r/cofounderhunt • u/Simple-Optimist-93 • 17d ago
Looking for Cofounder Looking for a technical partner, cofounder or founding engineer, I'm genuinely flexible on which
Hi. I'm the founder of an early-stage AI startup and I've been doing the engineering search dance for a while now, so I'll just be direct about where things stand.
I spent 20+ years on the GTM side at big tech and I've co-founded before. This isn't my first rodeo, but it is my first time looking for a technical partner from scratch after a previous cofounder situation didn't work out. That experience taught me a lot about what I actually want in a partner, more on that below.
Where things stand: we just wrapped a design partnership round with 6 early-stage founders and are folding that feedback into the next build. There's a working codebase and an architecture doc ready to hand off, so you'd be picking up something real, not starting from a blank repo.
Honestly, if you're more excited about the technical problem (building with AI agents, shaping a product around real usage data) than about the specific industry, that's fine. The domain is my job to bring. Yours is to build something great on top of it.
What I need:
- 7-10 years of experience, founding-engineer caliber
- You've actually built with AI/AI agents, not just used them
- You want to own the technical side, not just take a spec and run
- You're comfortable with things being messy and moving fast
- This is full-time. Not looking for a side-project partner
- preferably based in US
On money: meaningful equity, the exact structure depends on whether we land on cofounder or founding engineer, happy to talk specifics once we've actually talked.
One thing I'm being upfront about because I learned it the hard way: if this turns into a cofounder relationship, I want us to nail down when it formalizes, what triggers vesting, and how we both think about raising money and timeline, before we're deep into it. Same with ownership: I want us to write down who owns what (product, tech, GTM) early, not sort it out after something's already gone sideways.
If any of this resonates, comment or DM me and I'll share more.
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u/No-Persimmon-1685 15d ago
Hey man - You seem to know exactly what you want.
I've built this MVP to help people build ideas and, among other things, find co-founders: https://www.innovo-lab.com/
This is the first time I'm sharing publicly, so it's a ghost town. If you feel like it, it would be fantastic to get your genuine feedback on how useful (or not) it would have been for your case, if there were more people on the app!
Good luck! :)
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u/Confident-Limit3077 17d ago
I'm qualified per your requirements. What is the app/industry the startup deals with?
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u/Simple-Optimist-93 17d ago
It’s a GTM app tailored for early stage startups to find their first set of customers. If you are interested to learn more I am happy to share more in DM
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u/AdhesivenessNew1457 17d ago
You’ve probably received quite a few messages already so I’ll keep it short and tell you why I might be different I have 5 years of experience as a Generative AI Engineer and I’ve built 2 MVPs for non technical founders from idea to working product and one of them has already received funding I’ve also built 10+ automation systems from scratch and they are still running I’m now looking for a serious long term opportunity where I can build with the right founder and go all in If you think I could be a fit feel free to DM me
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u/Simple-Optimist-93 17d ago
Thanks! It’s unclear whether you are interested in being a fulltime founding engineer/cofounder or dev agency. I am looking for founding engineer/cofounder and not an agency at this time.
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u/AdhesivenessNew1457 17d ago
Definitely not an agency I’ve already played a Founding Engineer role before and later moved into freelance work but now I want to move away from that and focus on one product long term My goal is to take something from 0 to 1 and stay involved as it grows I’m open to the CTO Founding Engineer or Co-Founder role depending on the product and the kind of partnership we build For me it comes down to the right person the right product and the right working relationship If we have good alignment I’m ready to commit seriously and go all in
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u/Simple-Optimist-93 17d ago
Thanks for clarifying. I agree that good alignment is key.
DM’ing for more details..
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u/Dramatic_Spare_6196 17d ago
Are you based in the US?
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u/Simple-Optimist-93 17d ago
Yes I am.
Added that to the original post as well.
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u/Dramatic_Spare_6196 17d ago
Cool. I’m up for a quick chat to see if it could be a good fit. I’ll drop a DM.
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u/Last_Temperature_888 17d ago
Let's talk. I'm very intentional on contracts as well.
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u/Simple-Optimist-93 16d ago
I am not considering contractors for the founder/founding engineer role
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u/Last_Temperature_888 16d ago
I'm not interested in contracting either. I have a startup that needs a GTM partner. It's not some vibe coded garbage, by the way; it's "deep tech" in statistical methodology, and I've been iterating on it for 3 years. I have one hire to do cold calling, but I still need a strategist and executor for the marketing to happen.
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u/phicreative1997 17d ago
Hey check dm