Startups Lead

Blacksmith builds infrastructure to run CI workloads at scale. Our first product accelerates GitHub Actions by operating a global fleet of bare-metal machines, orchestrating tens of millions of Firecracker VMs weekly for 5,000+ companies and reaching ~$50M in ARR in 2.5 years. We manage thousands of bare-metal servers, schedule 100k+ concurrent vCPUs, and run a petabyte-scale Ceph cluster. Backed by $58.5M from Google Ventures (GV) and Peak XV Capital, we’re expanding our CI platform to power agent sandboxes and a background coding agent. Founded by engineers with deep systems experience from Faire and Cockroach Labs, our GTM is led by Jon Boyer, former Head of Sales at Zapier.

About the Role

As a Startups Lead, you’ll own Blacksmith’s new business motion across early-stage startups, focusing on YC companies and the broader venture-backed ecosystem. You’ll engage with startups during rapid engineering growth, where infrastructure decisions are fluid and developer velocity is critical. Your goal is to identify high-potential startups early, build relationships, and grow with them as they scale. This is a high-velocity role where you’ll build pipeline, develop ecosystem relationships, and close net-new partnerships while helping shape our startup GTM playbook.

Responsibilities

• Own the startup ecosystem
  • Build and manage a territory of high-growth, venture-backed startups.
  • Develop deep relationships across the YC ecosystem and broader startup community.
  • Identify promising companies early and engage before infrastructure decisions are finalized.
  • Become a trusted resource for founders and engineering leaders on CI, developer infrastructure, and scaling.
• Build pipeline from the ground up
  • Generate pipeline through targeted outbound, referrals, events, founder networks, and VC relationships.
  • Use signals like funding, hiring, GitHub activity, and engineering growth to identify startups at the right moment.
  • Build relationships with accelerators, investors, and founders to create leverage in the ecosystem.
  • Engage great companies creatively, avoiding reliance on high-volume outbound.
• Win early and grow with customers
  • Work directly with founders, CTOs, engineering leaders, and developers to understand their workflows.
  • Help startups evaluate and adopt Blacksmith quickly.
  • Run fast, lightweight sales cycles tailored to how startups buy.
  • Identify companies with potential to become significant customers as they scale.
  • Build relationships that grow from initial adoption to company-wide use.
• Sell a deeply technical product
  • Develop expertise in CI/CD, GitHub Actions, cloud infrastructure, developer workflows, and cloud economics.
  • Partner with Solutions Engineers for technical discovery and evaluations.
  • Understand how startups build and ship software to identify where Blacksmith can improve developer velocity.
  • Translate improvements in speed, reliability, and cost into a clear value proposition.
• Help build our startup GTM motion
  • Develop a strategy for winning the startup market.
  • Shape YC, accelerator, and venture ecosystem programs.
  • Identify patterns from fast-growing customers and turn them into repeatable acquisition plays.
  • Bring feedback from founders and developers to product and engineering teams.
  • Experiment quickly, measure results, and scale successful motions.

Requirements

• 2+ years of quota-carrying sales or partnerships experience, ideally in developer tools, infrastructure, cloud services, or technical SaaS.
• Understanding of how startups operate and how founders/engineering leaders make buying decisions.
• Proven ability to open doors, build relationships, and win new logos.
• Strong instincts for identifying promising companies and engaging early.
• Ability to manage a high volume of opportunities without sacrificing follow-through or customer experience.
• Comfort selling directly to founders, CTOs, and engineers.
• Technical curiosity and willingness to understand the product deeply.
• Ability to move quickly and adapt processes to match startup buying behaviors.
• Creative approach to pipeline generation beyond sequences and cold outbound.
• Desire to build a GTM motion from the ground up.

Nice to Have

• Experience working at an early-stage startup.
• Existing network across YC, venture-backed startups, founders, or investors.
• Experience selling to Seed through Series B companies.
• Background in building startup, emerging, or SMB sales motions.
• Knowledge of GitHub Actions, CI/CD, developer infrastructure, or cloud economics.
• Experience with product-led or usage-based businesses.
• Active in the startup community and enjoyment of meeting founders.
• Experience building a territory, community, or ecosystem from scratch.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and uncapped commission.
• Meaningful equity with early-exercise stock options.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) match.
• Unlimited PTO.
• 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave in the U.S.
• Annual company offsite.

Pay

Compensation range: $180K - $200K.