About the Account Executive Role at Maxima

Maxima is building the first agentic AI platform for enterprise accounting, purpose built to deliver SOX compliant, real time close. As an Account Executive on the Sales team (fully remote), you will own the full sales cycle from prospecting and discovery through negotiation and close, working directly with CFOs, Controllers, and Accounting leaders. Your job is to show finance organizations how Maxima can transform their month-end close into a continuous, autonomous process, while managing multiple high-value opportunities across mid-market and enterprise segments.

This is an early, high-impact seat at a fast-scaling AI startup backed by Kleiner Perkins and Audacious Ventures. Beyond hitting quota, you will help refine the sales playbook, partner with BDRs on pipeline, collaborate with Product, Marketing, and Customer Success, and act as the voice of the customer to shape messaging and product priorities. Maxima wants a consultative, self-driven closer who is genuinely curious about AI, automation, and the future of finance.

Quick Stats

* Typical process: 4 to 5 rounds, roughly 3 to 5 weeks

* Format: Remote (video and phone throughout)

* Core focus: full-cycle SaaS sales, executive discovery, ROI storytelling, pipeline and forecasting, cross-functional collaboration

* Difficulty: Moderate to hard, because you must sell a technical, compliance-heavy product (SOX, close automation) to skeptical finance executives while proving quota-carrying rigor

What Maxima Looks For

* 3 to 6 years of full-cycle SaaS sales with a proven record of meeting or exceeding quota in complex, consultative deals

* Ability to engage executive-level audiences (CFOs, Controllers) with strong communication and presentation skills

* Experience selling financial operations, ERP, automation, or AI solutions, plus Salesforce or similar CRM fluency

* Genuine curiosity about AI, automation, and the future of finance, with the drive to help customers adopt new technology

Round 1: Recruiter Screen (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

A recruiter or sales leader will run a quick call to confirm your background, quota history, remote work fit, and motivation for joining an early-stage AI company. Expect to give a crisp overview of your full-cycle experience, the segments you have sold into (mid-market vs enterprise), and why the future of finance and autonomous close excites you. They are screening for baseline quota performance and whether you can speak clearly and concisely, since that is the job.

Example Questions

* "Walk me through your current full-cycle sales role and the segments you sell into."

* "What was your quota last year, and how did you perform against it?"

* "Why Maxima, and why sell into finance and accounting teams specifically?"

* "What interests you about agentic AI and the future of the month-end close?"

Tips

* Have your numbers ready: quota, attainment, average deal size, and sales cycle length, stated plainly.

* Show you have done homework on Maxima's product (SOX compliant, real time close) and its founders' background.

* Rehearse a tight two-minute pitch of your background and motivation with Nora's Standard Mode so your phone-screen answers stay sharp and concise.

Round 2: Hiring Manager Interview (~45 to 60 minutes)

What to Expect

This is the core conversation with the sales leader or founder. Expect a deep behavioral dive into how you run a full sales cycle: how you prospect with BDRs, qualify, run discovery, build multi-threaded relationships, and close complex deals. They will probe your track record with concrete deal stories and want to see how you handle long, consultative cycles with multiple stakeholders (finance execs, IT, operations). This round is where offers are often won or lost.

Example Questions

* "Tell me about the most complex enterprise deal you closed and how you navigated the buying committee."

* "Describe a time you partnered with BDRs or SDRs to build pipeline in a new territory."

* "Walk me through how you qualify an opportunity and decide whether to pursue or disqualify it."

* "Tell me about a deal you lost. What went wrong and what did you change afterward?"

Tips

* Use STAR structure and lead with quantified outcomes (deal size, cycle time, expansion).

* Emphasize multi-threading and stakeholder management, since Maxima sells to CFOs, Controllers, IT, and ops.

* Practice these deal narratives out loud with Nora's Behavioral Mode so your stories are specific, structured, and free of rambling.

Round 3: Mock Demo and Discovery (~60 minutes)

What to Expect

Because the posting emphasizes discovery, solutioning, and tailored demos with ROI narratives, expect a role-play. You may be asked to run a discovery call with a hypothetical Controller or CFO, then deliver a short pitch or mock demo of a product (sometimes a generic SaaS, sometimes Maxima itself after a prep packet). Evaluators watch how you uncover pain, tie it to business value, quantify ROI, and handle objections around a technical, compliance-sensitive product like autonomous close.

Example Questions

* "Run a discovery call with me. I am the Controller at a 2,000-person company still closing manually."

* "How would you build an ROI case for replacing a manual month-end close with Maxima?"

* "A CFO says they do not trust AI to touch SOX controls. How do you respond?"

* "Pitch me on why continuous, autonomous close beats the quarterly grind they know today."

Tips

* Ask sharp discovery questions before pitching; do not jump to features. Quantify the cost of the current process.

* Prepare to speak credibly about SOX, month-end close pain, and where automation reduces risk and effort.

* Rehearse the discovery-to-demo flow and objection handling with Nora's Technical Mode, treating the close automation and ROI framing as the technical subject matter you must master.

Round 4: Cross-Functional and Values Fit (~45 minutes)

What to Expect

You will meet leaders from Product, Marketing, or Customer Success, plus possibly a founder. Since AEs at Maxima influence product direction and act as the voice of the customer, this round assesses collaboration, coachability, and how you translate market feedback into internal action. Expect questions about working in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup with an evolving playbook, and how you partner across functions to ensure customer success beyond the close.

Example Questions

* "Describe a time customer feedback you surfaced changed the product or messaging."

* "How do you work with Customer Success to ensure smooth onboarding after you close?"

* "How do you operate when the sales playbook is still being built and priorities shift weekly?"

* "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a product or marketing decision. What did you do?"

Tips

* Show you thrive in ambiguity and can help build process rather than just follow it.

* Bring an example of being the voice of the customer that led to a concrete internal change.

* Use Nora's Behavioral Mode to practice culture-fit and cross-functional stories that show ownership and coachability.

Round 5: Offer and Salary Negotiation (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

If successful, you will discuss compensation with the recruiter or hiring leader. Maxima offers competitive salary, equity, 401k, and unlimited PTO. Expect conversation around base and variable split (OTE), quota, ramp expectations, and equity, which matters a lot at a seed-stage company that raised the largest seed in accounting history.

Example Questions

* "What are your base and OTE expectations for this role?"

* "How do you think about equity versus cash at an early-stage startup?"

* "What quota and ramp period would you consider reasonable given your experience?"

* "Do you have competing offers or timelines we should know about?"

Tips

* Anchor on total OTE, and get clear on the base-to-variable split and how quota is set and credited.

* Ask thoughtful questions about equity, given the seed stage and investor backing; this is a real upside lever.

* Run the back-and-forth with Nora's Salary Negotiation Mode so you can advocate for base, OTE, and equity without underselling yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) How many rounds are there?

Expect roughly 4 to 5 rounds: a recruiter screen, a hiring manager (or founder) behavioral round, a mock discovery and demo, a cross-functional and values-fit conversation, and an offer and negotiation call. Exact structure is not published by Maxima, so treat this as the typical shape for an AE role at a fast-scaling seed-stage AI company.

2) What topics are most common?

* Full-cycle SaaS sales execution: prospecting, discovery, solutioning, negotiation, and close

* Selling into finance leaders (CFOs, Controllers) with ROI storytelling around SOX compliant, real time close, plus quota track record and CRM discipline

3) How long does the process take?

Generally about 3 to 5 weeks end to end, depending on scheduling and how quickly the mock demo and cross-functional rounds are arranged. Early-stage companies can move faster when there is strong interest.

4) How should I prepare?

* Quantify your track record: quota attainment, deal sizes, cycle length, and complex enterprise wins you can tell as STAR stories.

* Learn Maxima's product and market: agentic AI for accounting, month-end close pain, SOX, and where automation reduces risk; be ready to build an ROI narrative.

* Prepare a tight discovery-to-demo flow and objection responses for finance-executive skepticism about AI touching controls.

* Practice with Nora AI: use Standard Mode for the recruiter screen, Behavioral Mode for the hiring manager and cross-functional rounds, Technical Mode to rehearse the discovery and mock demo, and Salary Negotiation Mode for the offer conversation.