February 11, 2026
Founders wanted, hustle mandatory
CoLoop (YC S21) Is Hiring Ex Technical Founders in London
London startup wants ex-founders to code again—no bosses, all hustle
TLDR: CoLoop, a London startup, is hiring ex-founders to build AI tools without product managers. Commenters split: some cheer the candor and freedom, others call it hustle-culture cosplay, question 'ex-founders only,' and meme the Amazon obsession—why it matters: more startups are courting founder types for speed and ownership.
CoLoop, a London startup, just dropped a spicy hiring call: ex-founders only, come write code, ship product, and chase “agentic AI” (think smart software helpers that act on their own) — and no product managers in sight. The comment section exploded today. Builder-types cheered “finally, real ownership,” while skeptics called it “move fast, break brains.” One recurring spit-take: tracking individual wins in PostHog. Fans say accountability; critics say anxiety Olympics.
Their origin story amped the drama: they built to $1M in yearly revenue, then killed the product after deciding the market wasn’t big enough, spending months to pivot toward faster, cheaper customer research. Some hailed this as ruthless focus; others dubbed it “startup fanfiction.” The Amazon-level customer obsession line sparked memes about “do I need a headset and a stopwatch?” and jokes about explaining AI agents to both a 5-year-old and a CTO — cue parents asking if it babysits.
Biggest rift: “ex-founders only”. Supporters see a “founder factory” that even promises to back you when you spin out; critics say it’s gatekeeping wrapped in grit. Tool flexes (Claude Code, Codex, Conductor, Greptile) became Pokémon jokes: “gotta catch ’em all… frameworks.” Love it or roast it, people clicked hard.
Key Points
- •CoLoop (YC S21) is hiring ex-technical founders in London to build products in agentic AI.
- •Engineers own the end-to-end product cycle with no product managers; impact is tracked via PostHog.
- •The company pivoted after an initial $1M ARR product lacked PMF, now focusing on accelerating customer research.
- •Desired skills include Prompt Engineering, Node.js, Python, React, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and experience shipping complex agent systems.
- •The application requires brief background details and a project URL; the interview process spans 1–2 weeks with screening, technical, work sample, and an in-person paid contract day.