EARLY-STAGE STARTUP · PRE-SEED Founding Engineer Unpaid · Equity-only · 3 openings · Remote-friendly We're a pre-seed startup building a consumer product from zero, and we're looking for three founding engineers to build it with us from the ground up. This is not a job posting for a structured team with a roadmap already set - it's an offer to be one of the first people in the room, own a real piece of the architecture, and make product decisions alongside the founder, not just execute tickets. We're upfront about the stage: this role is unpaid and equity-only.

In exchange, you get real founding equity, full technical ownership of a product area, and your name on the architecture from day one. THE THREE ROLES - 1 · Founding Engineer, Product & Frontend Own the end-to-end consumer-facing product - a mobile-first web app built for speed and polish. You'll work from a real PRD, make good judgment calls on the gaps, and care as much about motion and feel as you do about correctness.

- Shipped a real consumer product end-to-end, not just contributed to one • Strong with React/React Native, TypeScript, and modern frontend tooling • Has an eye for design detail and interaction polish 2 · Founding Engineer, Backend & Data Infrastructure Own the data spine everything else depends on - event pipelines, identity resolution, core APIs, and the infrastructure decisions nobody else is around yet to make.
- Has built and scaled real backend systems or data pipelines before • Thinks about consent, privacy, and data governance by default, not as an afterthought • Comfortable owning infrastructure decisions solo, with no senior engineer to check with 3 · Founding Engineer, Machine Learning Own the modeling layer - from the very first labeled event through to a production scoring system,



including the ground-truth strategy that makes any of it trustworthy.
- Real experience with propensity modeling, recommender systems, or causal/uplift inference • Comfortable saying "we don't have enough data for that yet" rather than shipping a guess • Wants to build a model layer from scratch, not join an already-mature ML team WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR, ACROSS ALL THREE ROLES • You want to build a product from its very first line of code, not join at Series A • You're comfortable with ambiguity - some of this is still being decided in real time • You can work independently and make positive calls without a large team to lean on • You care about the craft of what you build, not just shipping something that technically works COMPENSATION & TERMS - READ THIS CAREFULLY Pay Unpaid. This is an equity-only founding role, not a deferred-salary arrangement.

Equity

Real founding equity, sized to role and time commitment - discussed and agreed before you start, in writing.

Vesting

Standard vesting schedule with a cliff, details shared directly with candidates in later conversations.

Commitment

Flexible, but this only works if you can give it real, consistent time - not a side-project pace.

Location

Remote-friendly. [Insert city/hybrid preference if applicable.] NOT THE RIGHT FIT IF • Unpaid work isn't viable for your situation right now - no judgment, just not the right stage • You need a defined roadmap and structure to do your best work • You're looking for a resume line rather than genuine ownership HOW TO APPLY Send a short note with: (1) a link to something real you've built, (2) which of the three roles fits you best and why, and (3) how much time you can realistically commit per week. No cover letters - just show us the work. Share it with me directly at - [email protected]

📌 Founding Software Engineer (Mumbai)
🏢 The Bazaar
📍 Mumbai