Business Development Manager, Events & Nightlife

About the company

Our client is a seed-stage, venture-backed startup building a commerce platform for businesses, with no upfront cost to get started. The company is well funded for its stage and is led by experienced founders who have built consumer companies before. The product is already gaining traction in sports, entertainment and culture, and events and nightlife is the next vertical they are pushing into.

The role

This is a business development seat for someone who already knows the players in local events and nightlife — not someone who needs to build a network from scratch. You would take your existing relationships with venues, promoters, organizers and DJs and turn them into signed accounts, owning the whole deal from first conversation to close with no hand-off to a separate closer and no approval chains. Warm network comes first; outbound prospecting fills the gaps once those leads are worked. It is a fast-moving, low-process startup environment, and you would work directly with the company's business development leadership to shape its growth in this vertical.

What you'll do

• Tap into your existing network of event organizers, venue operators, promoters and DJs to generate warm leads and close new accounts
• Run demos, pitch the product, and negotiate deal terms — fee splits, guarantees, exclusivity — end to end
• Turn every signed client into a referral source, deliberately growing your network beyond your first contacts
• Fill gaps with outbound prospecting (cold intros, DMs) once warm leads are worked — secondary to your network
• Stay hands-on after the close: support onboarding, and occasionally show up at a client's first event to build the relationship

Nice to have

• Business development, account executive or account management experience at a ticketing or events platform, personally managing organizer or venue relationships day to day
• Time spent inside the scene itself — as a promoter, DJ, venue or bar manager, or nightlife general manager
• A network that spans more than one city
• Experience growing a book of accounts through referrals from existing clients

Compensation & logistics

• $100k–$200k depending on experience and network, with a flexible structure: salary plus competitive equity, or a lower base with high commission tied directly to the accounts you bring on
• Fully remote, anywhere in the United States — you must be based in the US
• Optional monthly on-site week with room and board covered; occasional travel to client events is encouraged but not required
• Open to candidates who need no sponsorship, visa transfers and new visa sponsorships
• 2–6 years of experience
• 1 hire planned, with more possible if the search goes well