Braun Board

Account Executive, High Velocity

Granola · San Francisco

Base
Not disclosed
OTE
$140K–$180K
Quota attainment
Not disclosed
Posted
5mo ago

Why it matters: OTE tells you what you could earn. Attainment tells you how realistic it is.

Ask: “What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?”

Still open · checked 2h agoon Granola's careers page

What Granola sells

AI notepad for busy meeting days

People in back-to-back meetings often can't write down everything that gets said. Granola is an AI notepad that helps them keep track during those meetings, and it can grow into a shared workspace for the whole team. With Granola, a team keeps its meeting notes and ideas in one place.

In plain English, from their own job posts. Something wrong? Tell us

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The Braun Read

Worth a look

Solid on the basics. Use the first call to fill in the gaps.

Pay
OTE is listed. Ask what the base is.
Transparency
Says nothing about quota, attainment, deal size, territory or sales cycle.
Pipeline
A mix of self-sourced pipeline and inbound or SDR help.
Time on market
Open 171 days. Ask why it's been hard to fill.
Company hiring
6 sales roles open, hiring at a steady pace.

Red flags

None spotted.

Worth asking about

  • Open 90+ days. This role has been posted for three months or more. Ask why it's been hard to fill, and whether anyone left it.

Green flags

  • Publishes OTE. It tells you the on-target earnings up front. Most postings don't.

Based only on what the posting says. Flags are a starting point for your first call, not a final judgment.

Questions to ask on the first call

Built from what this posting leaves out. How they answer tells you as much as what they say.

  1. 1.

    This role has been open a while. What's made it hard to fill?

    The answer tells you what candidates saw that made them walk.

  2. 2.

    What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?

    OTE is what you could earn. This is how likely you are to earn it.

  3. 3.

    What percentage of reps on the team have been here more than 18 months?

    Tenure shows whether people stay long enough to get paid.

  4. 4.

    Has the comp plan changed in the last 12 to 18 months? What changed?

    A plan that changes every year means the goalposts keep moving.

  5. 5.

    Who sits with reps and reviews calls each week?

    Coaching is often what's behind a good or bad attainment number.

  6. 6.

    Why is this role open? Did someone leave, or is it new?

    New headcount is growth. A replacement means someone left. Ask why.

When the offer comes

Save these for later. They land better once they've said yes to you.

  1. 1.

    Can I see the full comp plan in writing, including clawbacks and accelerators?

    What's in writing is what gets paid. Read it before you sign.

  2. 2.

    Can I see the actual comp distribution for the team last year, not just the OTE?

    The spread shows what most reps really take home. OTE is just the target.

  3. 3.

    I'd be walking away from earned commission to join. Is there room for a sign-on bonus to help cover that?

    Leaving money behind is a fair reason to ask. The worst answer is no.

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The role

You'll convert product-led free users and inbound leads into paid accounts quickly, while also generating net-new pipeline through outbound. Granola is an AI meeting notepad that spreads team by team.

SMB · New Logo

Selling motion

New Logo

Who you're selling to

Buyer:
Engaged free users converting to paid accountsIn their words: “Convert engaged free users into paid accounts quickly and efficiently”
Company size:
SMB

Pipeline expectations

A mix of self-sourced pipeline and inbound / SDR support.

Compensation

$140K–$180K OTE

What is not disclosed

This posting doesn't tell you:

  • Base salary
  • Quota size
  • Quota attainment
  • Average deal size
  • Territory
  • Sales cycle length

The questions above cover the big ones.

Full posting
ABOUT US We’re Team Granola 👋 building tools that help humans think and work better. What began as an AI notepad for back-to-back meetings has become a shared team workspace and second brain. Granola spreads organically inside companies, often starting with a senior leader and quickly cascading across teams. Today, Granola is used at many of the world’s top and fastest-growing companies like Vercel, Cursor, Lovable and Decagon. Designed and built in London, Granola now serves a predominantly US customer base. To support that growth, we’ve opened a San Francisco office as the hub for our North American go-to-market efforts. ABOUT THE ROLE You’ll help build our high-velocity sales motion from the ground up, turning product-led demand into revenue. This role is focused on speed, volume, and learning. You’ll work a high number of opportunities, run tight feedback loops, and develop the instincts to become a world-class closer over time. You won’t just follow a playbook, you’ll help shape it. WHAT YOU’LL DO • Run a high volume of inbound and product-driven opportunities • Convert engaged free users into paid accounts quickly and efficiently • Own fast sales cycles from first touch to close • Generate pipeline through creative outbound and self-sourced efforts • Continuously test and improve messaging, positioning, and conversion tactics • Partner closely with product and growth to share frontline learnings • Help build the foundation for our future mid-market and enterprise sales team WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE • 1–3 years of closing experience with a track record of hitting or exceeding quota • Experience running full sales cycles in a high-velocity or product-led environment • Demonstrated ability to close deals independently, not just support them • Evidence of exceptional early performance (top ~10–20%, fast promotion, or outsized results) SKILLS & TRAITS • High learning velocity, able to quickly absorb product and customer context • Strong written communication and ability to engage users directly • Bias toward action and experimentation over process • Comfortable operating with limited structure • Curious about technology and how products work PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS • High internal drive, you take ownership and push things forward without being asked • Competitive, you care about winning and improving • Builder mindset, you want to create something, not inherit it • Energized by fast pace, high volume, and constant iteration • Motivated to grow into a top-tier account executive over time WHO THIS IS FOR • Early-career AEs who want more reps, speed, and ownership • People who want to accelerate into mid-market and enterprise sales • Candidates who have already closed deals and want to level up quickly ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY We are living in the most exciting time for tool builders since Engelbart's demo in 1968 and we want to assemble the best crew to build this future together, in London and SF. Our compensation philosophy is to hire the best people in the market and pay them accordingly with salary, variable, and equity. COMPENSATION: OTE $140K – $180K • + equity and benefits! Our compensation philosophy is to hire the best people in the market and pay them accordingly with salary, variable, and equity. LOCATION We are excited to work in-person from our office in San Francisco (most of the time). We are happy to offer relocation assistance to candidates who’ll be moving to SF to join us. Lastly, we think amazing talent comes from all kinds of life journeys and experiences. If what is written above speaks to you, whether you look like a fit on paper or not, please reach out.
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