Founding Growth Lead

Success Matcher Recruitment; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Success Matcher Recruitment seeks an entrepreneurial Foundations Growth Lead to own the entire top-of-funnel GTM from scratch. You will drive outbound campaigns, PLG marketing, and field events to generate qualified meetings with factory operators and executives.

You will travel 1–3 times per month to manufacturing trade shows and client sites, building direct relationships and shaping the early growth motion for the startup.

Qualifications

• 2–6 years of top-of-funnel B2B sales, business development, or GTM at an early-stage startup, or consulting/IB background.
• Proven track record sourcing meetings and pipeline from events, conferences, or trade shows.
• Ability to independently set up and operate an outbound sales stack (CRM, sequencing, targeting).

Responsibilities

• Own Top-of-Funnel Pipeline: drive lead generation via outbound, PLG marketing, and field events.
• Conference & Field Mastery: travel 1–3 times per month for trade shows and on-site visits.
• Experimentation: build and run your own outbound tooling stack without dedicated operations support.
• Scale the GTM Motion: lay groundwork for sales process with path to post-sales growth.

Skills

Lead generation

Outbound campaigns

PLG marketing

Consultative selling

Strategic planning

Tools

CRM

Sequencing

Targeting lists

Job description

Our client is a venture-backed, seed-stage startup that is building autonomous AI systems to operate factories. Their AI agents learn specific factory operations, identify root causes of downtime, and deliver real-time corrective actions directly to production teams.

We are seeking an entrepreneurial, self-directed Founding Growth Lead with 2 to 6 years of experience to own the entire top-of-funnel go-to-market (GTM) motion from scratch.

As the first dedicated GTM hire, your primary, #1 KPI will be putting qualified meetings on the calendar with operations leaders, manufacturing executives, and C-suite buyers. You will dynamically navigate complex, consultative conversations with factory operators to uncover pain points around downtime, yield loss, and margin.

What You Will Do:

• Own Top-of-Funnel Pipeline: Drive lead generation through an experimental mix of outbound campaigns, product-led growth (PLG) marketing, and field events.
• Conference & Field Mastery: Travel 1–3 times per month to represent the company at multi-day manufacturing trade shows, industry conferences, and on-site customer visits to build face-to-face relationships.
• Experimentation: Build and run your own outbound tooling stack (sequencing, CRM, targeting lists) without requiring dedicated operations support.
• Scale the GTM Motion: Lay the foundational groundwork for the sales process, with a clear path toward owning post-sales and eventually building out the growth team.

Key Requirements:

• Experience: 2–6 years of experience across top-of-funnel B2B sales, business development, or go-to-market at an early-stage startup, OR a background in management consulting, investment banking, or private equity.
• Event-Led Growth: Proven track record of directly sourcing meetings and pipeline from physical events, conferences, or trade shows.
• Autonomy & Tooling: Ability to independently set up and operate an outbound sales stack (CRM, sequencing, targeting).
• Communication Skills: Exceptional ability to quickly synthesize complex operational problems and think on your feet during ambiguous, high-stakes conversations.
• Travel Flexibility: Willingness to travel 1–3 times a month for multi-day events and client site visits.
• Nice-to-haves: Early-stage startup experience (seed/pre-seed) as an AE, BDR, or Growth Lead; exposure to PLG/self-serve motions; familiarity with manufacturing or hardware industries.