Acme is building a product. We are an early-stage company at the ground floor — no code yet, no customers yet, just a clear vision and a bias for action. We are looking for a founding engineer who wants to build something from nothing: architect the system, write the first line of code, ship the first version, and grow alongside the company.
What You'll Do: - Build the product end-to-end — from database schema and API design to frontend UI and deployment infrastructure - Make architectural decisions — choose the tech stack, set up CI/CD, monitoring, and dev environments - Ship iteratively — get working software in front of users fast, then improve based on real feedback - Set engineering standards — establish coding conventions, code review practices, and a culture of quality - Influence product direction — work directly with the CEO on what to build, what to cut, and how to prioritize - Own the infrastructure — provision cloud resources, manage deployments, and keep the app running in production
Who You Are: - 3–8 years of software engineering experience, preferably in early-stage startups or with significant side-project shipping - Full-stack capable — comfortable across frontend, backend, databases, and infrastructure - Ship-focused — 80% today beats 100% next month. Pragmatic tradeoffs between speed and quality - Independent — thrive without a playbook. Figure things out, make decisions, communicate clearly - High ownership, low ego — care about the mission and the team, not about who gets credit - Product-sensible — good judgment about what users need and what can wait
Compensation: Competitive salary + meaningful equity (2–5% range)
How to Apply: Send a note to the CEO with what excites you about early-stage building, a link to something you have built (GitHub, portfolio, side project), and why Acme specifically. No formal resume required.

Founding Full-Stack Engineer