Sales Manager

About EIC

Economic Impact Catalyst (EIC) is an eight-year-old, bootstrapped outcomes platform company headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. We build software — Catalyzer, Startup Space, and LenderImpact — that helps SBDCs, CDFIs, economic development organizations, incubators, and corporate foundations measure, manage, and grow their impact. We operate in 35+ states and have helped facilitate over $200M in capital access for underrepresented entrepreneurs.

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We are not venture-backed. We don’t have a flashy brand. What we have is a real product solving a real problem for people who care deeply about economic equity — and a team that operates like owners. If that matters to you more than a ping-pong table and a Series C press release, keep reading.

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The Honest Picture

EIC’s CEO, David Ponraj, has been the primary sales force for most of the company’s history. We have two account executives on the team. The GTM infrastructure is solid — a clear ICP, a proven methodology, a CRM that’s actually being used — but the sales management layer doesn’t exist yet. That’s the role.

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You will not inherit a running playbook with established pipeline review cadences and rep scorecards. You will build those. In return, you’ll have direct access to the CEO, a product that closes when the right person gets in front of the right buyer, and a market — economic development — that is actively investing in technology right now.

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What You’ll Do

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Coach and Develop the Sales Team (Primary)

• Run weekly 1:1s with each AE — pipeline review, deal coaching, skill development, and accountability
• Build and maintain a rep coaching framework: identify skill gaps, create targeted development plans, track progress
• Create deal progression standards — what good looks like at every stage, and what it takes to advance
• Be the first person a rep calls when a deal stalls, a champion goes dark, or a procurement process gets complicated

Build and Run the Accountability Infrastructure

• Establish pipeline inspection cadence — what gets reviewed, how often, and with what level of rigor
• Create leading indicator dashboards in HubSpot: outreach volume, meeting-to-opportunity conversion, deal velocity, forecast accuracy
• Own weekly and monthly sales forecasting — report to the Revenue Leader or CEO with confidence and accuracy
• Create the consequence structure for missing leading indicators — early, direct, non-punitive

Strategic Selling (Supporting)

• Engage personally in deals where your involvement tips the outcome — typically $50K+ contracts or complex multi-stakeholder situations
• Support CEO and Revenue Leader in strategic account development — not as a closer, but as a deal architect
• Build and maintain key relationships in the SBDC, CDFI, and EDO ecosystem alongside the team

Build the Playbook

• Document the EIC sales methodology — ICP, discovery framework, objection handling, competitive positioning, mutual action plans
• Create onboarding materials so future AE hires can ramp in 30 days instead of 9 months
• Identify and close gaps in the sales process; implement solutions without waiting for permission

What We’re Looking For

We are not primarily screening for SBDC knowledge or economic development sector experience. We are screening for how you operate. These are the traits that predict success at EIC:

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You’ve built pipeline from nothing in ambiguous markets

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You’ve been somewhere that didn’t have an established brand, inbound volume, or funded outbound motion — and you’ve figured it out. You have a specific story about what you did in the first 60 days. You don’t wait to be told what your pipeline sources are.

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Your identity is making others better, not closing deals yourself

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You’ve had reps who struggled and you turned them around. You can describe exactly what you changed about your coaching approach and why it worked. You are energized by a rep’s win more than your own.

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You’ve built accountability structures that actually work

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You know the difference between a pipeline review and a forecast review. You’ve set leading indicator targets, tracked them weekly, and addressed misses early. Your reps knew where they stood before you told them.

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Your commercial judgment is sharp

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You know which deals are real and which are fantasy before the pipeline review. You’ve walked away from deals the team wanted to keep. You’ve told a rep that their champion wasn’t actually a champion before it became obvious.

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You’re a builder, not an inheritor

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You’re energized by the fact that the playbook doesn’t fully exist yet. You’ve built one before — not just executed inside one. You thrive in low-structure environments and create clarity rather than requiring it.

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Requirements

• 5+ years in B2B SaaS sales, with at least 2 years in a player-coach or sales management role
• Demonstrated track record of building pipeline in relationship-driven, trust-first markets (economic development, workforce development, association/membership, higher education, community finance, or comparable)
• Experience managing long sales cycles (6–18 months) with multi-stakeholder procurement
• HubSpot proficiency — you can build reports, pipelines, and forecasts without IT help
• Strong coaching instinct with specific examples of rep development

Preferred (Not Required)

• Familiarity with MEDDIC, MEDDPICC, or a comparable qualification methodology
• Prior experience selling to government-adjacent organizations: SBDCs, CDFIs, EDOs, community foundations, workforce boards
• Experience at a bootstrapped or capital-efficient SaaS company
• Comfort operating as an individual contributor alongside management responsibilities

Base salary ranges from $70,000–$85,000, depending on experience, with a review at 6 months. Variable compensation comes from two sources: a team override paid quarterly as a percentage of team quota attainment above threshold, and a strategic close commission on personal deals over $50K where your involvement is material. At 100% of plan, OTE totals $130,000–$150,000. The role is fully remote, with about 10 trips per year for conferences and key client visits, and includes health, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k), and flexible PTO, sick leave, and volunteer hours. Equity may be considered for exceptional candidates, though EIC is bootstrapped and profitable rather than venture-backed.

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Market median for this role at a funded SaaS company is $120K–$160K OTE. We are below that ceiling intentionally. What we offer instead: direct access to CEO and leadership team, a mission that is real and measurable, a market that is buying, and the satisfaction of building something from scratch. If your primary driver is maximizing cash comp, this is not the right role. If you want to build something you’re proud of in a market where the work matters, we want to hear from you.