Founding GTM

Zania•San Francisco, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Zania is building agentic AI for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) to solve a massive problem in an industry dominated by legacy systems. We are experiencing hyper-growth with 10x ARR growth in the last year and are rapidly expanding. We have found exceptional product-market fit and are looking for a Founding GTM hire to build pipeline from scratch. This role blends SDR hustle with early AE instincts, working directly alongside the founders. We are seeking a hungry individual who sees cold outreach as a puzzle and finds satisfaction in booking meetings with CISOs. The role involves owning the first two stages of the sales cycle: hunting leads (inbound and outbound) and qualifying them based on budget, timeline, and fit. There is a clear path for the right person to co-lead product demos with the technical team.

Requirements

The Hunter: 0–3 years in a sales, SDR, or BDR role with a proven track record of building pipeline from nothing. You are relentless, resilient, and energized by the chase. You may not know GRC yet, but you will learn it fast because you are genuinely curious and deeply competitive.
The GRC Insider (optional but preferred): 5–8 years in governance, risk, or compliance who is ready to go customer-facing. You know the pain of the buyer because you have lived it. You understand the language, the stakeholders, and what good actually looks like — and you want to use that knowledge to sell a product you believe in.
Can hunt a lead inbound or outbound and run a tight discovery conversation — qualifying budget, timeline, and fit before anything else.
Communicates with clarity and earns trust quickly, whether on a cold call or in a meeting with a CISO.
Thrives without a script in a fast-moving, early-stage environment where you help write the playbook.
Is based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto for full-time in-person work.

Nice To Haves

Previous startup or early-stage experience.
Experience with AI-powered sales tools (Apollo, Clay, Outreach, etc.).

Responsibilities

Hunt enterprise prospects through cold calling, cold email, LinkedIn, and events — inbound and outbound alike.
Run discovery conversations to qualify budget, timeline, and fit before passing warm opportunities to the broader team.
Build and maintain a healthy pipeline, always keeping the founders looped in on what you're seeing in the market.
Help define our Ideal Customer Profile, test messaging, and document what works into a repeatable playbook.
Learn the product deeply enough to eventually co-lead demos alongside our technical team.
Serve as a feedback loop between prospects and our Product team — you will hear objections no one else does.