Founder's Associate

We’re looking for a Founder's Associate to work directly with Benedikt, our CEO. This isn’t a support role, it’s a critical position at the heart of the company: driving key projects forward, being a sparring partner for the CEO, and getting things done at the right time so he can focus.

You’ll own special projects that don’t fit neatly into a specific department: things like operational infrastructure, growth projects, competitive intelligence, internal tooling, or whatever the company most needs at a given moment. You’ll be the person who clears blockers, connects dots across teams, and makes things happen without needing a playbook.

This role is challenging. The learning curve is steep. You’ll work on things outside your comfort zone with limited resources and no playbook. If you want a clearly defined scope, this is probably not the right fit. If you want to learn fast, own real work, and grow with a company that’s just getting started: let’s talk!

Responsibilities

• Own cross‑functional projects end‑to‑end, from scoping to execution to reporting back to the CEO
• Build internal processes and operational infrastructure that scale with the company
• Support strategic initiatives: market analysis, partnerships, fundraising materials, new market entry, etc.
• Work closely with GTM, Product, Engineering and translate between them where needed
• Jump in where there’s a fire
• Be the CEO’s right hand on whatever matters most at that moment

Qualifications

• You’re hungry, entrepreneurial, and excited to join a fast‑moving, ambitious team
• You have 1‑2 years of experience working in an early‑stage startup, VC, or consulting, and you know what it means to operate in such environments
• You don’t wait to be told what to do: you identify what needs to happen and make it happen
• You are structured but biased toward action, you’re comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and you iterate fast
• You are stress‑resistant and composed under pressure, with a high tolerance for shifting priorities and competing demands
• You deliver without much hand‑holding
• You speak German and English fluently (non‑negotiable)
• Bonus if you have some financial fluency — comfort with budgets, models, or business cases

Why us?

Of course, we could list here all our benefits & perks (which you’ll get anyways) — but this is not what makes this role special and why you should join Plato.

You’ll be working directly with Benedikt, our CEO — not reporting to another manager. You’re in the conversations and on the projects that shape the company. Plato is post‑seed, growing fast, and still early enough that what you do here leaves a mark.

You will have real exposure, from fundraising, GTM, product, hiring, and operations. Because that’s what running an early‑stage company looks like up close. Most people spend years trying to get that level of ownership. Here, you’ll get it from day one.

And if you do great work, you’ll quickly be trusted with more of it.

About us

Plato is building the AI operating system for distribution. We closed a $14.5M seed round backed by Atomico and Cherry Ventures, and we’re growing fast. Our customers are mid‑market distributors who’ve never been exposed to cutting‑edge AI software — we’re changing this, starting with sales.

We’re a small, high‑conviction team of engineers and operators. Decisions get made fast, the work is real, and there’s no hiding behind the process.