysis, Persona, Trulioo, or Jumio.
• Founding or top-3 commercial role at a Seed, Series B startup that scaled.
• Speaking credibly about a technical product, agent architecture, FaceID models, proxy re-encryption.
• Shaping early commercial narrative for a fundraise alongside a CEO.

Annual salary

Base: $180,000, $200,000 USD. On-target earnings: $360,000, $400,000 USD (50/50 split). Founding equity: 0.75%, 1.5%, tiered to seniority and quota. Equity vests over four years with a one-year cliff.

Logistics

Location: Remote (EU/UK preferred; US considered for the right candidate). Hybrid policy: Fully remote, with periodic on-sites for offsites, customer visits, and fundraise. Visa sponsorship: Not available at this time.

Education

We require at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent professional experience.