The Flywheel Venture Studio ( is recruiting exceptional operators, engineers, and domain experts to build category-defining companies that solve hard problems in Europe’s most critical sectors: Manufacturing, Defence and Energy.

We are looking for ambitious entrepreneurs with first-hand insights into industrial challenges, bottlenecks, and revenue blockers. We turn your insight into a formidable company.

€4,000/month while you validate your venture. Up to €300k in committed capital at incorporation. You keep up to 80% equity in the company we build together.

We compress the 0 to 1 journey from years down to months. Accelerators, VCs, and incubators fund you and advise you. We build with you: validating the idea, shipping the first prototype, forming the founding team, incorporating, and winning your first customers and investors.

As a Founder-in-Residence (FiR), you will be paid while validating, designing, and launching a new venture with hands-on support from experienced founders, operators, engineers, and industry partners.

The studio’s 20+ investors, including former operators from Google, Boeing and NASA stand ready to make warm introductions to first buyers, pilots, and investors.

Our Founder-in-Residence program is based in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The hybrid residency gives you a focused environment for making decisions and moving quickly, while giving you access to Greece's strong English-speaking STEM talent pool and an efficient base for building your first product and team.

Successful ventures are free to build anywhere in Europe.

The Role

As a Founder-in-Residence, you will work closely with The Flywheel team to identify, validate, and build a venture that uses AI to accelerate productivity and efficiency in one of our core domains:

- Manufacturing & Supply Chains
- Defence & Security
- Energy & Sustainability





You will operate as the future CEO or CTO of a company formed during or after the program. This is a highly entrepreneurial role for individuals ready to build a 0–1 company with structured guidance, material support and capital.

Responsibilities

During the FiR Program (ideally 1-3 months, up to 6 months):

- Conduct deep user research and problem validation across target industries
- Generate or evaluate multiple venture concepts and select a high-potential direction
- Develop early prototypes (with The Flywheel engineering support)
- Validate customer demand, willingness to pay, and pathway to profitability
- Run experiments, pilots, and market tests
- Build early business models, market segmentation & analysis, and GTM strategy
- Develop and present the investment case for NewCo creation

Upon NewCo Formation:

- Become CEO or CTO of the new company
- Use The Flywheel’s €300k investment to launch the venture
- Build the core founding team with our recruiting support
- Secure early customers/pilots with Flywheel’s industry partners
- Lead further capital raises with support from The Flywheel.
- Drive execution toward product-market fit and long-term growth

Requirements

We are looking for high-agency, deeply competent builders. Successful candidates should have one or more of the following:

- Several years of experience in one or more of our focus areas
- Strong product/technical leadership experience building from 0–1
- A track record of solving complex problems and delivering outcomes
- Strong communication and leadership ability




- A willingness to own the company end-to-end as CEO, or lead the technical direction of the company as CTO

Nice-to-haves:

- Prior entrepreneurial experience (startup founder, early employee, product owner, technical lead)
- B2B enterprise sales or business development background
- Experience managing engineering or product teams
- Network of industry buyers

You do not need a fully formed idea or prototype to apply.

Who should not apply

- You already have traction, pilots, or a funded company and mainly need capital. We build companies; we don't just fund them.
- You can't point to a specific problem you've seen first-hand, or to the buyer who pays to solve it. You do not need a polished idea. You do need real insight.
- Your problem sits outside Manufacturing & Supply Chains, Defence & Security, and Energy & Sustainability.

What We Offer

(€4k/month) to validate idea, up to €300k at incorporation, you keep up to 80% of NewCo

- A real co-founder: We work beside you from first idea to first customers. You keep up to 80% of the company we build together.
- Instant credibility and access: backed by 20+ investors, including former operators from Google, Boeing, NASA, and the European Commission.
- A team that builds with you: fractional engineering, design, and go-to-market operators.
- User research & validation frameworks
- AI architecture & technical prototyping
- Business modeling & pricing strategy
- Access to industrial pilot programs and buyers
- Team formation and recruitment of technical talent
- Company formation, legal, and IP support
- Pre-incorporation: €4,000/month stipend to properly validate the idea for up to six months.
- Post-incorporation: Up to €300k in initial funding
- A path to your Series A: guidance and warm intros to US and EU investors, from founders with multiple raises and exits.

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📌 Founder-in-Residence (España)
🏢 The Flywheel
📍 España