This is an early-career GTM role with unusually high ownership.

We’re working with a fast-growing AI startup in San Francisco that is building software for a large, complex and highly manual B2B market. The company has strong early traction, experienced founders, a lean team and ambitious plans for the next stage of growth.

They’re now hiring a Founding GTM Associate to work directly with the CEO and help build the company’s go-to-market function from the ground up.

This is not a traditional marketing coordinator role.

It is also not a senior VP-level revenue role.

This is for someone early in their career who writes exceptionally well, moves quickly, has strong commercial instincts and wants to learn how GTM is built inside a high-intensity startup.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

A strong academic background is highly valued for this role.

Given the company is based in San Francisco, candidates from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and USC are especially relevant, alongside Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell. Other elite schools such as MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, NYU, Georgetown and Vanderbilt will also be highly regarded.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

You will work across GTM strategy, narrative, positioning, founder-led content, outbound, account research, paid acquisition experiments, lifecycle campaigns, launch activity, events, partnerships and GTM operations.

Your job will be to help sharpen how the company explains itself, reaches the right audiences, tests new channels and turns early traction into a repeatable GTM motion.

This is a hands-on role. You will be writing, researching, testing, coordinating, launching, measuring and improving.

One day you might be drafting founder-led content or rewriting website copy. The next day you might be building outbound messaging, researching target accounts, analysing campaign performance, helping with an event, or testing a new acquisition channel.

There will not be a perfect playbook waiting for you.

You will help create it.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Shape the company’s messaging, narrative and tone across founder content, website copy, outbound messaging, campaign copy and customer-facing materials
Support GTM programs across acquisition, activation, referrals, reactivation, lifecycle campaigns and early commercial experiments
Help design and execute outbound campaigns, including research, targeting, messaging, sequencing, testing and reporting
Contribute to paid acquisition experiments across relevant digital channels, helping the team understand what converts and where to focus
Support product launches, events and GTM campaign rollouts from positioning and copy through to coordination and follow-up
Help build simple systems and processes so GTM activity becomes more repeatable over time

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for someone sharp, hungry, highly self-directed and unusually strong at written communication.

You might have 0 to 3 years of experience across GTM, startup operations, founder support, sales, content, growth, marketing, community, partnerships, marketplaces or another high-ownership environment.

You may have been a founder, an early startup GTM hire, a founder’s associate, a content-led operator, or someone who has built something scrappy from zero.

You may also have built something yourself, such as a newsletter, community, student venture, side project, content channel, small business, campaign, event series or startup project.

The exact background matters less than your ability to think clearly, write well and execute quickly.

THE STRONGEST CANDIDATES WILL LIKELY HAVE

Founder or early startup GTM experience
Excellent writing ability, especially content, narrative, positioning, founder-led content or campaign copy
Evidence of grit, originality and unconventional thinking
Experience building something from scratch, even if it was small, messy or scrappy
Exposure to marketplace, SaaS, AI, platform, community or network-driven businesses
Hands-on experience with GTM tools, outbound systems or modern commercial workflows
Experience with tools such as Attio, RB2B, Clay, Instantly, Apollo, HubSpot, Webflow, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Notion, Airtable or similar GTM systems

YOU WILL BE A STRONG FIT IF YOU

Write clearly, commercially and with good taste
Can draft founder content, website copy, outbound messages and campaign copy
Understand how to build a narrative, not just produce generic marketing copy
Move quickly without needing constant direction
Enjoy turning vague ideas into live GTM experiments
Are excited by startups, AI and B2B software
Care about both creative messaging and measurable commercial outcomes
Are comfortable working close to founders, customers and commercial teams
Have the energy to build from scratch rather than maintain an existing machine
Can handle ambiguity, speed and changing priorities

NICE TO HAVE

Early-stage startup experience
Founder, founder’s associate, GTM, growth, marketing or early commercial experience
Strong academic background from an Ivy League or top-tier school
Experience writing content or campaigns that generated real engagement
Hands-on exposure to paid acquisition platforms
Outbound, lifecycle, referral, marketplace or demand generation experience
Experience with Attio, RB2B or other modern marketplace or GTM tools
Exposure to marketplace, platform, SaaS, community or network-driven businesses
Experience in a relationship-heavy or operationally complex industry
Evidence that you’ve built something scrappy and made it work

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

The company has already proven early demand. The next challenge is building a GTM function that is sharper, more repeatable and more scalable.

You’ll be joining at the stage where your work can have an outsized impact.

You’ll work closely with the CEO, get real exposure to company-building, and learn how narrative, outbound, acquisition, campaigns, product launches and commercial strategy come together inside a fast-moving startup.

This role will suit someone who wants responsibility early, is willing to work hard, and is excited by the idea of helping build something from the ground up.

LOCATION

San Francisco, in person

COMPENSATION

$100,000 to $150,000 base salary plus equity, depending on experience

BENEFITS

Healthcare support
Regular team events and offsites
Meals and office perks
Wellness support
Flexible PTO

Founding GTM Associate | AI Startup | San Francisco | $100k to $150k + Equity

Big Wave Digital

San Francisco Bay Area

On-site

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is an early-career GTM role with unusually high ownership.

Big Wave Digital

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