Founder at Project Dario - Build with Founders Factory Italy

Founders Factory builds and funds startups together with exceptional entrepreneurs and the world’s leading companies. Created by IPO-exited founders, we offer founders capital, operational support from a team of hands-on experts, and unrivalled access to a coalition of industry-leading corporate partners. Since 2015, our 300+ portfolio companies have raised $900mm follow-on funding from a roster of notable investors.

Our Studio partners with entrepreneurs at day one, developing new ideas, technologies and business models into high growth companies. We’re now looking for an experienced operator with entrepreneurial ambitions to lead our latest studio venture as Founder & CEO, in partnership with Italy's leading investment bank, with our investment and the full backing of Founders Factory.

Dario: The virtual assistant for Italy’s next generation of solopreneurs

Becoming your own boss is a widespread trend among younger generations - in Italy, one in two Gen Z Italians aspire to become entrepreneurs. European countries and the US have seen a massive uptick in new business applications following the pandemic, a majority of which were founded by entrepreneurs who don’t intend to hire any employees, or “solopreneurs”.

But starting a new business is daunting. Beside day-to-day operations, solopreneurs are troubled with a myriad of admin tasks that waste hours of work a week and significantly lower their income potential. And much of this now happens on WhatsApp, with Italy boasting the third highest penetration rate for WhatsApp in the world at 97%.

So we are building Dario, an AI enabled copilot built on top of WhatsApp that will help solopreneurs launch and manage their business all in one place - minimising back office work for business owners so they can focus fully on income-generating activities. Dario uses AI to automate the majority of tasks directly through the platform - from managing payment and client relationships, to scheduling appointments and sending quotes - and lives in WhatsApp, meeting solopreneurs and their customers/clients where they already are.

Find more information in the summary Dario deck here.

Our offer

Co-found a company with Founders Factory’s team of IPO-exited founders and entrepreneurs to develop a new venture at the intersection of AI and finance Unlock €700k investment in cash and services to help you build your venture Access to an expert team and specialist support through our Venture Studio and 6 month accelerator programme A validated concept and intellectual property A dedicated studio budget (including the founder stipend, specialist resource and infrastructure budget)

What we're looking for

Experienced founder, builder or operator, capable of operating from zero to one Unique market insight, top 1% skills or other advantage that makes you a suitable and compelling Fintech founder  Proven ability to build a world-class team, attract customers and investors Evidence of thriving in ambiguous environments and a high aptitude for calculated risks A clear vision for the opportunity (including product direction) - with the drive and expertise to execute on it High IQ and EQ - strong opinions loosely held  An engagement with the solopreneur segment and empathy for that journey - ideally having been a solopreneur yourself Hands-on understanding and up-to-date interest in AI technology and trends  Technical background and capabilities are a big plus Focus on customer experience, ideally having built consumer apps (this will be enterprise software made consumer-friendly)  A product design mindset and appreciation for seamless user experience  Italian language skills are a must

Note - We are reviewing applications on an ongoing basis. If your background and application meets our criteria, we will be in touch to schedule a call.