The Flywheel
Paid Founder-in-Residence: Build an Industrial AI Startup (Manufacturing, Defence, or Energy)
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The Flywheel Venture Studio
The Flywheel Venture Studio is recruiting exceptional operators, engineers, and domain experts to build category-defining companies that solve hard problems in Europe’s most critical sectors: Manufacturing, Defence and Energy.
We Are Looking For
Ambitious entrepreneurs with first-hand insights into industrial challenges, bottlenecks, and revenue blockers. We turn your insight into a formidable company. You keep up to 80% equity of the company we build together.
We compress the 0 to 1 journey from years down to months. Accelerators, VCs, and incubators fund you and advise you. We build with you: validating the idea, shipping the first prototype, forming the founding team, incorporating, and winning your first customers and investors.
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. Successful residents receive up to €300k in committed capital at incorporation, and keep up to 80% of their equity.
The studio’s 20+ investors, including former operators from Google, Boeing, and NASA stand ready to make warm introductions to first buyers, pilots, and investors.
The Role
As a Founder-in-Residence, you will work closely with The Flywheel team to identify, validate, and build a venture that uses AI to accelerate productivity and efficiency in one of our core domains:
- Manufacturing & Supply Chains
- Defence & 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 guidance, material support, and capital.
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Responsibilities
During the FiR Program (ideally 1-3 months, up to 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’s industry partners
- Lead further capital raises with support from The Flywheel.
- Drive execution toward product-market fit and long-term growth
Requirements
We are looking for high-agency, deeply competent builders. Successful candidates should have one or more of the following:
- Several years of experience in one or more of our focus areas
- Strong product/technical leadership experience building from 0–1
- 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
Nice-to-haves:
- B2B enterprise sales or business development background
- Experience managing engineering or product teams
- Experience raising capital
- Network of industry buyers
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You do not need a fully formed idea or prototype to apply.
Who Should Not Apply
- You already have traction, pilots, or a funded company and mainly need capital. We build companies; we don't just fund them.
- You can't point to a specific problem you've seen first-hand, or to the buyer who pays to solve it. You don't need a polished idea. You do need real insight.
- Your problem sits outside Manufacturing & Supply Chains, Defence & Security, and Energy & Sustainability.
What We Offer
- (€4k/month) to validate idea, up to €300k at incorporation, you keep up to 80% of NewCo
- A real co-founder: We work beside you from first idea to first customers. You keep up to 80% of the company we build together.
- Instant credibility and access: backed by 20+ investors, including former operators from Google, Boeing, NASA, and the European Commission.
- A team that builds with you: fractional engineering, design, and go-to-market operators.
- User research & validation frameworks
- AI architecture & technical prototyping
- Business modeling & pricing strategy
- Access to industrial pilot programs and buyers
- Team formation and recruitment of technical talent
- Company formation, legal, and IP support
- Pre-incorporation: €4,000/month stipend to properly validate the idea for up to six months.
- Post-incorporation: Up to €300k in initial funding
- A path to your Series A: guidance and warm intros to US and EU investors, from founders with multiple raises and exits.
How Our Application Process Works
We review applications on a rolling basis. The process: a 7-minute application, a 30-minute screening call, then a deep-dive session before an offer. Most applicants hear back within 5 days.
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