Garage — Account Executive

Garage — Account Executive Type: Full-time | Remote (US) | Prioritized geos: Midwest, South, West Coast, Southeast Compensation: $93K–$118K base | OTE $185K–$235K (50/50 base/variable, uncapped commission) + competitive equity Hiring count: 6 (evergreen; target 3 hires in next 60 days) Visa sponsorship: No. Not open to any visas (US citizens / Green Card holders only) Reports to: Larry Lembo, Head of Growth About Garage Garage is an AI-powered marketplace for large, expensive, specialized vehicles and equipment, with firefighting apparatus as its largest vertical. Think "eBay for fire trucks." By automating everything from appraisals to freight, Garage saves time and money for communities of all sizes. The company raised its Series A in July and is putting a large share of those funds into scaling go-to-market, with growth as one of its biggest focuses. Founded: 2023 | Team size: 35 (~20 based in the Flatiron office) | Total funding: $18M Industry: Marketplace, AI Backing: Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, Infinity Ventures, FJ Labs Website: www.shopgarage.com Office: NYC (Flatiron); role is remote Why Candidates Should Join Backing and momentum: YC-backed, Series A raised in July; scaling the GTM org aggressively. Mission that matters: Sell directly to fire chiefs and fleet managers who keep communities safe. Full ownership: Own the entire sales cycle with a 50/50 inbound/outbound split; build your own book, no SDRs underneath you. Upside and travel: Uncapped commission with $185K–$235K OTE and nationwide travel to meet customers. Intake Call Summary Intake with Laura Frishman (primary resume reviewer), Larry Lembo (Head of Growth), Martin Hunt. Company: Marketplace for large, specialized vehicles and equipment; largest vertical is firefighting apparatus. ~20 in Flatiron. Raised Series A in July; scaling GTM/growth. Role: Account Executive, remote with a geography-based focus. Evergreen; hiring as many strong candidates as possible. Seniority: Ideally 3+ years of sales experience. Will make an exception and screen a strong 2-year candidate with a fast promotion track. Full-cycle / IC: True individual-contributor role. They own the full cycle including their own outbounding and lead generation, plus inbound and pipeline. Not a role with SDRs underneath. Must have done this, not just managed people who did. Inbound/outbound: 50/50 split. Driving net-new business matters. Culture bar (main rejection reasons live here): desire to win / competitive spirit / work ethic; low ego, collaborative, kind, coachable; trustworthy to work remotely and represent the company at conferences and in front of customers. Relationship-driven selling to fire chiefs and fleet managers, not aggressive enterprise-SaaS-into-a-CTO selling. Team: 3–4 AEs today, all reporting to Larry Lembo (Head of Growth). This role reports to Larry. Comp: Base $93K–$118K, OTE ~$185K–$235K (50/50), uncapped commission. Generally no base exceptions for sellers (case by case, but the profile they want is motivated by uncapped commission). Timeline: Immediate. Internal policy: no candidate sits in the pipeline more than 10 days (first interview to onsite/offer). Target 3 hires in the next 60 days. Feedback on submitted profiles within 12–24 hours. Geos: Midwest, US South, West Coast, Southeast prioritized. Would still hire a great candidate in NYC. Location is a preference, not a gate. Nice to have: Former firefighters who also have sales experience (deep ICP understanding). Sales experience with that background is still required. Process notes: HM declined to consolidate the three screens (protecting Larry/Martin time). They will send a do-not-contact company list, and organic-pipeline candidates are exempt from Paraform. The Role Own the full sales cycle end-to-end for a fast-scaling marketplace, from sourcing and discovery through closing new logos, across a 50/50 inbound/outbound motion, as an individual contributor. What You'll Be Doing Take end-to-end ownership of the full sales cycle, from sourcing and discovery to closing new logos. Do your own outbounding and creative lead-gen while managing inbound and existing pipeline (50/50). Get on the road to meet customers in person early, then build flywheels for phone and Zoom as your book and relationships grow. Represent Garage at conferences and in front of customers like fire chiefs and fleet managers, with low ego. Stay tight and organized in the CRM; spend a lot of time on the phone with prospects and existing customers. Tech stack: CRM-driven sales workflow (specific CRM not stated in source) Qualifications Seniority 2+ years in a full-cycle, closing-focused sales role at a venture-backed startup. [Required] Intake nuance: target is ~3+ years; exception made for exceptional 2-year candidates with fast promotions. Work Experience Experience at an early-stage, venture-backed startup. [Must have] Late-stage venture-backed is acceptable if the company kept startup velocity and the candidate has the drive to go early again. Large public companies (e.g. Salesforce, SAP) and non-venture-backed businesses are a no-go, with rare exceptions. Experience in a full-cycle sales role, including outbound prospecting (owning outbound themselves, not via an SDR team). [Required] Experience selling to government municipalities (e.g. fire departments). [Strongly preferred] Soft Skills Competitive spirit and desire to win; strong work ethic; low ego, collaborative, coachable; ability to build relationships with non-technical buyers (fire chiefs, fleet managers). [Must have] Miscellaneous Willingness to travel to meet customers in person (prior travel in a sales role is a plus). [Required] Located in the Midwest, US South, West Coast, or Southeast. [Strongly preferred] Organized and comfortable living in a CRM and on the phone. [Intake-added, screen for it] Green Flags Positive scoring signals raised in the intake and profile review. Promotions / fast promotion track in a prior role (a top signal of work ethic and success). Early-stage venture-backed success, ideally building or being among the first sellers. Sold directly into Garage's ICP (government / municipal buyers). Traveled in a sales role. Former firefighter with genuine sales experience (deep ICP understanding). Traits to Avoid Experience exclusively at large, public companies (e.g. Salesforce, SAP) or non-venture-backed businesses, with no earlier-stage startup chapter. Multiple consecutive roles lasting less than one year (roughly three back-to-back sub-one-year stints is the red-flag pattern). Over-tenured candidates who have moved into management and may not want a hands-on IC role. Flag, not an auto-DQ: screen for genuine willingness to return to IC work with no SDRs underneath. Role Details Base salary: $93K–$118K OTE: $185K–$235K (50/50 base/variable, uncapped commission) Equity: Competitive equity On-site policy: Remote within the US; prioritizing Midwest, South, West Coast, Southeast Visa sponsorship: None; US citizens / Green Card holders only Employment type: Full-time Location: Remote (US); company HQ NYC (Flatiron) Hiring count: 6 (target 3 in next 60 days) Pipeline SLA: No candidate in pipeline more than 10 days Screening Questions The three Paraform "questions to ask candidates" were collapsed in the copied role-page HTML and are not captured here. Re-copy the outerHTML with that section expanded to populate. (Note: per the intake, all interview stages are effectively screens; the substance to screen for is captured in the Qualifications, Green Flags, and Traits to Avoid above.) Interview Process Confirmed in the intake as four steps (the role page's "8 steps" label appears to count sub-stages/offer/hire; the HM described the following): Stage 1 — Screening Call (Laura Frishman, 15 min) Recruiter/first-round screen; culture and qualities fit. Stage 2 — Sales Conversation (Larry Lembo, Head of Growth, 15 min) Sales-oriented interview with the hiring manager. Stage 3 — Final Screening (Martin Hunt, 15 min) Final-round screen. Stage 4 — Onsite (~2 hours, in person, with the team) Mock cold call, mock cold email write-up, and strategizing what day-one outbound would look like. Offer Extended Candidate Hired Process notes: all virtual until the onsite. HM declined to consolidate the three screens. Internal SLA keeps total time under 10 days. Ideal Companies & Backgrounds Updated from intake call. ICP-adjacent (government / municipal space) GovDeals (and similar gov-space players) Sourcing steer: the HM said NOT to prioritize sourcing these; Garage self-sources the handful of gov-space companies it knows. Bring them candidates they can't reach on their own. Venture-backed, selling into a similar ICP / value prop Flock Safety, Prepared (911), Trava, Okave Strong venture-backed training grounds Toast, Verkada, ShopMonkey, Hotel Engine (raised ~$221M) Avoid Salesforce, SAP, other massive public companies, and non-venture-backed businesses (unless paired with earlier-stage startup experience). A do-not-contact company list is being provided separately by Garage. Ideal Candidate Profiles For reference only — do not source these specific profiles. Mike Harris — LinkedIn Enterprise Sales @ FurtherAI (a16z & YC) | San Francisco Bay Area Verkada (Series C, early-ish) and ShopMonkey: early-stage venture-backed with a strong promotion track. Watch-out: ~8 years' experience with a Team Lead stint (2020–2021) then back to IC; confirm genuine comfort with a hands-on IC role. Different-space ICP is acceptable if the drive and venture-backed track record are there. Randy Zobel — LinkedIn — hired Account Executive @ Garage | Denver Flock Safety: venture-backed, sells into a similar ICP. Hotel Engine: venture-backed ($221M raised); promoted 4x in 3 years. 3.5 years at a prior company (tenure shows he's not a job-hopper). Kaleb Schumann — LinkedIn — hired Growth @ Garage | Dallas GovDeals: sells into Garage's ICP (deep value-prop understanding). Only had Account Manager (not AE) experience; they tested and gained conviction he could bring in new logos and do the outbound grind. Tyler (Therrien) — hired (mentioned in call) Toast: top performer for a long time (quota not required, but strong). Early stage at Cold Life (one of the first AEs, effectively built out sales), entrepreneurial and comfortable with ambiguity. Boston Beer Company earlier: foundational sales, not weighted heavily. Rejected Candidate Feedback Startup & Gov fit: Focus on proven full-cycle sales at early-stage, venture-backed startups and clear experience selling to or navigating government/municipal procurement. Appropriate experience level: Prioritize self-sourced outbound success and startup grit over overly senior or large-public-company trajectories; align with the low-ego, growth-oriented culture. Location & engagement: Target submissions from prioritized geos (Chicago, Detroit, Miami, etc.) and require a video clip demonstrating genuine excitement and clear communication.