Technical Co-Founder (CTO) — AI Travel Platform

Equity: 20%, four-year vest, one-year cliff.

Remote (US-based, West Coast preferred) · Full-time · Founder stock, not options

Read this part first

This is a co-founder role, not a job. You'd be joining as my partner to build GEOVEA into a real company.

No salary at the start. Compensation kicks in when the business can support it — either from revenue or, if we choose to raise, from a funding round. My goal is to build GEOVEA into a profitable, sellable business within 1-3 years. In exchange for betting on that with me: 20% of the company in founder stock, full equal standing on product and technical direction, and your name on this from day one. If you need a paycheck right now, this isn't for you, and I won't waste your time pretending otherwise. If you have runway and you've been waiting for the right thing to bet a few years on, let's talk. Must be authorized to work in the US. I'm in Southern California, so West Coast is a plus for time-zone overlap, but anywhere in the US works.

About GEOVEA

GEOVEA.com is an AI-powered trip planning platform serving both B2C travelers and B2B partners. I'm the founder, I've self-funded the business to date, and I'm clear on what the next 12 months need to look like. What I haven't had is a technical partner who owns the product end-to-end. That's the gap I'm filling, and it's the reason I'm offering real co-founder equity.
The site is at geovea.com. On a first call I'll walk you through the full story — what's been built, what I've learned, what's working, and where we're going.

What you'd own

The entire technical stack and product architecture
Building and shipping the MVP (React/Node, AI integrations, AWS)
Technical hiring as the team grows
CTO title and a seat at the table for every meaningful decision

I run the business side — go-to-market, partnerships, operations. You run the build.

The stack

React 18+, TypeScript, Node.js (Express or Fastify), MS SQL Server, AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, IAM, VPC), OpenAI and Anthropic APIs. Bonus if you've worked with Mapbox, Next.js, Stripe, or have shipped consumer travel/leisure products before.
I care less about a years-of-experience number than about whether you've shipped real production systems people actually used. Show me one thing you built that you're proud of.

Who I'm looking for

Someone senior enough to make architectural decisions without supervision. Someone who's comfortable with the messiness of an early stage company. Someone who wants ownership more than they want a title at a bigger company. And someone I'd genuinely enjoy spending the next four years building with — because that's the actual commitment we're both making.

How we'll figure out if this is a fit

Before either of us signs anything, we'll spend real time together — working sessions on the product and the roadmap, deep conversations about the technical direction, and references both ways. When we're both convinced, we sign the co-founder agreement and the vesting clock starts.

How to reach me

Send a short note with your GitHub or portfolio, one sentence on why an equity-first bet makes sense for you right now, and your timeline. If there's a fit, the first call is me telling you the unvarnished version of where GEOVEA is and you asking me anything you want.

Kirk · Founder, GEOVEA