Founders Associate

Hybrid | Frankfurt am Main | Start:
Flexible (from February 2026)

On-site requirement: minimum 50% in Frankfurt

We are an early-stage startup building a managed marketplace for automotive logistics
, connecting car dealers, auction houses, and fleets with professional transport carriers across Europe.

The company is led by a repeat founder and backed by Rapid Pioneers.

We are looking for a Founder’s Associate Intern to work directly with the founder on sales and operations
. In this role, you will support the commercial side of the business (lead generation, sales processes, customer onboarding) as well as the operational backbone (processes, coordination, execution).

What You’ll Do

Sales & Go-to-Market

• Support outbound and inbound sales activities
• Research and qualify leads
• Prepare sales materials, follow-ups, and CRM updates
• Support deal preparation, pricing logic, and pipeline tracking

Operations

• Support daily operational workflows
• Help structure and improve internal processes and tools
• Assist with coordination between sales, ops, and product
• Take ownership of small projects and drive them end-to-end

Founder Support

• Work directly with the founder on high-priority topics
• Turn ideas into structured tasks, analyses, and execution
• Support with fundraising
• Support ad-hoc problem solving where needed

Who This Role Is For

Must-Haves

• Strong interest in startups, entrepreneurship, and execution
• Structured way of thinking and willingness to take ownership
• Comfortable working on-site in Frankfurt at least 50% of the time
• Strong communication skills in English and German
• Hands-on mindset: you like getting things done, not just talking about them

Background

• Can be a student
  , recent graduate, or early-career profile
• Prior startup experience is not required
• Curiosity, reliability, and speed matter more than your CV

Nice-to-Haves

• Interest in sales, operations, or marketplaces
• Experience with tools like Airtable, Notion, Excel, or CRM systems
• Additional European languages are a plus (e.g. French, Dutch, Polish)

What You’ll Get

• Direct collaboration with the founder
• Steep learning curve and real responsibility
• Exposure to sales, operations, and company building
• Insight into how decisions are made in an early-stage startup
• Hybrid setup with strong on-site collaboration in Frankfurt
• Competitive internship compensation
• Opportunity to grow into a full-time role if there is a strong mutual fit

Interview Process

Get to know each other, role expectations, and motivation.

Discussion around mindset, problem-solving, and interests in sales & operations.

A short, realistic task to understand how you think and work.