Founding Sales Manager

Lightfield · San Francisco, CA

Base: Not disclosed
OTE: $290K–$375K
Posted: 5d ago

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

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What Lightfield sells

CRM that learns from emails and meetings

Sales teams often keep customer details scattered across emails, meetings, and notes, so they can't easily see what comes next. Lightfield is a CRM that learns from those emails, meetings, and customer talks to build a living picture of how the business works. That helps teams anticipate what happens next, make better decisions, and take action.

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: Shares 1 of 5: quota, attainment, deal size, territory, sales cycle.
Pipeline: Doesn't say where pipeline comes from. Ask.
Time on market: Open 4 days.
Company hiring: 3 sales roles open, hiring at a steady pace.

Red flags

None spotted.

Green flags

Publishes OTE. It tells you the on-target earnings up front. Most postings don't.
States deal size. Average deal size tells you what kind of selling this really is.

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.
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.
2.
What's the base, and how is the rest paid out?
OTE without a base doesn't tell you what you can count on.
3.
What's the annual quota, and how was it set?
A quota built from real data is a target. Otherwise it's a hope.
4.
Where does pipeline come from: inbound, SDRs, or me?
Tells you how much of your week is prospecting versus selling.
5.
How long is ramp, and what's the quota during it?
Full quota on day one means you start behind.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Josh's top five questions for any sales interview →

Got an offer from Lightfield? Not sure about it?Ask me. I read every message myself. · JoshAsk Josh

The role

Build and lead a new team of Account Executives selling an AI-driven CRM that models how a business works, turning current traction into a repeatable sales motion. Requires 4+ years managing Mid-Market AEs.

Mid-Market · New Logo

Selling motion

New Logo

Who you're selling to

Buyer:: Revenue teamsIn their words: “selling a product that's redefining how revenue teams work”
Company size:: Mid-Market

Pipeline expectations

Not stated in the posting.

Compensation

$290K–$375K OTE

What is not disclosed

This posting doesn't tell you:

Base salary
Quota size
Quota attainment
Territory
Sales cycle length

The questions above cover the big ones.

Full posting

ABOUT LIGHTFIELD Lightfield is reimagining CRM as a world model of a business. By learning from emails, meetings, and customer conversations, we’re building a living understanding of how a company works—so AI can help teams anticipate what comes next, make better decisions, and take action. More than 5,000 companies have used the product since its November launch. We’ve raised more than $70M from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Maverick Ventures, and Greylock to attack the biggest software category in the world. We previously built Tome, which reached more than 25 million users, and our team brings experience from Llama, Instagram, Google, and Salesforce. THE ROLE As Lightfield's Founding Sales Manager, you'll build and scale a team of Account Executives helping companies rethink how they manage customer relationships in their CRM. You'll turn our current strong traction into a repeatable sales motion, building the team, playbooks, and culture that drive consistent performance while keeping every customer interaction personal. This is a rare opportunity to build a sales organization from the ground up at the forefront of AI, selling a product that's redefining how revenue teams work. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build and develop a high-performing team: Recruit, onboard, and coach exceptional AEs. Set a high bar for talent, develop top performers, and build a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement. - Own and scale the sales playbook: Build and refine discovery frameworks, demo strategies, qualification criteria, and deal execution. Balance rigor with the flexibility your team needs to deliver a great customer experience. - Drive performance and improve the funnel: Stay close to deals, identify where conversion or execution breaks down, and implement improvements that drive growth. Build strong forecasting discipline and use data to make the team better. WHAT YOU'LL BRING You've built and led high-performing sales teams, know what great looks like, and are excited to do it again from the ground floor. - Proven sales leadership: 4+ years managing quota-carrying Mid-Market AEs in B2B SaaS or AI, with a track record of exceeding targets and developing top performers. - Experience scaling sales motions: You've optimized an inbound funnel and built or scaled outbound, ideally with deal sizes in the 12K-50K ACV range. - Strong sales fundamentals and operational rigor: You know how to coach deals, build processes from scratch, forecast accurately, and use data to improve team performance. - Builder mentality and AI curiosity: You thrive in fast-moving environments, love solving problems, and are already using AI to rethink how you work. An interest in CRM and sales technology is a plus. BENEFITS & PERKS - Competitive salary - Meaningful early equity - Health insurance (medical, dental, vision) - 3 weeks of PTO - 11 paid company holidays + we enjoy a winter holiday break - 3 months of paid family leave - Wednesdays work from home - Regular team dinners, events, offsites, and retreats - 401k plan - Other perks include: commuter and lunch stipend

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