February 14, 2026
Hiring ex-founders? Comment brawl!
Cogram (YC W22) – Hiring former technical founders
YC startup wants ex-founders to code—cue cheers, eye-rolls, and meme mayhem
TLDR: Cogram wants former startup founders to join as hands-on builders for its AI tools in construction. Commenters are split between praising the ownership-heavy role and calling it “cofounder energy with employee equity,” with extra snark about “remote” limited to Europe time zones and the AI-but-no-‘slop’ interview vibe.
YC-backed Cogram just dropped a hiring bomb: they want former startup founders to join as hands-on builders for their AI tools in construction and engineering. The comment section instantly split into two camps. One side is pumped: “Finally, a team hiring for ownership, not checkbox coding.” Fans love the fast process, the big messy industry (construction), and the promise of real product impact. Also: 38 days off and fully remote? US devs are drooling.
The skeptics came swinging. The hottest gripe: “Cofounder energy without cofounder equity.” Salary is “competitive,” equity is “generous,” but no numbers sparked memes about “founder vibes, employee pay.” Others side-eyed the “remote” tag—only if you live within 3 hours of Central Europe. “Remote-ish” became the day’s favorite dunk. And the interview includes coding “with and without AI,” while the ad shouts “No AI slop, please”—a contradiction that commenters turned into jokes about “agentic coding = Cursor + caffeine + vibes.”
Extra spice: is “ex-founders only” smart signal or gatekeeping? Some argue founders adapt fast to chaos; others warn they’re “allergic to bosses” and will bail. The AEC crowd chimed in to say the domain is real and gnarly. Everyone else? Busy making memes about becoming “founders of meeting minutes.”
Key Points
- •Cogram is hiring former technical founders for fully remote roles within CET ±3 hours; US citizenship/visa not required.
- •The company builds an AI platform for AEC that automates project admin (RFIs, submittals, emails, field notes, meeting minutes, reporting, site reports, mail management, RFP bidding).
- •Requirements include founding experience, 3+ years building production software, strong backend/frontend skills, and regular use of AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex).
- •Stack: Python (FastAPI), Postgres, Redis, React/TypeScript, React Native/Expo, Terraform/Kubernetes deployed on AWS and Azure.
- •Benefits include 38 paid days off, competitive salary, generous equity, and a fast hiring process with screening, technical, cultural-fit interviews, and optional paid trial days.