AI GTM Expert - Partnerships & Revenue Systems

Overview

You're building the enterprise revenue infrastructure at ImagineArt - a bootstrapped AI creative tools company with $30M+ ARR from consumers that's now moving upmarket. You'll work directly with the CEO to establish partnership channels (agencies, resellers, system integrators), build RevOps systems to support enterprise sales, and create the operational foundation needed to scale from the first few enterprise deals to a repeatable motion.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Bootstrapped, $30M+ ARR (no VC funding)

Size: 191 employees

Growth: Proven with creators, now experimenting with enterprise

Market Position: Strong consumer product, building enterprise credibility

GTM Reality

Current State:

• No partner program exists - you're building from scratch
• No formal RevOps function - sales process is ad hoc
• CRM probably exists but isn't configured for enterprise complexity
• No standardized pricing, contracts, or sales process for enterprise
• Other GTM hire is doing direct selling; you're building the infrastructure and channels to support and scale that

Your Mission: Create leverage. The company can't hire 50 AEs, so you need to enable partners to sell on their behalf AND build systems so the direct sellers can operate efficiently.

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Partnership Development (50%) | RevOps Systems (30%) | Strategy (20%)

Key Activities

Partnership Development:

• Identifying potential partners: Creative agencies who could resell to their clients. System integrators who implement MarTech stacks. Resellers in the Adobe/Canva ecosystem. Figuring out who has access to enterprise buyers who need AI creative tools.
• Building partner program: Creating partner tiers, commission structures, deal registration process, marketing materials partners can use. Documenting the "how to sell ImagineArt to enterprises" playbook for partners.
• Partner enablement: Teaching partners about the product, training their sales teams, creating demo environments, handling technical questions. You're essentially doing sales enablement but for external partners.
• Deal support: When partners bring opportunities, you help them scope, price, and close. You're not the AE but you're the ImagineArt expert helping partners navigate their deals.

RevOps Systems:

• CRM configuration: Setting up proper stages, fields, reporting for enterprise deals in whatever CRM they use (likely Salesforce or HubSpot). Building dashboards so leadership can see pipeline and forecast.
• Sales process documentation: Documenting qualification criteria, discovery questions, demo scripts, pricing guidelines, contract terms. Creating the infrastructure so enterprise selling isn't just tribal knowledge.
• Data hygiene: Ensuring deals are tracked correctly, making sure partner-sourced vs direct deals are tagged properly, cleaning up the mess as the team figures out what enterprise GTM looks like.
• Compensation planning: Working with finance and CEO to design commission structures for direct sellers and partner payouts that actually make sense.

Strategic Work:

• Market analysis: Researching how competitors use partners. Identifying which partner types move the most enterprise software. Recommending where to focus.
• Pricing and packaging: The consumer product has one pricing model. Enterprise needs different tiers, volume discounts, multi-year contracts. You're designing this.
• Cross-functional projects: Working with product on what partners need (white-label options? API access?). Working with legal on partner contracts. Working with marketing on partner co-marketing.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• You're building everything from zero with no templates or budget. Most partners will say "interesting, call us when you have more enterprise customers."
• Bootstrapped company means no big partner marketing funds. You can't do the splashy co-marketing campaigns that VC-backed companies use to attract partners.
• The product wasn't built with partners in mind. Partners will ask for white-label, channel-specific pricing, deal registration systems - you'll be building business cases for why product/eng should build these.
• RevOps at an early-stage enterprise motion is messy. Data will be inconsistent. Processes will change every quarter. You're cleaning up messes while simultaneously trying to build scalable systems.
• You're splitting time between partnerships (external, relationship-heavy) and RevOps (internal, systems-heavy). These require very different skill sets and mindsets.
• Limited team means you're doing everything: partner recruiting, deal support, CRM admin, comp plan spreadsheets, board deck prep. No specialization.
• You're in SF/NY/LA frequently working in-person with the CEO. Not a remote role.

What Success Looks Like

• You sign 3-5 strategic partners in year one who collectively source $300-500K in enterprise pipeline
• You build a CRM and reporting structure that gives leadership visibility into enterprise pipeline and forecast
• You document sales and partner processes clearly enough that the company could hire more sellers or partner managers and onboard them efficiently
• You establish pricing tiers and deal structures that become the standard for enterprise deals
• Partners are enabled well enough they can run demos and handle initial conversations without constantly pulling you in

Who You're Working With

Internal Stakeholders:

• CEO (your direct manager and main strategic partner)
• Other GTM hire (direct seller - you support their deals operationally)
• Product team (you influence roadmap based on partner and operational needs)
• Finance (you design comp plans and pricing with them)

External Partners You'll Recruit:

• Creative agencies who could bundle ImagineArt into client engagements
• MarTech resellers and system integrators
• Consultants who advise enterprises on creative operations
• Platform partners (companies that integrate with ImagineArt)

What They Care About:

• Partners: Margin, ease of selling, whether ImagineArt will conflict with existing client relationships, marketing support
• Internal: Clean data, accurate forecasts, repeatable processes, leverage (can we scale without hiring linearly?)

Requirements

• 5+ years in SaaS partnerships, channel sales, or RevOps (ideally have done both partnerships AND ops)
• Experience building partner programs from scratch - you've been the first partner hire or early RevOps person before
• Technical proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot), sales tools, data analysis
• Understanding of AI/creative tools market helpful - you need to articulate value to partners
• Comfortable with ambiguity - you're figuring out what good looks like as you build it
• Strong project management - you're juggling multiple workstreams with no support team
• Relationship-building skills for recruiting and enabling partners
• Based in or willing to relocate to SF/NY/LA for regular in-person work with CEO