Startup co-founder

OUTLINE JOB DESCRIPTION

Startup co-founder and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Compassio.

Role: Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR) / Co-Founder - Digital Death-Planning Service

Purpose: Build a high-impact, high-commerciality venture providing digitised death-planning services (estate admin, family planning and more), in conjunction with financial advisors. Initially in UK, but scaling broader

Package: Competitive (fee and significant equity as co-founder)

Basis of employment: for discussion, open to freelance, or part time to start, but in the medium term this is about being at the heart of this startup

Base location: Initially home-based, UK based (with travel to London UK for Team collaboration).

Start: ASAP.

To apply: contact pete.lawson@arkventure.studio with a Covering Letter (max 1 page) and CV.

Reporting to: ARK CEO in the short-term; later, part of the startup Board

Responsible for: Building a high-purpose, commercially viable venture

Overview

Are you passionate about entrepreneurship and eager to make a difference to people at one of life’s most challenging moments, death? We're on the hunt for a dynamic and proven entrepreneur to help shape and lead our venture, Compassio, which is being built within the ARK Venture Studio.

Compassio aims to leave families more resilient, not less resilient, after death. We do this by changing the way that families plan for death, in conjunction with their financial advisers - digitised estate planning, scenario modelling and family participation.

We have one co-founder on board, who is a proven startup leader around the death space, with strong fundraising track record. We are now seeking a complementary co-founder that brings specific experience in the financial advisory sector (plus legal services if possible as a secondary fit); someone who has strong B2B sales & networking credentials; and ideally who can bring us a financial advisory network as a pilot partner for the venture.

This new co-founder will work alongside the recently-appointed co-founder, supported by the venture team, providing strategic guidance, drive, expertise and decision-making. They will help build relationships, partner, develop business cases and raise funding.

Ultimately, we intend for these two co-founders, plus a CTO co-founder (in recruitment) to lead the new Compassio business to launch in the UK, scale (UK and beyond), impact and exit.

Why join as an co-founder:

To the right candidate, we offer a unique opportunity to a fast-tracked, de-risked, and heavily-supported venture:

●          De-risked venture: significant market testing and validation already done.

●          Design-stage funding in place: current work has funding to end Nov from external VC, and interest in the next round from several other investors.

●          Top co-founder already on board: high quality proven entrepreneur, with specific experience in death tech and financial services, with track record of £10m's of backing from top VCs.

●          Equity participation: meaningful share of the cap table, alongside co-founder salary after next round.

●          Prototyping under way: digital product and customer experiences already in prototyping stage, and early interest from target B2B2C buyers.

●          Design team in place, for you to mold: high-calibre venture studio support team in place and working.

As a co-founder you will be responsible for:

●          Financial Advisor Networking and Partnerships: Onboard a pilot partner financial advisory network. Identify promising partnerships within the financial advisory & estate administration space, build a wide range of relationships, and capitalise on your network and experience to get the venture off the ground.

●          Solution Design and Validation: Develop and fine-tune a viable business opportunity, validate the identified venture opportunity, build product and distribution hypotheses, explore customer reactions, and build investment cases.

●          Team Collaboration: Drive and push weekly team meetings, add complementary skillsets and experience, and manage more junior team members where required.

●          Innovation Facilitation: Deliver high-quality venture activities and deliverables using ARK methodologies, maintain a customer-centred approach to idea development, and promote ARK's values, integrity, and ethics.

Our ideal team member must-haves are these:

●          UK wealth management & financial advisory sector depth: this is a critical sector fit, and part of our GTM plan. We need this co-founder to bring deep understanding, networks and more from the financial advisory sector.

●          Zero to Product Market Fit and revenue: they must have all the scars from founding startups as an entrepreneur, and a passion to build impactful, valuable businesses. They must have demonstrable track record of pivoting to find and evidence product market fit. And they should have got to revenue. Our existing co-founder brings this experience, too, but it is a must-have for us in this additional role.

●          Building disruptive tech-based solutions: they must be able to point to the 0-1 and 1-10 stages of building tech-based products and services that disrupt a market.

●          B2B sales experience: they must have proven experience in partnership formation, networking, B2B deal structuring and business development.

We are looking for someone who is eager to get their sleeves rolled up, is happiest working as a co-founder with another high-calibre peer, and who is looking to take on a de-risked startup as a founding team member.

DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION

Purpose of role

Build high-impact, high-commerciality venture providing digital pre-death planning support (legal, financial and adminstrative).

Role responsibilities

●          Partnerships: Identify and build strategy and commercial partnerships in the wealth management and financial planning sector, for distribution and collaboration. Particularly, we want someone who can bring with them a pilot financial advisory partner firm.

●          Venture leadership and validation: Lead the concept development and validate the identified venture opportunity, building product and distribution hypotheses, exploring customer reaction, and building investment cases

●          MVP development: Working with the venture team to launch an MVP in the UK with pilot customers, enabling us to test, measure, iterate the venture

●          Product development: Feed into product strategy and commercial goals to identify opportunities to quickly deliver customer value

●          Scalability: Ensure operations and systems are scalable and can support future growth

What we are looking for:

Location & Culture Fit:

●          UK: Compassio is initially launching in the UK. We are looking for someone living in the UK, and fluent with the language and business culture.

Background and Experience:

●          Entrepreneur / Founder Roles: Previous roles as a founder, entrepreneur, or senior executive in a startup or high-growth early-stage company. We are looking for an entrepreneur, not a manager. Battle scars from having founded and launched businesses are a must-have for this role.

●          Industry Knowledge: Experience in the estate planning space is desirable but not essential. We are specifically looking for experience in wealth management / financial planning, and – as a nice-to-have – the / legaltech space (especially around estate admin/ planning / probate).

●          Successful Exits: Experience in leading startups to successful exits or significant growth milestones is highly desirable.

Skills and Competencies:

●          Strategic Vision: Ability to develop and execute a strategic vision for the venture, aligning short-term actions with long-term goals.

●          Operational Expertise: Strong understanding of operational processes and the ability to streamline and optimise them.

●          Fundraising Skills: Experience in securing funding from venture capitalists, angel investors, or other financial sources.

●          Product Development: Knowledge of product development cycles, including ideation, design, and launch phases.

●          Customer-Centric Mindset: Deep empathy for customers and a commitment to solving their pain points effectively.

Network and Connections:

●          Industry Contacts: Established network within the wealth management and financial planning sector is key. We want someone able to open doors quickly.

●          Partnerships: Ability to forge strategic partnerships with wealth management networks, financial advisors, legal firms, and other relevant stakeholders.

Passions and Motivations:

●          Mission-Driven: Passionate about making a positive impact on people's lives during their most challenging times.

●          Innovative Mindset: Eager to explore and implement innovative solutions to complex problems.

●          Resilience and Adaptability: Ability to navigate the uncertainties and challenges of a startup environment with resilience and adaptability.

A different sort of company

ARK builds companies to tackle systemic risks to people and planet. ARK is one arm of Ninety, an established boutique insurance innovation specialist, working with large global insurance brands, and competing successfully with Big 4 consultancies. We are motivated by the belief that insurance is a critical safety net for vulnerable people, businesses and the planet. We are passionate about innovating that safety net to be better and more sustainable for all. Ninety is a wholly owned subsidiary of a registered social enterprise, Ninety CIC, which has a philanthropic mission. As such, 90% of our distributable profit goes to charitable or social impact causes around extreme poverty, with the other 10% being shared amongst staff as a profit share. Our philanthropic vision is to give £1bn to social causes over a 30-year timeframe. Buy-in to our vision and cause is an important part of feeling part of the team at ARK and Ninety.