Technical Co-Founder / CTO – Munich (residents only)

Must currently reside in Munich with valid work authorization—no relocation support. Due to our lean startup stage and need for immediate collaboration, please only apply if you are already residing in Munich and ready to commit full-time within one month. Applications from outside the area will not be considered.

Tripchainer is revolutionizing hotel booking by solving a €15B/year problem for independent hotels trapped by expensive OTA commissions. We're building a next-generation platform using AI and patent-pending technology that gives hotels pricing control while delivering better experiences for travelers.

We're incorporated (Munich), have a prototype waiting for your magic finish touches and validated demand. Now we're ready to grow—and we need a technical co-founder to build it with us.

Learn more at www.tripchainer.com

Role Description

This is a full-time Co-Founder / CTO role (on-site in Greater Munich Metropolitan Area).

As Technical Co-Founder, you will:

• Own all technology decisions: architecture, tech stack, infrastructure, and product implementation
• Finish the MVP with the help of our mentors and consultants from validated specifications (Months 1-4)
• Lead engineering strategy as we scale from prototype to production
• Hire and manage the engineering team as we grow (starting Month 6+)
• Present technical vision to investors during fundraising rounds
• Implement patent-pending technology that creates our competitive moat

You'll work alongside the founding CEO (hospitality + product expert) who handles customer discovery, partnerships, fundraising, and go-to-market—giving you full autonomy on the tech side.

What You Get

✅ Founding equity

• 4-year vesting, 1-year cliff (standard startup structure)

✅ CTO title with full ownership of technical decisions

✅ De-risked opportunity:

• Incorporated company (legal foundation complete)
• Working prototype (you're not starting from zero)
• Validated hotel conversations (demand proven)
• Patent-pending technology (IP protection in place)

✅ Clear path to growth:

• Months 1-3: Build MVP together (bootstrap phase)
• Months 4-6: Launch and validate with real users
• Months 7-9: Scale and raise Seed funding
• Month 10+: Market-rate salary (€70-90K) + hire your team

✅ Partnership structure:

• You own: Tech, engineering, architecture, team hiring
• Founder owns: Product, customers, fundraising, partnerships
• Weekly sync, but full autonomy on execution

Qualifications (Must-Have)

✓ 5+ years shipping production web/mobile applications end-to-end

✓ Full-stack capability: Modern JavaScript frameworks (React/Vue) + backend (Node.js/Python or similar)

✓ Cloud deployment experience: GCP, AWS, or Azure

✓ Payment & compliance: Experience with Stripe/payment integrations, GDPR, PCI DSS, or security requirements

✓ Database & API design: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Firebase, or similar

✓ Leadership capability: Led technical architecture decisions, built products from scratch (0-to-launch), or mentored engineers

✓ Entrepreneurial mindset: Willing to bootstrap initially (3 months with no guaranteed salary), then scale compensation with traction

✓ Availability: Can start full-time within 4 weeks

Qualifications (Nice-to-Have)

⊕ Experience with blockchain, Web3, or AI/ML (we have patent-pending blockchain technology)

⊕ Experience building marketplaces or matching platforms

⊕ Startup experience: Worked at a startup <20 people or co-founded before

⊕ Travel, hospitality, or fintech domain knowledge

What We're NOT Looking For

✗ You need a guaranteed salary immediately (we bootstrap 1-6 month)

✗ You want to be CEO (founding CEO role is filled; you own tech strategy)

✗ You're risk-averse (early-stage startups have inherent uncertainty)

✗ You're looking for a job, not a founding role (this is equity + conviction, not a paycheck)

Why Join Tripchainer?

🚀 Massive market: €400B hotel booking industry, €15B/year lost to OTA commissions

🛡️ Patent-pending moat: Our core technology is protected (competitors can't easily copy)

✅ Validated demand: Hotel and Traveler

🏗️ Past the idea phase: Incorporated company, working prototype, clear 16 months roadmap

🤝 True partnership: You're founder #2, not employee #1 taking orders

How to Apply

Send to [email protected] or message on LinkedIn:

• Your LinkedIn or GitHub/portfolio
• 2-3 shipped projects (links + your role)
• Why you'd leave your job for this opportunity
• Answers to these questions:
• Can you work 6-9 months full-time with €0 guaranteed salary?
• What's the biggest technical risk you see for a hotel marketplace platform?
• Are you available to start within 4 weeks?

We'll schedule a 30-min call if there's alignment.

Join the Revolution

Independent hotels have been trapped by Booking.com and Expedia for 20 years. We're giving them a way out.

If you want to build something that matters—and own a meaningful piece of it—let's talk.

Ready to build? Apply now. 🚀