Founding GTM Pay IndexEdition 1Checked 2026-10-2735 first-hire posts at 35 companies
What startups pay their first GTM hire
Live job posts where a US technical B2B startup, Seed to Series A, says in its own words that this is its first sales or GTM hire. Each post opened and checked.
What they pay
$135Kbase · n=10
Typical posted base, middle of the range. Posts that state OTE: $262K (n=12). Ranges not labeled base or OTE: $162K (n=15). Equity: 0.17%–1% (n=22 posts with a range; 30 of 35 offer equity).
Which role goes first
- Founding AE18
- Founding GTM lead14
- SDR / BDR3
When they post it
about 5people · n=28
Team size when the post went up (median). Stage: Seed 20 · YC, no priced round 12 · Pre-seed 2 · Series A 1.
01 / Founding ≠ first
A founding title isn’t always the first hire.
49 of 240
Of 240 founding or first GTM posts opened for this edition, 49 say outright that this is the company’s first GTM hire. 106 join a GTM team that already exists (a first BDR beside existing AEs, a founding AE under a CRO), and 85 don’t say either way. The 35 listed below passed every check: the company’s own words, its other open roles, its stage and its team. Each row shows the line that decided it.
“You're the first person here whose whole job is the market, so a lot of what the function becomes is going to be your call.”Kepler, Founding GTM
“We're hiring our first two founding go to market team members to sell directly to the executives who run America's largest distributors.”Lantern, Founding Account Executive
“You’ll be our first salesperson.”Finta, Founding Account Executive
02 / The posts
Every first-hire post, newest first.
35 posts
Download the CSV
| Company | Role | Pay as posted | Equity | Stage | Team | Location | Posted | Why it counts | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KeplerAI finance research with source-traced numbers for investment firms | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM | $170K–$230K (not labeled base or OTE) | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, ~$7.3M total · investors include Pebblebed, Company Ventures and MANTIS VC | Unknown | New York City On-site |
2026-10-21 | “You're the first person here whose whole job is the market, so a lot of what the function becomes is going to be your call.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| LanternAI purchasing and inventory recommendations for wholesale distributors | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | Base $150K OTE $300K | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, $7M, Jul 2026 · led by Primary Venture Partners and Pear VC | Unknown | San Francisco On-site |
2026-10-19 | “We're hiring our first two founding go to market team members to sell directly to the executives who run America's largest distributors.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| FintaAutomated bookkeeping, tax filing and financial reporting for startups | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | OTE $210K–$240K | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, $2M, Apr 2023 · Y Combinator, Garage Capital, UpHonest Capital, FoundersX Ventures | about 2 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-10-15 | “You’ll be our first salesperson.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Spice DataRestaurant industry data licensed to enterprise brands and investment firms | SDR / BDREnterprise SDR | Base $80K–$100K OTE $120K–$140K | 0.1%–0.5% | YC, no priced round YC S19; reportedly funded only by YC and angels, profitable | Unknown | San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-10-07 | “Report directly to the CEO (you are the first sales hire)” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Nunchux AIInference infrastructure making image, video and world models cheaper to serve | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM | Base $160K–$200K OTE $360K–$400K | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, multimillion (amount not disclosed), Sep 2026 · backed by Emergence Capital and E14 Fund (lead not named) | about 17 |
San Francisco Office Hybrid |
2026-10-06 | “We are looking for our first GTM hire to turn that traction into a repeatable sales motion.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Plena HealthAI that automates admin workflows for specialty medical practices | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | OTE $225K–$325K | 0.2%–0.5% | YC, no priced round YC P26 (Spring 2026) · no priced round found | Unknown | US / Remote (US) Remote (US) |
2026-10-03 | “We’re hiring our first dedicated Founding Account Executive to help scale our sales engine.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| MedplumOpen-source, API-first EHR platform for healthcare app developers | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | OTE $200K–$250K | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, $3M, Nov 2024 · with Y Combinator (other backers include Pioneer Fund, Gaingels, Brighter Capital, Page One Ventures) | about 20 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US |
2026-10-02 | “We're looking for our first Account Executive.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Socratix AIAI agents that investigate fraud and risk alerts for banks and fintechs | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Lead, AI Agents | $120K–$140K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.05%–0.2% | Seed Seed, $4.1M, Oct 2025 · led by Pear VC | about 5 YC company page |
Mountain View, CA, US Hybrid |
2026-10-01 | “As our first dedicated GTM hire, you'll own real pieces of the funnel” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| DiligenceSquaredAI-run expert interviews and commercial due diligence reports for private equity firms | Founding GTM leadHead of GTM | $190K–$220K (not labeled base or OTE) | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, $5M, Mar 2026 · led by Relentless, Y Combinator participating | about 5 YC company page |
New York City On-site |
2026-09-29 | “We're looking for our first commercial leader to build and lead go-to-market at DiligenceSquared.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| BlueHillClient management platform combining CRM, onboarding, projects and client portal | Founding GTM leadBusiness Development Representative (Founding GTM) | $100K–$180K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.5%–2.5% | YC, no priced round Y Combinator, Summer 2022 (S22) | about 2 YC company page |
Chicago, IL, US / Marlborough, MA, US / Remote (US) Remote (US) |
2026-09-24 | “You will be our first GTM hire, reporting directly to the CEO.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| AstraeaAI that produces clinical trial biometrics datasets and submission outputs for pharma | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Lead | Base $140K–$170K OTE $180K–$240K Post gives two different figures | 0.25%–1% | YC, no priced round Y Combinator, Spring 2026 (P26) | about 6 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US |
2026-09-16 | “We are hiring our first dedicated go-to-market lead to work directly with the founders” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| ForgeFreight forwarding, customs brokerage and tariff refund recovery for US importers | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM | $100K–$180K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.2%–1% | Seed Seed, $2.1M, Jun 2024 · Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator | about 7 YC company page |
New York, NY, US |
2026-09-13 | “We’re bringing on our first GTM hire meaning you need to be a generalist.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| YarnAI video creation platform for B2B sales and marketing teams | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Hire | $160K–$200K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.5%–1% | Seed Seed, Apr 2024; $7M+ total raised per job post · investors include Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Race Capital, Leonis Capital | about 5 Job post (five engineers and designers, Soho NYC) |
New York, NY, US |
2026-09-12 | “You'd be the first person whose whole job is growing Yarn.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| JarminAutonomous AI employees, such as an AI ML engineer, for companies | Founding AEFounding Sales - Account Executive | $200K–$300K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.25%–1% | YC, no priced round YC F25; only Y Combinator listed as investor (Sep 2025, standard deal) | about 5 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US) |
2026-09-12 | “We're looking for our first sales hire to build Jarmin's sales motion from the ground up.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| HypercubicAI agents that analyze and modernize legacy mainframe and COBOL applications for enterprises | Founding AEFounding Enteprise Sales | $100K–$160K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.1%–0.5% | Seed Seed, $5.3M, Aug 2026 · led by CIV; Y Combinator, Afore Capital, Pioneer Fund, Multimodal Ventures, Epsilon Ventures, Unpopular Ventures | about 3 YC company page |
San Francisco On-site |
2026-09-11 | “You’re excited to be Sales #1 : own the playbook, learn directly from the founders, and shape the sales function as Hypercubic grows.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| QualGentAI agents that test mobile apps and find bugs before release | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Lead | Base $90K–$130K | 0.25%–1% | YC, no priced round YC P25 (Spring 2025) · no priced round found | about 10 Job post |
New York, NY, US / San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (New York, NY, US; San Francisco, CA, US) |
2026-09-08 | “We're hiring our first Founding GTM Lead , someone who becomes a true extension of our CEO on the 0→1 sales motion.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Opalite HealthAI medical interpreter for hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers | Founding AEFounding Technical GTM | Base $70K $70K–$200K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.1%–0.3% | Seed Seed, Apr 2026 (amount undisclosed; ~$745K total per aggregators) · investors incl. Y Combinator, Right Side Capital Management, Rebel Fund, Vaelion Ventures | about 3 YC company page |
San Mateo, CA, US |
2026-09-05 | “We’re hiring our first GTM hire to help take Opalite into hospitals and health systems” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| MadeThisAI co-founder that builds, launches and runs online businesses for small owners | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | $150K–$300K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.1%–1% | YC, no priced round YC F25; no priced round found | about 3 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US / New York, NY, US / Salt Lake City, UT, US |
2026-08-28 | “We're hiring our first sales rep to build the enterprise business with the founders.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| CoveraAI agents running quoting-to-renewal workflows for independent P&C insurance agencies | Founding AEFounding GTM/ Account Executive | $60K–$100K (not labeled base or OTE) | Not mentioned | YC, no priced round Y Combinator F26; no priced round disclosed | about 2 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US |
2026-08-21 | “We're hiring our first GTM hire : a founding, full-cycle Account Executive to own the US market.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| HeliumNo-code paywall building and A/B testing for subscription mobile apps | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | OTE $160K–$240K | 0.15%–0.3% | Seed Seed, $5.4M, Aug 2025 · Y Combinator, Gradient, Daybreak Ventures | about 9 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-08-20 | “Sales has been founder-led so far” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| ErgoContext layer turning calls, email and Slack into deal insights for B2B sales teams | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | OTE $260K–$310K | 0.1%–0.4% | Seed Seed, $2.8M, Jun 2026 · led by FCVC (FundersClub), Y Combinator and Coughdrop Capital participating | about 9 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-08-17 | “The founders run every deal today; you'd be the first person we hire to sell with us.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| VenturaAI agents automating quoting and order entry for industrial distributors | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM | $100K–$170K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.2%–1% | YC, no priced round YC W26; about $500K from Y Combinator and Rebel Fund (directory data) | about 2 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-08-08 | “This is our first dedicated go-to-market hire.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Cozmo AIAI agents handling property insurance claims from loss report to estimate | Founding AEFounding GTM | $80K–$500K (not labeled base or OTE) Range too wide to use | 0.1%–2% | Seed Seed, $3M, Aug 2022 (raised as Zywa before pivot) · Goodwater Capital, Dubai Future District Fund, Rebel Fund participating | about 5 YC company page |
New York, NY, US / FL, US / San Francisco, CA, US |
2026-08-08 | “You are hire one on the commercial team, selling next to a founder-CEO who currently closes everything himself.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| VeritusCompliant AI voice and text agents for consumer lenders and collections | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | $180K–$220K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.1%–0.25% | Seed Seed, $10.1M, Feb 2026 · led by Crosslink Capital and Threshold Ventures | about 10 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-07-30 | “We’ve been growing rapidly with founder-led sales, and this is our first full-cycle sales hire.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| MeshAutomates month-end accruals for mid-market and enterprise finance teams | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Lead | Not posted | Not mentioned | YC, no priced round YC W25 · no priced round found | about 3 YC company page |
San Francisco, United States On-site |
2026-07-29 | “You're comfortable being the first GTM hire, and adjusting and pivoting when something isn't working.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| AvallonAI agents that handle insurance claims intake, status and document work | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | Base $150K OTE $300K | Yes, no range | Seed Seed, $4.6M, Nov 2025 · led by Frontline Ventures | about 7 YC company page |
New York, NY, US On-site |
2026-07-16 | “We're hiring our first two Account Executives to turn strong early demand into a repeatable, scalable revenue engine.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| SableAI agent that runs live product demos and sales calls for B2B | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | Not posted | Not mentioned | Seed Seed, $45M, Jul 2026 · led by Sequoia Capital and 8VC, with BoxGroup, SV Angel, Valor Atreides AI Fund | about 22 |
San Francisco |
2026-07-16 | “You'll be the first fully-dedicated seller, taking full ownership of deals in the ~$100-250k ACV range” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| AdaptionalAI that audits every insurance claim for compliance, leakage and reserve issues | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM Lead | $140K–$185K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.35%–0.75% | Seed Seed, $10M, Jun 2025 · led by Y Combinator | Unknown | San Francisco, CA, US On-site |
2026-07-15 | “You will be Adaptional's first business hire. Today, sales is founder-led; your job is to make it scale.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Structured AIAI QA/QC review of construction drawings and models for architects and engineers | Founding AEFounding Account Executive | Base $130K–$220K OTE $200K–$360K | 0.3%–1.5% | Seed Seed, $4.2M, Jun 2026 · led by FCVC | about 11 YC company page |
New York, NY, US On-site |
2026-07-06 | “You'd be our first sales hire.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| MercatorAI agents coordinating freight and inventory decisions for global supply chains | Founding GTM leadFounding GTM | $140K–$225K (not labeled base or OTE) | 0.5%–1% | Seed Seed, $5M, Nov 2025 · investors include Alante Capital | Unknown | San Francisco |
2026-06-20 | “As Mercator's first go-to-market leader, you'll own the path from early traction to product-market fit.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| KarumiAI agent that joins video calls to give live product demos for B2B SaaS | Founding AEAccount Executive | Base $100K–$140K OTE $200K–$300K | Not mentioned | Pre-seed Pre-seed, ~$2M total, Sep 2025 · with Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Mission, Acacia Venture Capital Partners, Enzo Ventures | about 6 YC company page |
New York, NY, US On-site |
2026-06-12 | “You'll be the first dedicated sales hire, working directly with the founders to define our playbook from the ground up.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| CareSwiftAI documentation assistant that writes ambulance patient care reports for EMS agencies | SDR / BDRFounding EMS Sales Development Representative | Base $80K–$120K | 0.1%–0.25% | YC, no priced round Y Combinator, Summer 2025 (S25) · $500K standard deal | about 2 YC company page |
New York, NY, US On-site |
2026-05-25 | “You'll be our first sales hire.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| MessaInterview guides, live interviewer assistant and scorecards for hiring teams | Founding GTM leadGTM Lead | Not posted | Yes, no range | Pre-seed Pre-seed (amount and lead not public), per company job post | Unknown | Americas Hybrid |
2026-05-21 | “We’re looking for our first GTM hire.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| Tamarind BioPlatform letting scientists run molecular AI models for drug discovery | SDR / BDRFounding GTM, BD | Not posted | Not mentioned | Series A Series A, $12M (part of $13.6M raise), Feb 2026 · led by Dimension Capital, with Y Combinator | about 20 YC company page (W24), Oct 2026 |
San Francisco On-site |
2026-05-11 | “We’re hiring an exceptional Founding Sales Development Representative as our first GTM hire” | Apply on company page ↗ |
| ParagonAI tools that automate outreach and quoting for industrial distributors and manufacturers | Founding AEFounding Sales | $50K–$200K (not labeled base or OTE) Range too wide to use | 0.1%–2% | YC, no priced round Y Combinator W25; no priced round disclosed | about 2 YC company page |
San Francisco, CA, US |
2026-05-04 | “As Paragon’s first full-time sales hire, you will help build the sales engine from the ground up.” | Apply on company page ↗ |
03 / Pay by role
Pay by role, with the count behind every number.
| Role | Posts | Base | OTE | Not labeled | Equity range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding AE | 18 | Too few yet (n=5) | Too few yet (n=9) | Too few yet (n=6) | 0.1%–0.5% n=11 |
| Founding GTM lead | 14 | Too few yet (n=3) | Too few yet (n=2) | Too few yet (n=9) | Too few yet (n=9) |
| SDR / BDR | 3 | Too few yet (n=2) | Too few yet (n=1) | Too few yet (n=0) | Too few yet (n=2) |
A typical figure shows only when at least 10 posts state it. Figures are the median of each range’s midpoint. These are posted ranges, not offers.
04 / How this is built
How this list is made.
- What counts. A live post for a GTM role (account executive, GTM lead, GTM engineer, SDR/BDR, sales or solutions engineer, RevOps) at a US technical B2B startup, Seed to Series A, where the post itself says this is the company’s first GTM or sales hire. Marketing-only roles, Series B and later, and non-US roles are out. A founding title alone isn’t enough.
- Where posts come from. YC company job pages, Ashby and Greenhouse job boards, the job boards of startups that announced a Seed or Series A round since August 28, and LinkedIn job search used only to find posts (every listed row links to the company’s own posting).
- How the first-hire call is made. Each post and the company’s other open roles are read against written rules. Signs of an existing GTM team (reporting to a CRO, working beside existing AEs) beat a first-hire phrase. Judgment calls are checked by hand.
- How pay is read. From the post text, not the field name: base, OTE and unlabeled ranges are kept apart. Very wide or placeholder ranges are shown but left out of typical figures. Posted ranges are not offers.
- Stage and team size. From the post, the company’s funding announcement or YC profile, and public headcount counts, with the source on each row. “About” means the count is approximate.
- Freshness. Every listed post was open on 2026-10-27. Posts first published more than 180 days earlier are left out.
- Applying. Apply on each company’s own page. This list doesn’t place candidates.
- Corrections. If a row is wrong, send a note through the contact form and it will be fixed in the next edition.