About Agave
We’re modernizing construction, a $12T global industry run by siloed software built 20-40 years ago (on-prem, no APIs, no mobile access, etc.). We connect these systems by building proprietary APIs and wrapping them in a modern UI for automating work.
Construction Software Companies use our API to integrate their apps with these systems. Construction Companies use our UI to automate work, like keeping financial data in sync between field teams on jobsites and accounting teams in an office. We save both time and money, making them more productive and profitable.
Our founding team has worked together for 10 years, first at Graphiq (acq. by Amazon) then at Amazon. We've raised $3M from YC, Accel, and leaders from Plaid, Procore, Autodesk, PlanGrid, Aconex, and more.
These slides explain our company and market: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VIRjj0W8wISEqM2IjPsg2-7carWSw-35GlC4ROTXXkU/edit?usp=sharing.
About the role
tl;dr: we’re hiring a hands-on, technical builder to help us scale our product to hundreds of customers:
- You will need to embody opposite traits. On one hand, diving deep into the technical nuances of source systems, building data models, and translating complex business logic to our engineers. On the other, working 1:1 with customers to define their requirements, onboard them, run demo meetings, negotiate deliverables, and more.
- You will interface daily between our engineers, customers, and partners (the systems we integrate with). Since we're early stage, we expect you to be a strong generalist.
- No need to have familiarity with construction.
Why Join Us
- Opportunity: you have the chance to be an early, pivotal member of a fast-growing YC startup modernizing one of the world's largest and most critical industries (construction). You'll work with our world-class engineers to deliver and expand our core product.
- Team: you'll work with a formidable founding team that's experienced, intense, and ambitious. We've worked together for 10 years, first at a startup that Amazon acquired, then at Amazon, and now at Agave. You'll learn a ton while having outsized ownership. You’ll have a front-row seat to the good, bad, and ugly of building a company from the ground up.
- Timing: you're joining at a key inflection point. We're proven (4x revenue growth YoY, 140+ customers) but also early. This means you have lower risk but also huge upside.
Responsibilities
- Investigate new source systems to integrate with (data models, business logic, APIs, etc.) and become our go-to subject matter expert on each. It’s part product, part data analysis, and part archeology.
- Research and define the structure for new data models we launch (schemas, interrelations with other models, how to standardize each across dozens of systems, etc.).
- Write detailed documentation (e.g. runbooks, FAQs) explaining source systems, data models, and API features for internal reference and for our customers to use self-service.
- Troubleshoot ad hoc issues with integrations and data models, helping our software engineers debug and resolve errors, and unblock our customers from launches and expansions.
- Build and own customer and partner relationships. Work end to end with both software startups and construction companies, from sales/demos to scoping requirements, from onboarding to roll-out.
- Translate customer needs to detailed product requirements our software engineers can code against.
- Assist sales team in customer demos, showing product functionality, refining customer requirements, and driving toward winning their business.
- No need to have: prior experience with Construction or at B2B SaaS/dev tools companies
Requirements
- Hands-on: you'll be a full-time builder, not a manager. You must love operating in the messy weeds of nuanced systems, understanding their complexity and simplifying it for our customers. You will focus on product execution and delivery, less on strategy and market research.
- Technical: no need to code, but you must have at least 1 year experience working closely with APIs, databases, SQL, Postman, and similar tools. The more, the better.
- 1+ year experience in software: at least 1 year of full-time experience working for a software company in a data analyst, product, or other technical role. We’re open to exceptional new grads with substantive internships. We want someone hungry and has lots of room to grow, who's ready to roll-up their sleeves and operate in the trenches.
- High ownership + conscientiousness: able to manage many threads at once without sacrificing quality.
- Meticulous attention to detail: structured thinker who nerds-out on nuances, accounts for edge cases, and tests your work thoroughly before calling it done.
- Clear + concise communication: oral and written, must love writing crisp docs for internal + external reference.
- Uncanny ability to deliver results: get the job done consistently, doing any task needed to deliver on time.
- Comfortable wth customers: able to work with a wide range of customers, spanning software engineers at startups to CFOs at specialty contractors. Can onboard new customers, run demo meetings, negotiate timelines, and communicate clearly over Slack, Zoom, and email.
- In-person: pumped to work in-person in SF 5 days per week.
- Nice to have:
- Experience interfacing with customers (e.g. running user interviews, demoing SaaS products).
- Experience building technical products (e.g. APIs, developer tools) alongside software engineers and shipping products on tight timelines.
- Knowledge of basic accounting, since many of our use-cases relate to automating financial workflows.
Benefits
- Healthcare: we cover 90% of your healthcare costs with several plan options.
- 401k: we match 100% of your contributions, up to 4% of annual salary.
- Relocation: sizable relocation bonus for folks currently located outside of the Bay Area.
- Gym: on-site gym with Peloton, squat rack, Tempo, Yoga setup, and more.
- Visa: we sponsor Visas (H1B, TN, etc.) for candidates who are a good fit!
In-Person
We've built Agave in-person since day 1, and will maintain an in-person culture in San Francisco going forward. We form tighter bonds, build a stronger culture, and move faster since we're all working from one location. Our office is just west of Twin Peaks, 1 block from a bus stop, 10min walk from a BART station, and a 5min drive off the 101 and 280. Our entire team commutes here every day. We believe building in-person is a huge strategic advantage, and we hope you’ll join us.
Interview Process
At each stage, we decide and update you within 24hrs:
- Intro (15min.) [Virtual]: informal chat for you to learn more about the role. We'll ask for details on your past projects and what you're looking for next. We want to know that you meet our basic requirements and can speak about your work clearly. You’re welcome to ask lots of questions about whether working at Agave makes sense for you.
- Writing Exercise (30min.) [Virtual]: we provide a short prompt that you reply to in a Google Doc. Our goal is to quickly decide whether you can write clearly, with minimum time investment required from you.
- Experience (30min.) [Virtual]: we'll dive into the details of your recent work experience, asking questions to learn about what you've done. Our goal is to ensure you've worked on sufficiently complex projects to confirm you'll be successful if you join us full-time. We'll also reserve 10min to answer any questions you have about Agave.
- Case Study (60min.) [Virtual]: we'll provide a product-related case study that you'll prepare asynchronously. You'll submit your response and we'll review it with you on a 60min call.
- On-site (60min. x 5 people) [In-Person in SF, we pay for travel]: you'll interview with each co-founder and our lead dev. This will be a deeper dive into your experience, technical fluency, and overall fit. Each interview is 1hr, 45min for our questions and 15min for yours.
