About the role

• We’re hiring a Startups Growth Lead to own how Cursor wins the startup ecosystem.
• Focus on highest-leverage distribution motions: top accelerators, founder communities, and networks shaping developer tool adoption.
• Build the distribution engine from zero: driving adoption across founders, startups, and VCs, turning that into compounding usage and retention.
• High-agency operator role: set strategy, build motion, ship and iterate relentlessly.
• Work cross-functionally across Growth, Product Marketing, Brand, Community, DevRel, and Product.
• Full ownership with bias toward speed, leverage, and measurable impact.

What you’ll do

• Own Cursor’s startup distribution motion: define priorities and translate into a focused roadmap.
• Build and evolve startup program strategy: launch and iterate programs driving adoption, retention, advocacy.
• Develop strategic partnerships with accelerators, funds, communities, platforms to compound distribution and credibility.
• Drive community-led and social growth: create repeatable loops turning ecosystem presence into sustained awareness and product pull.
• Find unconventional high-leverage channels: identify/test new distribution wedges to make Cursor default in ecosystem.
• Measure impact and prove incrementality: define success metrics, set up tracking, evaluate results.
• Operate with strong prioritization under constraint: focus on highest-leverage work despite inbound requests/partnerships.
• Partner cross-functionally to ship quickly without drag.

What success looks like

• Cursor becomes default choice in key startup communities/cohorts.
• Clear compounding ecosystem engine: repeatable programs, scalable partner motions, durable community loops.
• Partnerships translate into measurable product adoption and sustained usage (not just logos or “nice-to-have” relationships).

You may be a fit if

• Former technical founder or deep experience working with technical founders/developer communities.
• Strong ecosystem credibility with track record of driving growth outcomes (not just maintaining relationships).
• Ability to build from scratch: strategy → roadmap → execution → measurement → iteration.
• Excellent judgment on where to spend time for compounding leverage (and where to say no).
• Clear communication aligning cross-functional teams through crisp plans/narratives/results.
• Energized by high ownership, ambiguity, moving fast.

Experience that helps

• Experience building for developer audiences; understanding how founders/engineers evaluate/adopt tools.
• History building partner motions/programs with clear metrics and durable flywheels.
• Comfort with measurement/experimentation including imperfect attribution environments.