Account Executive (US)

Hi, I'm Chad https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadsomodi/, VP of Revenue at FeedbackFruits. 👋 FeedbackFruits has built traction in European and APAC higher education. The US is where the next chapter is, and we're earlier in that journey. The institutions that adopt our tools tend to stay: multi-year partnerships, strong adoption, educators who don't want to go back. In the US, we're still building the awareness to match that track record. For the right person, that's what makes this interesting: you're not selling something people are already searching for; you're creating the demand. You'll be covering the Central US region, managing the full sales cycle from first outreach to signed contract. A meaningful part of the role involves working alongside our LMS resellers, partners who already have long-standing relationships with the institutions we're trying to reach. Some of our revenue runs through this channel, and doing it well means understanding the co-sell motion, not just using resellers as an introduction and taking it from there. The sale itself is rarely straightforward. FeedbackFruits isn't solving a pain that's already on someone's agenda. You're helping institutions recognise challenges may have named but don't yet have a plan to fix it, find the people internally who care about it, and support them through a decision-making process that can move slowly even when everyone in the room is interested. The AEs who do well here are persistent in a way that isn't about energy or enthusiasm. It's about knowing how to keep moving when things stall, how to navigate the procurement and the politics within the higher education sales motion. You'll work within a GTM pod alongside a BDR, an implementation manager, and a partner manager, each of whom plays a role in getting deals across the line. As the AE, you're the one coordinating that and making sure the right people are involved at the right moments. A few things worth being upfront about: new leadership came in over the past year, processes are being formalised, and the GTM motion is still finding its shape. Not everyone works well in that kind of environment. The people who do are usually the ones who've seen it before and find it more motivating than frustrating. What you'll do - Own the full sales cycle for Central US: prospecting, discovery, demo, proposal, negotiation, and close - Build and manage relationships with LMS resellers, co-selling with partner teams to reach institutions that would take years to land through direct sales alone - Generate the majority of your own pipeline through cold outreach, conferences, networking, and referrals, with BDR support - Run a consultative process: understand what the institution is actually trying to achieve, surface the problem, identify your champions, and help them navigate the decision internally - Keep your pipeline in HubSpot clean: clear stages, honest forecasting, real next steps - Bring Partner Success in early enough that the handoff from close to adoption actually lands - Stay across what's moving in US higher ed: funding shifts, LMS consolidation, competitor activity What you bring - Around 7+ years in B2B or B2G SaaS sales, with a track record you can talk about confidently. If you're earlier in your career but your results tell a clear story, we'd still want to hear from you.

• Experience in or around education, whether selling into it, working in it, or both. Understanding how institutions make decisions matters more here than a specific title.
• Deals that have weight. Your largest close in the past two years is above $50K, and you have six-figure contracts in your history.
• Experience with channel or reseller selling.

• A startup or scale-up background. You're not waiting for a playbook that doesn't exist yet.
• You source most of your own pipeline. This isn't a role where leads come to you.
• When a deal stalls, you figure out why and do something about it.
• You keep your manager across where you are and where you're at risk, before they have to ask.
• Remote works for you.

• Show a data‑driven GTM playbook for the Central US market: In your cover letter or a brief attachment, outline a 3‑month go‑to‑market plan that maps target higher‑education institutions, key decision‑makers (e.g., provosts, deans, LMS admins), outreach cadence, and HubSpot sequences you’d use. Quantify expected pipeline (e.g., 8‑10 qualified demos) and tie it to the multi‑year partnership model FeedbackFruits highlights.
• Demonstrate HubSpot mastery with a live sandbox: Create a free HubSpot account, import a sample list of 50 US colleges, set up a custom pipeline (Lead → Qualified → Demo → Negotiation → Closed‑Won), and record a 2‑minute walkthrough video. Include screenshots of automated follow‑up emails, lead scoring, and reporting dashboards; link the video in your resume or portfolio.
• Highlight experience co‑selling with LMS resellers: Prepare a one‑page case study showing how you partnered with an LMS distributor (e.g., Blackboard, Canvas) to bundle a SaaS solution, the joint go‑to‑market activities you led, and the resulting revenue (e.g., $250k ARR). Use concrete metrics (conversion rate, sales cycle reduction) to prove you can “work alongside our LMS resellers” from day one.
• Reference Chad Somodi’s vision in the interview: Before the interview, review Chad’s LinkedIn posts and recent FeedbackFruits press releases. Bring a “quick win” idea that aligns with his comment about “creating demand”—for example, a virtual faculty‑roundtable series that showcases student‑feedback analytics and can be promoted through existing campus innovation newsletters. Mention this idea early to signal you’ve internalized the company’s growth stage.
• Negotiate compensation with US‑remote benchmarks: Research median OTE for SaaS Account Executives in the Central US (typically $150‑$190 k). Prepare a one‑pager that lists your past ARR quota attainment (e.g., 130 % of $2 M quota) and the value you’ll bring to a nascent US market. Use this data to ask for a base + OTE package at the higher end of the range, plus a modest “market‑entry” accelerator (e.g., $5k bonus after the first $500k closed‑won).