THIS IS A TECHNICAL CO-FOUNDER ROLE FOR EQUITY COMPENSATION ONLY AT A STARTUP RIGHT ON THE CUSP OF MAJOR MILESTONES AND LAUNCH. Our platform is publicly launching soon so it's an opportunity to come in and hit the ground running. We have exciting plans for going forward, and your role is key in our mission to meaningfully reshape online political engagement.

Company background

Povi (https://povi.tv/) is a US-based livestreaming startup redefining how the world engages with politics. We’re improving the world’s political conversation through live discourse, engagement, and entertainment. Our platform empowers independent journalists and content creators from all sides, fostering transparency and reducing partisanship. We’re building the home for politics, where productive dialogue thrives via a vibrant community and research-backed features.

We’re a small team of passionate entrepreneurs and builders. Right now, we are in the final stages of re-imagining our platform with a grand public launch. And we’re well positioned for rapid growth, with our next funding round planned to commence in Summer. Exciting times guaranteed!

Join us as our next backend Technical Co-Founder to build the infrastructure of a platform that's redefining political engagement. Design, develop and manage our supporting architecture to drive real-world change.

Role Specifics

Position Title:

Technical Co-Founder

Location:

Fully Remote - U.S. Eastern Time

Desired Start Date:

On or before May 4

Job Overview:

We are seeking a skilled technical leader for our next-generation political livestreaming platform. As an equity co-founder, you'll own the architecture, backend development, and technical vision to power our upcoming launch and ensuing growth, while assisting with fundraising, business development, and product strategy. Helping us foster transparent political discourse via scalable and decentralized tech. This is a high-commitment, high-ownership, and high-impact role, with the opportunity to meaningfully reshape online political engagement.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical:

Build and maintain the core platform, including backend services, APIs, and infrastructure.

Manage infrastructure and deployments, including cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, and environment setup.

Maintain code quality, establish engineering best practices, and guide the technical vision of the team.

Recruit, mentor, and scale the engineering team as the company grows.

Evaluate and integrate new technologies, including emerging tools in Web3, AI, blockchain, streaming, and distributed systems.

Business and Strategy:

Contribute to fundraising efforts by collaborating on investor materials, such as technical roadmaps, demos, and due diligence responses to highlight our innovation and scalability.

Utilize your personal network to expand our ecosystem, including identifying and engaging potential investors and partners in the media, Web3, and content creation spaces.

Assist in shaping go-to-market strategies, from launch planning to post-launch growth tactics, ensuring technical alignment with user acquisition and retention goals.

Product:

Lead and facilitate developer meetings to ensure alignment with KPIs, milestones, and overall product strategy.

Oversee analytics integration and user testing to measure engagement and help refine the platform's core value proposition.

Collaborate with founders on product vision and roadmap, turning goals into actionable development plans.

Required Qualifications:

B.S. in Computer Science or a related technical field.

Work experience in some full-time technical role(s).

Strong experience with Python, the Django web framework, and building RESTful APIs using Django REST Framework (DRF).

Understanding of asynchronous programming and task queue systems such as Celery.

Knowledge of PostgreSQL or other relational SQL database technologies.

Experience with caching systems such as Redis.

Hands-on use of Git for version control and collaboration.

Comfortable with deployment tools and environments, including Docker, SSH, and cloud platforms like DigitalOcean or AWS.

Familiarity with Web3 technologies, including blockchain concepts and decentralized application principles.

Understanding of media technology, livestreaming workflows, and the protocols that power real-time video delivery (i.e., RTMP, HLS, WebRTC), with the ability to design and optimize systems for latency.

Experience contributing to cross-functional teams in a startup-like environment, with exposure to product strategy or business development (can be through side projects, or prior roles).

Ideal (not required) Qualifications:

Experience with RabbitMQ or other message brokers.

Knowledge of cybersecurity principles.

Experience integrating AI/ML for features like content moderation, recommendation engines, or real-time analytics in political or media platforms.

Experience navigating a startup through a funding round, such as contributing to pre-seed or seed preparations, investor due diligence, or post-funding scaling efforts

Strong communication skills, evidenced by technical blogging, conference speaking, or open-source contributions that bridge tech and non-tech audiences.

Programming exposure to Rust, Solidity (or equivalent) for smart contracts, and practical experience in decentralized Web3/blockchain development

Benefits:

Co-founder level equity compensation at a startup right on the cusp of major milestones.

Join a remote-first mission driven team that works hard, but is flexible.

Early opportunities for growth and advancement.

Application Question(s):

• Are you highly skilled in Python with substantial hands-on experience building RESTful APIs using frameworks like Django, Flask or FastAPI? This role includes hands-on coding work
• Before you apply, are you in a position to be in a Technical Co-Founder role for equity compensation only initially, at a startup right on the cusp of major milestones and launch?

Work Location: Remote