Account Executive

Overview

You're selling Verkada's cloud-based physical security platform—cameras, access control, alarms, intercoms, sensors—to businesses in Osaka. This is full-cycle selling: you source your own pipeline, run demos, navigate multi-stakeholder deals, and close. You're competing against traditional security integrators who do custom installations and newer cloud players like Rhombus and Avigilon Alta.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Series D+ (Raised $460M+, valued at $3B+)

Size: 2,658 employees globally

Growth: Expanding aggressively in APAC—this is part of a regional buildout. They're past product-market fit (30K+ customers globally) and scaling internationally.

Market Position: Category challenger. They're disrupting traditional security integrators with a plug-and-play cloud model, competing against legacy (Axis, Milestone) and newer cloud players (Rhombus, Avigilon Alta).

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 30% Inbound - Marketing-generated leads from website, events, referrals. Quality varies—some are tire-kickers comparing options, others are hot replacements of existing systems.
• 60% Outbound - You're prospecting daily. Cold calling, LinkedIn, email sequences to facilities managers, IT directors, security directors. Verkada has name recognition in the space now, which helps, but you're still educating buyers on the cloud model.
• 10% Channel/Referrals - Some deals come through partners or existing customer referrals.

SDR/AE Structure: Likely self-sourcing in a new market like Osaka. No dedicated SDR team yet—you own the full cycle from prospecting to close.

SE Support: Shared SE pool. You'll get technical support for larger deals or complex integrations, but you're expected to run standard demos yourself.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors:

• Traditional integrators (local VAR partners using Axis, Milestone, Genetec)
• Cloud-native players (Rhombus, Avigilon Alta)
• Existing legacy systems that "work fine" (biggest competitor is inertia)

How They Differentiate: Plug-and-play deployment (no NVR, no servers), cloud-based management, integrated platform (cameras + access + alarms in one pane), AI-powered search. They emphasize ease of use and scalability vs traditional systems.

Common Objections:

• "We already have a system" / "It's not broken"
• Data privacy concerns (cloud-based storage vs on-prem)
• Upfront hardware cost vs subscription model confusion
• "We prefer working with our local integrator"
• Internet dependency ("What if our network goes down?")

Win Themes: Ease of deployment, no IT overhead, mobile access, faster incident response with AI search, single-pane management across locations.

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Prospecting (35%) | Active Deals (40%) | Internal/Admin (25%)

Key Activities

• Prospecting: 30-40 cold calls/day, 20-30 emails, LinkedIn outreach. You're targeting facilities managers, IT directors, and security heads at companies with multiple locations (retail chains, manufacturers, schools, healthcare). Most calls go to voicemail. You're trying to book 4-5 discovery calls per week.
• Discovery & Demos: You run 3-5 product demos per week. Demos are 45-60 minutes, showing the Command platform, walking through camera footage search, access control integrations. You're qualifying for budget, timeline, decision-makers. Many prospects are in "research mode" and won't move for 3-6 months.
• Deal Progression: You're managing 15-20 active opportunities at various stages. Lots of follow-up: chasing procurement for paperwork, coordinating site surveys for larger deployments, navigating multi-stakeholder approvals (security wants it, IT needs to approve network, finance needs to approve budget). Deals slip quarters regularly.
• Internal Coordination: Weekly forecast calls with your manager. Coordinating with SEs for technical deep-dives. Working with implementation team on deployment timelines. Updating Salesforce. Occasional travel to Tokyo for regional meetings or large customer visits.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• You're educating a conservative market. Security buyers in Japan are risk-averse and prefer established vendors or local integrators. "Cloud-based security" is still a newer concept for many.
• Long sales cycles with multiple stakeholders. Security director wants it, IT is skeptical about cloud dependency, procurement wants three quotes, finance wants to spread payments. Deals drag.
• You're competing against "good enough" legacy systems. Many prospects aren't in pain—they're just exploring options. Creating urgency is tough.
• Language and cultural nuance matters. Even if you speak Japanese fluently, navigating corporate hierarchy and decision-making consensus takes time.
• You're self-sourcing most of your pipeline in a new market. No established brand presence in Osaka yet means lots of cold outreach and rejection.

What Success Looks Like

• Closing $200K-$300K/quarter ($800K-$1.2M/year)
• Building a pipeline of 3-4x your quarterly quota
• Winning 20-25% of qualified opportunities (demo to close)
• Establishing 2-3 anchor accounts that become references for future deals

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• Facilities Managers / General Affairs (総務部) at multi-location businesses
• IT Directors (especially at tech-forward companies)
• Security Directors at larger enterprises
• Operations managers at retail chains, manufacturers, schools

What They Care About:

• Ease of deployment and management (no on-prem servers, no IT overhead)
• Total cost of ownership vs traditional systems
• Data privacy and compliance (where is footage stored, who can access it)
• Reliability and uptime (what happens if internet goes down)
• Scalability across locations
• Vendor stability and support in Japan

Requirements

• Fluent in Japanese (business-level) and English
• 3-5 years of full-cycle B2B sales experience, preferably in SaaS, hardware, or security
• Experience selling to IT, facilities, or security buyers
• Comfortable with consultative, multi-stakeholder sales (not transactional)
• Self-starter mentality—you'll be building territory from scratch
• Willing to travel occasionally within Japan for customer meetings and internal offsites