Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) | Contractor

ABOUT THE ROLE We are a venture studio. We research and validate ideas in-house, then bring in an Entrepreneur in Residence to turn the strongest of them into real companies. Each venture starts with a clear thesis, a budget and a small team already in place. As EIR , you lead one venture from early build to a standalone business. You work with a small cross-functional team across product, growth, sales and engineering, test quickly with real customers, form the company, and hand it to a long-term CEO once it is ready to raise. You are the single accountable owner from start to handover. This is a hands-on operating role, not an advisory one. You push forward when the evidence supports the venture and recommend stopping early when it doesn't. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Build • Take a validated concept and start executing from week one • Lead the product build with a small cross-functional team • Use AI and no-code tools to ship product, research and assets quickly • Set clear owners, deadlines and weekly milestones for every workstream Validate • Launch an MVP and measure real behaviour: usage, conversion, payment and retention;Run short test-and-learn cycles and drop what the data doesn't support • Build the evidence case for continued investment • Recommend stopping the venture early if traction isn't there External Relationships • Lead conversations with partners, early customers, suppliers and service providers • Drive early business development and first commercial deals • Manage contractors and specialists who don't report to you directly • Keep leadership and investors informed with regular, concise updates Company Formation • Set up the legal entity, payments and core operating systems • Put basic finance, legal and reporting processes in place • Recruit the venture's first hires • Document decisions, systems and metrics so the business can run without you Transition • Help recruit the venture's long-term CEO • Hand over the business cleanly and on schedule • Flag risks early to studio leadership before they cost time or money • Share lessons learned to improve how the studio builds future ventures SUCCESS METRICS • MVP live with paying or active users within the first 90 days. • Clear traction evidence that supports further investment, or an early, well-reasoned stop recommendation • Consistent weekly delivery across all work streams • Entity, payments and first hires in place on schedule • Long-term CEO hired and handover completed within the agreed timeline MUST-HAVE EXPERIENCE • Built or led a venture from zero as a founder, early operator or EIR • A track record of fast, disciplined execution against a plan • Daily, practical use of AI tools to build, research and ship • Led small cross-functional teams, including contractors and external partners — Made the call to stop or pivot a product when the data required it CORE COMPETENCIES Execution Speed with structure End-to-end ownership of outcomes Judgement Decides on data, not opinion Comfortable making hard calls early Leadership & Communication Leads without formal authority Clear, proactive written communication • 6+ years of experience in startup operations, venture building, general management, or a comparable operating role, ideally spanning more than one company. • Direct, hands-on experience taking at least one company from zero to launch, not just supporting someone else's launch, but owning it. • Strong working knowledge of AI tools and agentic workflows, with a track record of using them to replace team-based work, not just accelerate individual productivity. • Experience designing or operating a structured process for de-risking new initiatives—stage gates, funnel management, or comparable venture-building systems. • Hands-on experience managing execution across multiple work streams, products, or business lines simultaneously without relying on a large team. • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to provide concise, honest assessments of portfolio or business health. • Comfortable operating as an independent contractor, with compensation aligned to scope and impact rather than a traditional salary ladder. WHAT GREAT LOOKS LIKE • Starts shipping in the first week • Brings evidence, not opinions • Every work stream has an owner and a deadline • Surfaces problems before they grow • Stops a venture early when the data says so • Hands over a business that runs without them CANDIDATE SNAPSHOT • A former founder or early operator who has taken a product from zero to paying customers — Builds with AI tools every day and ships before polishing • Comfortable leading people they don't directly employ • Wants to build multiple companies, not just one • Motivated by results, not titles • Fully remote. No office, no commute, just you, the operating system, and wherever you do your best work. • This isn't about inheriting an established company. It's about building and continuously evolving the operating system that future ventures will run on. • Core collaboration hours: 9:00 AM–12:00 PM PST , ensuring consistent overlap with the founding team. • Contractor engagement, paid in USD . • Full compensation details will be shared directly with shortlisted candidates.