Business Development Executive - Founder Acquisition Program

Business Development — Founder’s Program

As part of Business Development for D2CX, you won’t just close leads. You’ll help build the founder acquisition and conversion engine for the program. That means understanding who the right founders are, building strong lead journeys, nurturing decision-making, improving conversion systems, and helping turn demand into enrollments at scale.

This is ideal for someone who enjoys combining sales instinct, pipeline thinking, relationship-building, and structured execution. You should be excited by the idea of building a category-leading admissions and founder growth function, not just managing inbound calls.
About Inc42 Media
Inc42 is India’s leading startup media and intelligence platform that informs, educates and empowers startup and business leaders through its incisive reporting, insightful reports, curated events and community engagement, and industry-leading executive courses.
Since launching in January 2015, and having risen to become the authoritative voice on India’s startup economy, we've moved markets, gotten the early scoop on billions of dollars of transactions and told you what's happening deep inside some of the fastest-growing startups and industries alike. Our stories have been followed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, TechCrunch and other major outlets hundreds of times.
We also track over 50,000+ startups and provide market research and intelligence through our in-depth research reports, and we organise some of the most sought-after conferences and events for startup and business leaders across India.
The Inc42 Impact

• Inc42 stories reach over 50 Mn+ people monthly
• Published more than 55,000 stories
• Successfully conducted 150+ events
• Launched 100+ research reports
• Receives 500+ startup applications monthly
• Worked with 350+ brands

What you'll do-

• Drive founder enrollments for the D2CX program through consultative outreach and high-touch lead management.
• Own pipeline movement from qualified lead to enrolled fellow.
• Nurture founders who have applied, shown interest, downloaded materials, or engaged with the program in other ways.
• Conduct discovery-led conversations to understand business stage, founder ambition, and program fit.
• Handle objections with clarity and confidence, and help founders make faster, stronger decisions.
• Build structured follow-up journeys across calls, WhatsApp, email, and Zoom.
• Partner with marketing to improve lead quality, conversion journeys, messaging, and campaign feedback loops.
• Work on lead prioritisation, segmentation, and funnel optimisation to increase conversion efficiency.
• Maintain rigorous CRM tracking and pipeline forecasting.
• Help identify and build external lead-generation or partnership opportunities relevant to founder acquisition.
• Contribute to scripts, playbooks, sales process improvements, and scalable business development systems.

What we are looking for-

• You are commercially sharp and know how to move high-intent leads toward a decision.
• You can sell with depth, not pressure.
• You enjoy solving for conversion, pipeline velocity, and funnel efficiency.
• You can speak credibly with founders and understand business context quickly.
• You bring strong ownership and don’t need heavy hand-holding.
• You care about process and numbers as much as relationships.

Ideal Experience-

• 2–6 years in business development, admissions, inside sales, founder growth, or high-ticket consultative sales.
• Experience in education, cohort-based programs, startup ecosystems, or founder-facing businesses is preferred.
• Strong experience handling warm leads and multi-touch nurture journeys.
• Familiarity with CRM systems, pipeline management, and follow-up discipline.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Strong commercial judgment and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

Bonus if you have-

• Experience selling outcome-led programs, fellowships, or premium learning experiences.
• Experience speaking with founders, startup operators, or D2C businesses.
• A strong instinct for both founder psychology and revenue conversion.

What success looks like in this role-

• Strong conversion of qualified founders into enrolled fellows.
• Better funnel movement, follow-up discipline, and forecast accuracy.
• Improved speed-to-contact and nurture quality across the pipeline.
• Strong founder experience without losing commercial efficiency.
• Repeatable systems and playbooks that make the business development engine stronger over time.

Why Join Us-

• You’ll help build the growth engine behind a founder-first program with real market relevance.
• You’ll work with ambitious D2C founders solving real brand and business problems.
• You’ll sit close to strategy, marketing, revenue, and program execution.
• You’ll have the opportunity to shape not just outcomes, but the entire founder acquisition and conversion journey.