Founder

A Foundery; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office in Princeton

Foundery OS access

AI platforms and tools

Career progression to Venture Builder

Job summary

A Foundery is seeking a driven founder to join the Founder Residency in Princeton, NJ. The role centers on acquiring the first paying customer and validating a viable business model through hands-on customer engagement.

During the 90-day in-person residency, you’ll receive operational support and access to AI tools, with a potential offer to become a Venture Builder upon milestones and revenue proof.

Qualifications

• Talk to customers to understand real problems.
• Validate market demand for your solution.
• Lead the growth and relationship with customers.
• Own and execute the venture plan to reach first paying customers.

Responsibilities

• Talk to customers to uncover needs.
• Understand customer problems and validate demand.
• Build the right solution to solve identified problems.
• Win your first paying customers and form lasting relationships.
• Lead growth and ownership of the venture.

Skills

Customer discovery

Market validation

Product development

Customer relationship

Tools

Foundery OS

AI platforms

Job description

Founder in Residence

Build a Business. Earn Your First Paying Customer.

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Program: 90 Day Founder Residency (In Person)

Work Authorization: Applicants must already be legally authorized to work in the United States. A Foundery does not provide visa sponsorship.

Relocation: Founders selected for the residency must be willing to relocate to Princeton, New Jersey for the full 90 Day in-person residency.

Most Careers Reward Your Time.

We Reward What You Build.

A Foundery is a venture studio that builds profitable AI-enabled businesses alongside exceptional founders.We are not an accelerator.We are not an incubator.We are not a co-working space.We become your venture-building partner.Our philosophy is simple.The first paying customer is the first real proof that a business deserves to exist.Everything we do is designed to help founders reach that milestone faster.

Your Mission

During your first 90 days, you have one objective.Acquire Your First Paying Customer.Not raise funding.Not create a pitch deck.Not collect followers.Not build features customers never asked for.Everything you do should move you closer to your first customer.Because revenue creates clarity.

What You’ll Do

As the Founder, you own the business.Your responsibilities include:

• Talking to customers.
• Understanding real customer problems.
• Validating market demand.
• Building the right solution.
• Winning your first paying customers.
• Building lasting customer relationships.
• Leading the growth of your company.
• No one can build trust with customers better than the founder.
• That responsibility cannot be delegated.

What Foundery OS Brings to the Table

While you focus on customers and growing your business,Foundery OS provides the operational foundation that allows you to execute faster.

Think of Foundery OS as the operating system behind your company.

Founder Backing

Every successful company begins with someone willing to believe in the founder before the rest of the market does.

At A Foundery, we aim to be those first believers.

We invest in founders with conviction, providing the resources, infrastructure, and operational support needed to transform promising ideas into real businesses.

Our goal is simple:Help you build a company customers are willing to pay for.

Venture Support

• Founder Residency Support during the residency
• Early-stage venture funding to validate and build the business
• Access to shared business infrastructure
• AI platforms and automation tools
• Proven operating systems and playbooks
• Templates, workflows, and knowledge resources

Business Infrastructure

• Professional office space in Princeton
• Meeting rooms and collaboration facilities
• Business technology and productivity tools

Business Operations

• HR support
• Recruiting support
• Accounting and finance support
• Administrative operations
• Legal coordination
• Back-office support

Founder Development

• Weekly founder reviews
• Strategic guidance
• Accountability and execution coaching
• Access to experienced entrepreneurs
• Access to advisors and subject matter experts
• A community of ambitious founders building alongside you

Founder Residency

The Founder Residency is an intensive 90-day venture-building program conducted entirely in person in Princeton, New Jersey.

The residency is conducted under a consulting agreement. Founders who successfully complete the residency and achieve the required milestones may receive a full-time employment offer as Venture Builders.

During the residency, you will participate full-time while building your business.

You will receive:

• Up to $11,000 in Founder Residency Support during the 90-day program to help offset eligible relocation and residency-related expenses while participating full-time in Princeton.
• Access to Foundery OS.
• Daily collaboration with experienced founders and operators.
• AI tools and business systems.
• A focused environment designed for execution.

Graduation

Success is measured by outcomes, not attendance.

To successfully complete the Founder Residency, you should demonstrate:

• A validated business opportunity.
• A solution customers value.
• Your first paying customer.
• Strong execution.
• Founder-level ownership and leadership.

Venture Builder

Founders who successfully complete the residency may receive an offer to join A Foundery as a Venture Builder.

The offer becomes effective upon:

• Successful completion of the 90-day residency.
• Acquisition of the first paying customer.
• Achievement of agreed business milestones.
• Mutual agreement to continue building the venture.

Venture Builders may receive:

• Annual salary of $80,000 to $120,000
• Performance-based bonuses
• Long-term leadership opportunitiesContinued access to Foundery OS
• The opportunity to accumulate significant equity through sustained execution, leadership, and measurable business performance

Our Definition of Success

Our goal isn’t simply to help you complete a 90-day residency.Our goal is to help you build a company that no longer depends on us.

We work closely together during the first 90 days to help you go from zero to one, from an idea to your first paying customer.

But that is only the beginning.

Over the following months, our objective is to help you build a business with the systems, customers, processes, and leadership needed to operate independently.

Within one year, our goal is for you to be confidently leading your own company, with us becoming an advisor and strategic partner rather than part of your day-to-day operations.By then, you should have:

• Paying customers
• Growing recurring revenue
• Repeatable operating systems
• AI-enabled business processes
• A capable team
• A sustainable business model
• Increasing ownership and long-term wealth creation

Our success is measured by your independence.When your company can grow because of your leadership, not because of our daily involvement, we know we’ve accomplished our mission.Our purpose is not to build businesses that depend on A Foundery.Our purpose is to build founders who can build businesses that thrive without us.

Ownership

Ownership is earned. Not granted.

We believe the people who create long-term value should share meaningfully in the value they create.

As your company grows and you achieve meaningful business milestones, you’ll have the opportunity to accumulate significant equity through sustained execution, leadership, and business performance.

Many founders gradually give up ownership as they raise capital and build their companies.Our philosophy is different.

Our objective is to help founders increase their ownership as they demonstrate the ability to build, lead, and create lasting enterprise value.

We don’t measure success by how much of your company we own.We measure success by how much of your company you earn.

When the founder creates more value, the founder should have the opportunity to own more of that value.

That’s why we invest in founders, not just businesses, and build long-term partnerships where incentives remain aligned from the first customer to a successful, independent company.

Who We’re Looking For

• Think like an owner.
• Learn quickly.
• Execute consistently.
• Embrace accountability.
• Enjoy solving difficult problems.
• Are comfortable with uncertainty.
• Use AI to increase your effectiveness.
• Want to create long-term value rather than simply earn a paycheck.

This Opportunity Is Probably Not For You If

• You’re looking for a traditional corporate career.
• You prefer predictable routines over building something new.
• You avoid accountability.
• You’re uncomfortable speaking directly with customers.
• You expect guaranteed outcomes without measurable execution.
• You aren’t willing to work in person in Princeton during the residency.

Before You Apply

Ask yourself one question.

Would you rather spend the next five years helping build someone else’s company, or spend the next five years building one you could eventually own?

If you’re excited by ownership, accountability, and building something customers are willing to pay for, we’d love to meet you.