The Flywheel
Founder-in-Residence — Build an AI Startup in Defense
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The Flywheel
www.theflywheel.studio is recruiting exceptional founders to build category-defining companies at the intersection of AI and industrial real-economy sectors: Manufacturing, Defense, and Energy. We are looking for passionate entrepreneurs with first-hand knowledge of the problem(s) they have encountered in these sectors.
The Flywheel is a next-generation venture studio dedicated to building profitable, technologically differentiated, industrial AI companies. Traditional venture capital funds wait for founders and exceptional companies to emerge before they deploy capital. We take a different approach that strengthens the entire innovation ecosystem, by actively building and co-creating companies with outlier entrepreneurs to reduce early risk, accelerate validation, and help transformative ideas reach investability and scale faster.
As a Founder-in-Residence (FiR), you will be paid while validating, designing, and launching a new venture with hands-on support from experienced founders, operators, engineers, and industry partners.
The Role
As a Founder-in-Residence, you will work closely with The Flywheel team to identify, validate, and build a venture that leverages AI to accelerate productivity and efficiency in one of our core domains:
- Manufacturing & Supply Chains
- Defense & Security
- Energy & Sustainability
You will operate as the future CEO or CTO of a company formed during or after the program. This is a highly entrepreneurial role for individuals ready to build a 0–1 company with structured support and capital.
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Responsibilities
During the FiR Program (ideally 1-3 months, no more than 6 months):
- Conduct deep user research and problem validation across target industries
- Generate or evaluate multiple venture concepts and select a high-potential direction
- Develop early prototypes (with The Flywheel engineering support)
- Validate customer demand, willingness to pay, and pathway to profitability
- Run experiments, pilots, and market tests
- Build early business models, market segmentation & analysis, and GTM strategy
- Develop and present the investment case for NewCo creation
Upon NewCo Formation:
- Become CEO or CTO of the new company
- Use The Flywheel’s €300k investment to launch the venture
- Build the core founding team with our recruiting support
- Secure early customers/pilots with Flywheel industry partners
- Lead initial fundraising efforts for the Seed round (with our help)
- Drive execution toward product-market fit and long-term growth
Requirements
We are looking for high-agency, deeply competent builders, not generic applicants.
You should have:
- Several years experience in one or more of our focus areas
- OR strong product/technical leadership experience building from 0–1
- OR prior entrepreneurial experience (startup founder, early employee, product owner, technical lead)
- A track record of solving complex problems and delivering outcomes
- Strong communication and leadership ability
- A willingness to own the company end-to-end as CEO, or lead the technical direction of the company as CTO
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Nice-to-haves:
- Fundraising experience
- B2B enterprise sales or biz dev background
- Experience managing engineering or product teams
- Deep network in industry
You do not need a fully formed idea or prototype to apply.
What We Offer
-
Paid Founder-in-Residence (ideally 1-3 months, no more than 6 months)
- €4,000/month stipend while validating and building your venture.
-
Up to €300k Initial Investment
- Committed capital for every venture that passes validation.
-
Up to 80% equity
- You’ll be the majority owner from day one.
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True Co-Founding Partnership
- Work side-by-side with founders who have built and exited companies in advanced manufacturing, aerospace/defense, energy, and AI.
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Hands-On Venture-Building Support Including:
- User research & validation frameworks
- AI architecture & technical prototyping
- Business modeling & pricing strategy
- Regulatory & defense procurement pathways
- Partnerships with manufacturers, defense groups, and energy operators
- Pilot & customer access through The Flywheel network
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Deep Ecosystem Access
- Connections into EU & US investors, industrial players, and technical talent.
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A Fast, De-Risked Path to Company Creation
- We compress the 0 to 1 journey from years down to months.
Apply Now!
We review applications on a rolling basis, so there is no need to wait. If you are serious about becoming a founder and want to build with The Flywheel, apply here: https://theflywheel.studio/become-a-founder/
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