Customer Discovery Lead (BDR), AI2 Incubator

Customer Discovery Lead (BDR), AI2 Incubator

Seattle, WA

Artificial Intelligence is changing everything. We’re taking these breakthrough technologies and turning them into exciting startups!

The AI2 Incubator is a one-of-a-kind place to build an AI-first company. We partner with the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) to launch and fund ambitious AI startups.To date, our spinout companies have raised over $150M and are collectively valued at nearly $700M. 

Each year, we invite talented entrepreneurs, researchers, and engineers to join our incubator on a rolling basis. We help them come up with ideas, find co-founders, engage pilot customers, define their product, incorporate the latest A.I. techniques into their technology, and raise millions of dollars in venture funding.

We also invest in the companies we work with out of a dedicated pre-seed fund that boasts capital from some of the best investors in the world, including Madrona Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures, among others. 

We are a diverse team with an inclusive culture that seeks a variety of viewpoints and perspectives. We take a collaborative approach to sourcing, evaluating and building new startups, and work as a team to help our startups grow. We love what we do, have fun, and respect each other, our portfolio company teams, and our role in the community.

DON'T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT 

Our job is to invent the future. This place can be described as a "magic factory" and many of our friends in the press seem to agree:

• https://www.geekwire.com/2022/inside-the-ai2-incubator-microsoft-co-founders-unfinished-legacy-fuels-quest-for-new-ai-startups/
• https://www.geekwire.com/2020/ai2-incubator-hatches-10m-fund-ai-startups-support-big-name-vcs/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/apple-acquires-xnor-ai-startup-that-spun-out-of-allen-institute.html
• https://www.geekwire.com/2022/madrona-backed-biotech-startup-ozette-lands-26-million-for-immune-cell-tech/

ROLE PROFILE 

Validating a product with early prospective customers is one of the most important early activities that shapes the direction of a new company. As such, we are making a key hire to lead a new practice within the AI2 Incubator focused on customer discovery.  

You should apply for this role if you get excited about startups and early stage company-building, love new technology and building products, and are energized by the idea of working with entrepreneurs every day. You will be a true core teammate of the incubator, and your opinions/perspectives will be deeply valued and respected.

You will work closely alongside all other members of the incubator team including our investors, A.I. experts, technical and engineering experts, product designers, legal team, and executive leadership. You will also work closely with our amazing group of founders. Some of our past and present entrepreneurs include people like linkedin.com/in/alessya, linkedin.com/in/umarag, linkedin.com/in/lekshmivenu, linkedin.com/in/jamienmccullum, linkedin.com/in/matthewwhitehill, linkedin.com/in/jordanritter, and more.

RESPONSIBILITIES

You will be responsible for helping our Entrepreneurs in Residence generate high quality feedback from the market, often in the form of customer interviews, and then help them transition to early sales efforts as their company and product takes shape. 

This includes the following: 

1. Build and manage a toolchain and process for customer outreach that can span multiple industries and customer profiles. 
2. Make first contact with prospective customers and hand them off to entrepreneurs. 
3. Help track early feedback and be a valued thought partner on assessing the difference between real customer need and “polite interest”

EXPERIENCE AND REQUIREMENTS

• The candidates we hope to meet with will likely have 3+ years experience in outbound sales roles at a successful technology company with an entrepreneurial sales culture and strong execution. 
• We expect candidates to have a deep understanding of sales automation tools, pipeline analytics etc. 
• Entrepreneurial attitude and drive towards operating in uncertainty, getting things done with limited resources, and going deep quickly in a variety of categories.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills—with a real knack for working with and understanding people.
• We will consider remote candidates, but we have a strong preference for teammates willing to be in Seattle as