Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR)

Full Description

Help us secure Fendr’s first design partner and shape the MVP for real-time invoice verification.

Toronto (Hybrid, Toronto-first) | 10–15 hrs/week | 8–12 weeks

Compensation: Equity only, milestone-based (no salary/contract fees during the EIR term)

After a successful term: Earned options + first right to convert into Founding Lead (full-time) with a founder-level package and real ownership.

What we’re building

Fendr is a real-time spend assurance layer that sits between approval and payment and verifies complex invoices before money moves.

We’re starting with repair and service invoices where leakage quietly compounds: duplicates, out-of-contract line items, rate drift, scope drift, vendor inconsistencies.

Then we expand into other high-leakage invoice domains.

We’re also building this alongside a 12–18 month applied R&D partnership supported through TMU + Mitacs.

The point of this role is to keep the wedge grounded in design-partner reality while the R&D engine ramps.

The mission

Land the first design partner and define the wedge.

This is not a brainstorming role.

It’s execution with specific outputs.

Initial buyer hypothesis: Fleet Repair Ops + AP.

You will validate and narrow fast.

What you get if you succeed

If you deliver the outcomes below:

• You keep the options you earn during the term (milestone-based)

• You get first right to step into Founding Lead scope with a founder-level package

• You get real ownership, and the origin story of the product\

What Success Looks Like (8–12 weeks)

By the end of the EIR term, you will deliver:

1. Wedge Definition Memo

• Buyer persona and workflow map

• First 2–4 anomaly classes to target (tight definitions)

• Why we win and what we need (data + workflow)

• ROI model and success metrics (business impact + product quality)

2. One Signed Design Partner (or LOI)

A design partner with:

• Access (sample invoices, policies, context)

• Timeline and pilot scope

• Success metrics

• A clear give/get: what they receive in Early Access and what we receive in data and feedback

3. Build-Ready MVP Plan

A package engineering can execute without ambiguity:

• Workflow and minimal triage/review UX

• Data requirements and where truth lives

• Evaluation approach and targets

• Pilot plan that can convert to paid

What You’ll Do

• Run structured discovery: interviews, workflow mapping, decision memos

• Build and manage a design partner pipeline: target list, outreach, follow-ups, closing

• Translate discovery into product scope: anomaly definitions, in/out boundaries, success metrics, pilot terms

• Produce crisp artifacts: MVP spec, dataset plan, evaluation plan, partner rollout plan

• Operate with a lightweight cadence: one weekly decision meeting, async updates otherwise

What This Is Not

• A consulting engagement

• A passive advisory seat

• A broad “help wherever needed” role

• A role for someone who wants a title before outcomes

Who You Are

You’re a founder-type operator who moves from ambiguity to clarity with speed and discipline.

You may be:

• A product leader who can land partnerships and run discovery end-to-end

• An operator from fleets/repair/claims/AP/spend management who knows where leakage hides

• A technical/product hybrid who understands feasibility and how to evaluate outcomes

You’re strong at:

• Narrowing scope and making hard tradeoffs

• Writing clearly (short memos that drive decisions)

• Closing design partners (not “interest,” actual commitment)

• Thinking in measurable outcomes

• Working independently with high standards and low ego

What We Offer

• Founder-led environment inside Zero to Sixty Lab (Toronto)

• High agency and real ownership over wedge + design partner motion

• Direct access to a serious applied R&D runway (TMU + Mitacs) once the wedge is defined

• A clear path to a larger founding role if you prove the work

Compensation Details

Equity only during the EIR term.

Equity is earned on outcomes, not hours logged.

• Equity is issued as options in Fendr’s entity

• Milestone triggers are defined up front (design partner/LOI signed, wedge memo delivered, MVP spec delivered)

• If you convert full-time, compensation transitions to a standard founder-style vesting structure

How to Apply

Submit application or email with:

• Your lane (Design Partner PM / Venture Lead / Product, etc.)

• One hard thing you’ve shipped or closed in the real world

• One design partner you believe you can land in 30–60 days (company type is fine)

• Your proposed wedge in one sentence (first anomaly classes you’d target and why)

• If you’re not the person but know one, intros are welcome.