Job Details

Who are we?

It's never been harder to sell software. Buyer behaviors are changing rapidly; now, more than ever, they are less inclined to engage with human sellers and spend more time researching before entering the sales cycle. As a result of this trend, self-education is replacing direct sales interactions, which leaves B2B sellers struggling to capitalize on leads.

Madrona Venture Labs (MVL) is incubating a new GenAI-oriented startup to address this problem. Unlike tools to help marketers create demos and content, this solution directly brings real-time, automated demos to customer websites.

Who are you?

As the CTO of this venture, you'll be at the forefront of disrupting the B2B sales landscape. Partnering closely with the CEO, you'll shape and execute a bold vision for next-generation sales technology, delivering a groundbreaking solution tailored to the evolving needs of today's buyers and sellers.

In the early stages, you'll be a hands-on architect and builder, driving MVP development from the ground up. Eventually, you'll recruit and lead a premier engineering team, cultivating a culture of innovation, agility, and customer obsession. You'll serve as our technical evangelist, articulating the company's transformative mission to investors, partners, and clients.

This role goes beyond engineering; it's about reimagining how B2B sales happen by creating intuitive, personalized demo experiences that empower buyers and streamline the sales journey. As our first technical hire, you'll have the rare opportunity to define a new industry standard—building from scratch to scale and directly influencing the future of B2B engagement.

Responsibilities

• Build the Future of Sales Enablement: Dive into hands-on coding and product development from day one, setting the technical foundation for a cutting-edge, GenAI-powered solution that redefines how B2B sales teams engage with customers in real-time.
  
• Strategic Partner to Leadership: Collaborate closely with the CEO and board to shape and execute company-wide strategy, positioning our technology as a game-changer in the B2B sales and marketing landscape.
  
• Hands-On Leadership: Roll up your sleeves and work directly on the code, especially in the early stages as we establish and refine our technology and product vision.
  
• Leverage Customer Insights: Continuously gather and apply deep customer insights to iterate on our MVP+, ensuring every feature resonates with and drives user value.
  
• Build and Lead a High-Performing Engineering Team: Recruit, mentor, and empower a world-class engineering team as passionate about transforming B2B sales as you are.
  
• Foster a Culture of Agility and Excellence: Lead by example, driving a proactive, execution-oriented culture focused on iteration, strategic ownership, and cross-functional collaboration.
  
• Drive Strategic Execution: Champion a bias for action, balancing innovation with accountability and clear deliverables to ensure the product evolves at the speed of our customers' needs.
  
• Voice Our Tech Vision: Represent our technological journey and milestones to investors, partners, and customers, conveying our vision with clarity and enthusiasm and positioning us as leaders in the GenAI sales enablement space.
  

Qualifications

• Proven Expertise in AI-Driven Product Development: Extensive experience building data and machine-learning products, ideally with hands-on knowledge of the latest generative AI technologies, including Large Action Models (LAMs), multi-modal models, fine-tuning techniques, and cutting-edge tools that enhance user engagement and automation.
  
• Passionate about Transforming B2B Sales: Motivated by a mission to redefine the sales experience for B2B buyers and sellers, leveraging GenAI to drive measurable impact and innovation.
  
• Visionary Engineering Leader: Demonstrated track record of leading innovative product development in collaboration with executive teams, translating complex ideas into powerful, user-centric solutions.
  
• Customer-Obsessed: Deep empathy for user needs and experience creating intuitive, industry-shifting applications that emphasize seamless, high-impact interfaces that resonate with B2B customers.
  
• Experienced Team Builder: Skilled at recruiting, leading, and mentoring a small-to-medium-sized engineering team (10+ members) and enthusiastic about building a team from the ground up. Previous experience starting a team from scratch is a plus.
  
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Excels at navigating ambiguity and thrives in early-stage, fast-paced environments. Comfortable with various technical and leadership responsibilities that come with building an industry-defining solution.
  
• Exceptional Communicator: Adept at conveying complex technical concepts in straightforward, relatable ways, especially to non-technical audiences, including customers, investors, and cross-functional partners.
  
• Being located in or open to relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area is strongly preferred.
  

Please visit our website to learn more about Madrona Venture Labs. Check out our Stories to learn more about the types of companies we build.

To apply, please send your resume or CV and cover letter to ...@madronavl.com .

Don't meet every requirement listed above? That's okay. If you're excited about this role and our mission but your experience doesn't perfectly align with every qualification listed here, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles within the broader MVL portfolio.

We are an equal opportunity employer and highly value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

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