BD & Sales Lead.

About Makers of Awe.

Makers of Awe is an AI-powered immersive technology company designing experiences for connection, embodiment, and joy. We've created a set of 6 turnkey experiences — real-time AI visualizations, movement-reactive, biofeedback, and guided breathwork experiences. We rent these experiences into conferences, private events, festivals, as well as build custom versions for brand activations. Our team has a track record of building experiences for brands like Deloitte, YouTube, the Sphere, Nickelodeon, Snickers, and more. This role reports in to Kyle Ruddick, the Founder/CEO of Makers of Awe and Makers with AI.

Makers of Awe is 9 months old and we're just starting to go-to-market in a scalable way. We're looking for someone to drive Business Development and Sales to generate deals across our three key revenue lines:

• Event Rentals
• Custom activations for brands and agencies. (Note: For custom builds, we work alongside our sister company, Makers with AI)
• Our Partner Program, which includes Referral and Reseller partners

We're a small startup, and we wear many hats. There's a lot of room for creativity and diversity of tasks in building a unique experience company of this kind. While this first project is a quarter's scope, additional opportunities for role expansion and career growth are highly likely into 2027.

The role.

You run business development and sales across three motions, working directly with the Founder and the Strategy lead. You're our first dedicated BD & Sales hire.

• Rentals. Sell our turnkey experiences into conferences, corporate events, holiday parties, and brand activations — and spot which rentals can grow into something bigger.
• Custom builds. Listen to and react to higher-tier commercial, advertising, and marketing clients looking for experiential design. Support the founder in developing the pitch, help make the sale, and bring in the right partners to deliver it.
• The partner program. Activate and manage our tiered partner channel, including Referral, Agency, and Reseller Partners.

This role suits someone who is strategic about sales and partnerships but also likes having their hands on the execution. We'll want to hear from what you're learning on the front lines - what's landing well with prospects, what isn't, how can we improve, etc.

What you'll do.

• Close rental business: own pipeline from outreach through signed contract, starting with Q4 holiday activations and end-of-year parties.
• Turn rentals into custom builds: recognize when a rental client wants more, then shape the opportunity into a customized activation.
• Develop and support pitches: work with the founder and our sister company to build pitch materials and proposals for brand, agency, and marketing clients — and be in the room to make the sale.
• Test and grow the partner program: take the program out to your first 10 prospective partners, get a read on what is and isn't working, and help us adjust. RSA, Monks, and We Are Social are already in motion.
• Run the channel like a system: keep the deal log current — registrations, protection windows, attribution, payouts — and keep every deal in the right tier.
• Work the room: If and when possible, show up at Makers of Awe demo nights, activations and industry events. We'll reimburse your travel.
• Keep the forecast honest: report pipeline weekly so we can reconcile what's actually closing against the operating model.
• Sharpen the tools you sell with: tell us what's landing and what isn't in the sales collateral — decks, one-sheets, rate cards, follow-up templates. Guide what we build next, and make light touches yourself rather than waiting on us.
• Prospect on social: work LinkedIn, Instagram, and the event-industry channels to find leads and open conversations.

First-quarter goals.

The engagement starts as a one-quarter trial, measured from your start date. These goals set the shared bar for that quarter.

At the end of the quarter, we review results together and set the structure going forward.

Who you are.

• 4–8 years selling experiential, event services, sponsorships, AV/production, or brand partnerships. You've closed five-figure event deals and know the buying cycle cold.
• Comfortable in front of commercial, advertising, and marketing clients — you can hear what a brand is really asking for and help shape a pitch around it.
• A working rolodex of event producers, conference organizers, experiential agencies, and corporate event buyers, ideally LA-centered.
• Channel instincts: you've sold with or through partners, and you understand how to navigate sensitivities around relationship-management with partners.
• Startup-fluent and happy wearing many hats: you write your own decks, run your own CRM, and like being close to how the experience actually gets made.
• Social-media savvy: you're willing to hunt down leads through LinkedIn, Instagram, and wherever else event and brand people gather.
• An eye for collateral: you can look at a deck, one-sheet, or rate card and say what's working, what's missing, and make light edits using AI yourself.
• Genuine enthusiasm for immersive tech, embodiment, and creating wonder in rooms full of people.

Engagement & compensation.

This is a one-quarter contract on a retainer plus commission, with the structure revisited together at the end of the quarter.