Founder's Associate – Business Development

Berlin / remote · 8–12h/week

We're building Lichen, a Berlin-based B2B software venture helping employers turn occupational heat risk into concrete action — and proof that those actions actually happened.

We're currently building our first paid pilot partnerships with German companies.

And we're looking for someone to build this part with us.

What will you do

We already have the target companies, contacts, pipeline and initial outreach strategy.

We want you to take ownership of moving it.

→ reach out to teams at German companies
→ follow up with existing leads
→ run short first conversations in German/English
→ understand how companies currently deal with heat protection
→ work directly with the founders on what we learn and what we change

You'll talk to actual companies and participate in a very early B2B go-to-market process.

Who we're looking for

You don't need previous sales experience.

You do need:

→ native/C1+ German
→ confidence talking to people you don't know
→ curiosity and the ability to ask a second question instead of blindly following a script
→ reliability with follow-ups
→ interest in startups and building something from zero

Students and people trying to get their first serious startup experience are very welcome.

It is an unpaid internship. We're pre-revenue and currently bootstrapping Lichen, so we cannot offer fixed compensation at this stage.

The role is approximately 8–12 hours/week.

On top of that, we offer a success fee on first pilot revenue you materially help bring in, payable once Lichen receives the corresponding pilot payment.

If there's a strong mutual fit, we'd also be happy to include you in relevant accelerator/incubator programs as part of the team. Where such programs provide individual stipends, you'd receive the stipend allocated to your participation under the program's rules.

And if Lichen reaches revenue/funding and we work exceptionally well together, we'd love this to become something bigger than an internship.

What you'll get

A very close look at how an early-stage B2B company is actually built in a lean way, including the messy parts.

You'll work directly with the founders, participate in customer discovery, learn B2B outreach and sales, see how customer feedback changes the product, and have something concrete you can point to afterwards:

"I helped this company get its first customers"

If that sounds more interesting than a polished corporate internship, write to us.

Tell us briefly:

1. About yourself
2. Why does this particular stage of a startup interest you?
3. Have you ever had to convince a stranger of something? Tell us the story.
4. What's your German level?

No cover letter needed.