Technical Product Builder (AI) - Potential CTO/Co-Founder

Help us build the thing that makes a meaningful, flourishing life feel possible and fun!

This isn't your typical job posting because we're not a typical startup.

APPLY HERE: (even if the posting is closed!) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKtgWyjnpgqGXG30TIUIfPBXRYFmcLA_5T10LJKP4dxFaMaw/viewform

About tabi

We're building tabi: a mobile companion that helps people design a life that feels aligned with what matters to them across work, relationships, rest, growth, creativity, purpose, and everything in between.

Our working hypothesis is that the people who need this most are motivated and self-aware, but overwhelmed by trying to hold every part of their life together. We're testing that through user interviews rather than assuming it.

tabi is not a wellness app, a habit tracker, a productivity optimizer, or a gamified experience with streaks and scary overdue notifications. We optimize for clarity, self-trust, and adaptive planning.

We want it to feel:

• Human, not corporate
• Thoughtful, not preachy
• Encouraging, not motivational-poster-y
• A little quirky, without trying too hard

We want people to think, "Oh. Someone finally gets why this is hard."

Check out more: https://tabiwellbeing.com/

Where we are

We're pre-launch and bootstrapped. Right now we're running user interviews and shaping what to test first. A small team of part-time marketers, researchers and a designer is already in motion. What we don't have yet is someone technical, and that's the person we want to meet.

The opportunity

We're looking for a technical builder to own how tabi gets built. You'll take what we're learning from users and turn it into working prototypes, then help decide what is worth building properly. You'll work directly with the founder, and you'll have real say in the technical direction. No one will hand you a spec or look over your shoulder. This role is for someone who loves shipping, thinks in systems, and likes figuring things out from scratch.

This is a potential CTO role, and we're also open to a technical co-founder. If it's the right fit for both sides, equity may become part of that path at some point, on terms we agree together in writing. Nothing is guaranteed until then, and we'd rather talk about it openly than overpromise in a “job” post.

What you'll do

• Own technical decisions: architecture, tools, and what to build versus buy, and explain your trade-offs in plain language
• Turn user research findings into small, testable prototypes and iterate quickly with real feedback
• Help us figure out where AI genuinely helps people and where it doesn't, then prototype the promising parts
• Build things that are maintainable, so the next person (or you, in six months) can pick them up
• Work with our designer and researchers so what we build matches what we learn, including data and privacy choices for personal reflections

What we're looking for

Please still apply if you don't have some of these (it's a long list with many different skills!). Passion to learn, curiosity and initiative matter a lot here.

• Experience shipping software end to end, ideally a mobile or web product, including something you started or led yourself
• Real knowledge of AI: you've built with large language models or other AI tools and understand their limits, such as unreliable outputs, evaluation, cost and privacy
• Comfort with ambiguity: you can choose a sensible direction when the answer isn't obvious and change it when the evidence says so
• Self-directed, with clear written communication and a habit of making decisions visible for others to build on
• Strong product sense, and curiosity about people and why they behave the way they do
• Personal alignment in the mission: helping people feel less scattered and more grounded in what matters
• Experience leading or mentoring a technical team is a plus, not a requirement

On AI

We believe the best product work is human-led and AI-accelerated. You'll be encouraged to use AI to prototype and explore faster. You stay the engineer and the editor. AI can generate a lot of code. Your job is to know what is worth shipping.

Time and structure

• 12-15hrs/wk with 4-6mo timeline to start (let’s discuss)
• Flexible scheduling, mostly async, with a weekly check-in
• High autonomy, high accountability
• Direct collaboration with the founder

Compensation

We're honest about our stage. Equity would be part of the path toward CTO or technical co-founder. Any terms would be agreed together in writing, and no amount, timeline or title is promised in this post.

We're also actively exploring grant-based and other funding options as we grow to sustain us.

Reasons you might want to join

• Alignment with a mission you care about
• Real ownership of the technical direction from day one
• Direct access to the founder, with no layers in between
• A chance to build alongside real user research instead of guesswork
• A possible path to CTO or technical co-founder

Who this is not for

This is likely not a fit if you:

• Need a detailed technical spec before you can start
• Want a junior role with close technical supervision
• Are primarily looking for a stable, fully paid full-time job right now
• Prefer to build first and ask users later

How to apply

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKtgWyjnpgqGXG30TIUIfPBXRYFmcLA_5T10LJKP4dxFaMaw/viewform

It will ask you a few questions like:

• Your resume and/or links to your work (GitHub, a product you built, a portfolio)
• A short note on what resonates with you about tabi
• One thing you've built that used AI, what worked, and what didn't
• How you'd approach turning a few user interviews into a first prototype in two weeks
• Your availability for a conversation in the next two weeks

You don't need a perfectly polished application. We'd rather hear how you think.

If you believe people shouldn't have to choose between meaningful progress and a life that actually feels good to live, we'd love to hear from you.

tabi is an equal-opportunity workplace. We welcome applications from builders of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. We're especially interested in people who have lived experience with burnout, major life transitions, or the challenge of caring about many things at once.