Founding CEO / Interim CEO

About the Role

This position is for a founding or interim CEO role, specifically tailored for individuals who possess immediate access to 200 potential buyers from day one—a crucial advantage many startups struggle to achieve.

The successful candidate is not expected to be the technical builder, but rather the catalyst who propels a product into market adoption immediately by leveraging existing trust, community, channel, or audience relationships. You own a niche, a loyal audience or a valuable distribution network eager for the right product to emerge, bridging the common gap between market demand and engineering.

About Badge Labs

Badge Labs operates as a venture studio collaborating directly with commercial founders. While you contribute market insight and commercial momentum, Badge Labs provides the technology build, product management, branding, go-to-market strategies, investor relations materials, and financial modeling. This partnership is co-founding rather than vendor-client, with shared accountability and equity.

Evidence of Success

Badge Labs has demonstrated rapid product deployment capabilities, successfully releasing over 30 products and deploying 15+ AI agents into production. The team has helped grow a company from zero to $6 million annual recurring revenue. Their speed and effectiveness were exemplified when they partnered with a trial attorney to deliver a fully functional SaaS platform with multilingual support and financial models within six weeks.

Candidate Profile

• Ability to confidently bring the first hundred customers to the product launch.
• Experience as a community or association operator managing active memberships, forums, or Slack groups.
• Leadership of an engaged audience through newsletters, podcasts, channels, or followings.
• Ownership of distribution channels such as partner networks, reseller bases, or sales pipelines.
• Possession of a trusted book-of-business where peers follow your recommendations.

What Badge Labs Provides

• A senior engineering team preparing market-ready software in a matter of weeks.
• Comprehensive company build including branding, go-to-market strategies, investor support, and financial planning.
• Competitive market analysis to identify gaps and strategic entry points.
• A true co-founding partnership invested alongside you, rather than a managed vendor relationship.
• From concept to active users while you activate the market channel.

What You Bring

• A significant distribution asset such as mailing lists, channels, communities, or books of business that can serve as launch markets.
• The ability to leverage your credibility to drive customer action and engagement.
• Strong commercial acumen and commitment to co-owning and scaling a company.
• Willingness to commit fully to a co-founding agreement with detailed terms.

Process Overview

• Submit your application describing your accessible market and how you engage it.
• Participate in a focused 20-minute conversation assessing market reach and readiness.
• Collaborate on defining the product, launch strategy, and equity split balanced towards market contribution.
• The engineering team builds the product while you open the customer channel, becoming co-founders from day one.

Contingency if the Partnership Does Not Launch Successfully

If the market does not convert as anticipated, the partnership dissolves cleanly: you retain all intellectual property and developed assets; equity reverts accordingly; no parties remain bound or locked into commitments. This structure balances upside potential with risk mitigation, typical of co-founder arrangements.

Referral Opportunity

If you believe another commercial operator better fits this offer, referrals are encouraged with a 15% lifetime commission on any successful closing, with no equity or further obligations required.