Founder in Residence (Venture Studio)

Overview

This role is a co-founder position within Badge Labs, a venture studio designed to transform your idea into a fully operational company. If you possess an innovative concept but lack the technical team to bring it to life, Badge Labs partners with you to co-create and launch your business.

Role Concept

Badge Labs acts as your technical co-founding team, handling product development, branding, and go-to-market strategies. You contribute the business vision, domain expertise, and network, working collaboratively from day one to build the company. This partnership combines your ownership of the business with our expertise in execution, ensuring mutual commitment.

Ideal Candidates

• Experienced senior executives (VP, GM, president, MD) recognizing unaddressed industry gaps.
• Consultants who repeatedly propose similar solutions and want tangible results.
• Investors looking to transition into operational roles.
• Former founders prepared for a new venture without technical burdens.
• Franchise or service business operators seeking product-based expansion.
• Industry analysts or content creators with audience, insights, and capital but no product.

Candidate Requirements

Applicants should have at least a decade of deep industry experience and a clear understanding of their target buyers. Typically, successful candidates possess at least two of these five attributes:

• A validated business idea tested with potential paying customers.
• Determination to own and lead the company.
• A well-established professional network, including first customers or partners.
• Recognized credibility within their industry circles.
• Some financial resources to support early development and customer acquisition.

Meeting two of these criteria alongside the core idea and passion is sufficient to proceed.

Key Industry Focus Areas

• Legal services such as practice management and compliance.
• Healthcare practices including dental, specialty, veterinary, and physical therapy.
• Property and real estate sectors including brokerage, property management, and title services.
• Trade industries like HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofing, which rely heavily on outdated tools.
• Financial services ranging from wealth to insurance and lending.
• Field service, logistics, fleet management, and supply chains.
• Hospitality operations encompassing multi-unit franchises and food & beverage.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) with transformative business models.

Other industries are welcome if the candidate identifies a critical gap.

Engagement Model

The journey begins with a comprehensive 360° Idea Validation Report that evaluates market potential, competition, and customer insights before any building starts. This rigorous analysis identifies strengths and necessary adjustments to make your concept viable and attractive. If a pivot is needed, it is addressed early, ensuring time-efficient delivery—weeks instead of months.

For example, a SaaS platform was successfully launched within six weeks, including a multi-language product, branding, investor presentation, and real user payments, led by a practicing attorney who became a co-founder.

Path to Partnership

• Submit a brief application outlining your industry, the identified gap, and any existing ideas.
• Participate in a 30-minute candid discussion to evaluate fit and readiness.
• Receive either the Idea Validation Report or, if no idea yet, a Founder-Fit analysis that determines your strengths and guides company formation.
• Collaboratively scope the venture including product features, go-to-market plan, and capital structure.
• Launch and build as co-founders, sharing commitment and equity.

Contingency Plan

If the concept fails to gain traction, you retain ownership of the intellectual property and all assets developed, while equity arrangements dissolve cleanly without obligations.

Application Instructions

For detailed information on economics, terms, and FAQs, visit our company's website.

When applying, please do not submit a resume. Instead, provide the following:

• The industry you have deep knowledge of.
• The main problem within that field and your idea to solve it (or your determination to find and own a solution).
• Why collaborating with a venture studio is preferable to starting solo.