---
title: 'Founding Sales Development Representative at Fernstone'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-fernstone-new-york-a2pay4sqabfz'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-26'
---

# Founding Sales Development Representative at Fernstone

- **Company:** Fernstone
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Compensation:** $65k–$90k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-26
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone/996caf1d-f956-40ba-926f-abaa0f7eab76

## Job description

Fernstone is building a new kind of insurance company: we combine AI with expert advisors to place insurance faster and at better terms. Insurance is a $1T category that still runs on pen and paper. We believe AI will fundamentally reshape how insurance is bought, sold, and serviced. We’ve raised $3M from YCombinator and other notable investors. Fernstone was founded by [James](http://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/737672/linkedin_redirect?key=f4f026c4cd7e51d1014e2de378f0e60f559cb6ac) (BCG, Traba, UChicago) and [Bryant](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryant-le-3884a7134/) (Google, SentiLink, Vanderbilt). We work in-person in our NYC office.

Since the start of the year we’ve grown from 0 to 500+ customers – we’ve built a compelling product with an average sales cycle of 15 days, and now we are scaling it up to reach thousands more.

As Founding SDR and our first dedicated sales hire, you will own demand generation across growth and sales:

- Outbound (40%): create and own our outbound channel - reach prospects through phone calls, convert interest into booked meetings
- Inbound (40%): meet with a healthy pipeline of interested customers, qualify them, close them
- Growth (20%): transmit sales execution work into scalable systems – generate and enrich leads, create sequences, and stand up new verticals to expand top of funnel

You are:

- Competitive
- Ambitious
- Gritty
- Intelligent
- A team player

We’ll be most excited if you:

- Have 0 - 2+ years of experience working on a team that requires outcome ownership (sales, high-growth startup, consulting/finance)
- Have accomplished impressive things in a competitive environment – whether professional, academic, athletic, or otherwise
- Have built something before and are excited about ownership, ambiguity, and fast execution

This is a founding role, and that is reflected in scope, compensation, and upside.

## About Fernstone

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Fernstone is an AI-native insurance brokerage that combines artificial intelligence with licensed brokers to help businesses obtain complex insurance faster and at better terms.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-Seed / Y Combinator F25 batch)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, NY, United States (some sources also list San Francisco, CA – conflicting reports) [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone) | [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Founded**: 2025 [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
- **Founders**: James Chen, Bryant Le, and a third co-founder (Luke) [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Insurance brokerage, with a focus on commercial property & casualty, workers’ compensation, and specialty lines.
- **Target customers**: B2B – construction, security, trades, and other businesses that need complex, multi-carrier risk coverage.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Insurance for businesses that move fast” – providing a single platform to manage risk, compliance, and coverage without the typical back-and-forth. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Fernstone Platform**: A SaaS-based insurance management suite that includes:
  - **COI Management** – Create and share certificates of insurance instantly.
  - **Claims Handling** – File and track claims with dedicated support.
  - **Policy Management** – Access, update, and organize policies across carriers.
  - **Automated Alerts** – Notifications for renewals, expirations, and coverage gaps.
  - **Secure Access Control** – Role-based permissions for team collaboration.
  - **Billing & Payments** – Pay premiums, manage installments, and view history.
- **Brokerage Services**: Human-in-the-loop licensed brokers who combine AI-driven automation with personal relationships to source quotes from top carriers (Tokio Marine, Amtrust, Markel, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, CNA, Travelers, BHSI, Kinsale). [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private, pre-seed).
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $125,000 from Y Combinator (pre-seed round, led by YC, September 2025). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Y Combinator (lead investor); David Lieb (primary YC partner). Carrier partners include Tokio Marine, Amtrust, Markel, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, CNA, Travelers, BHSI, Kinsale. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/) | [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
- **Growth Signals**: Serving 100+ businesses in construction, security, and trades; monthly website traffic growth of +394%; headcount growth of +40% monthly (from 2 to 5 employees); actively hiring a Growth & Operations Lead. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone) | [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-native automation**: An AI agent automates the manual broker-carrier back-and-forth (email threads, follow-ups, document generation), dramatically reducing quote turnaround times.
- **Licensed brokers in the loop**: Combines technology with human expertise – all co-founders and staff are licensed brokers, ensuring quality and accountability.
- **Dedicated risk management team**: Every client gets a single point of contact who learns their operations, updates policies, and monitors exposures proactively.
- **Transparent, competitive pricing**: Works across multiple carriers to keep coverage effective and affordable, with continuous monitoring to avoid overpaying.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the platform**: Onboarding more businesses, especially in complex risk verticals (construction, security, trades).
- **Expanding carrier relationships**: Partnering with additional top-rated insurers to broaden coverage options.
- **Product development**: Enhancing the self-service portal and AI capabilities to reduce friction further.
- **Talent acquisition**: Building a small, high-leverage team (currently ~5 people) with a focus on growth, engineering, and operations.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Early-stage startup with a strong sense of ownership; all three founders are hands-on and licensed brokers, creating a culture of deep domain expertise and hustle.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Fully remote workspace (US-based). [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Notable perks**: Direct exposure to Y Combinator’s network; opportunity to shape the product and company from the ground up; small team means high impact per person.
- **Engineering culture**: One co-founder (Bryant Le) is a former Google and SentiLink engineer; the team values technical tooling and automation. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Sources
1. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone)
3. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/fernstone)
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)

## Other roles at Fernstone

- [Founding Growth & Operations Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-growth-operations-lead-fernstone-new-york-wyasmywxyd2t) — New York, NY
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-teleskope-new-york-5pphaqz92hk7) — New York, NY
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-momentic-san-francisco-manwmche2z1y) — San Francisco, CA
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-moxie-united-states-kkfwjsasdhpg) — United States
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-dragonfly-london-n40hma2jk31x) — London, United Kingdom
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-redcar-san-francisco-6dpweswnwqp8) — San Francisco, CA
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-clarasight-us-east-coast-836dyyj4mnpx) — US East Coast
- [Founding Sales Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-sales-development-representative-ajax-new-york-vk8nymksfjb7) — New York, NY