Entrepreneur In Residence

THIS ROLE IS CURRENTLY FILLED. WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR ANOTHER EIR RIGHT NOW BUT YOU CAN SEND US A CV SPECULATIVELY IF YOU WISH.

We’re looking for an experienced entrepreneur to work with us for 6-18 months, growing several of our projects.

About us

CanDo is a small team of optimists trying to crack big social problems. We're a venture incubator who identify, test and scale mission-driven commercial and not-for-profit ideas.

CanDo was created in 2019 by George Bevis, an award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Tide. We work globally from London.

What we work on

Our mission is to develop, test and scale ideas which improve the world.

They always need to have a social purpose, otherwise there’s no point. They also need to be scalable, otherwise our time would be better spent on ideas which matter more. Within those constraints, we’ll consider almost anything.

Currently, some of the questions we’re examining include:

  • Can modern technology be made easier for older people to use?

  • Can parents and older people’s lives be made easier by doing their life-admin for them?

  • What would it take to improve the quality of leadership in developing countries?

  • What would it take for education to be transformed by the internet?

  • How can philanthropy be made easier and more common?

  • Can loneliness-reduction strategies scale?

  • How can baby boomers’ wealth be shared more equitably?

  • ... and about 20 more.

How we do it

We start from needs: a problem in society which feels like it ought to be fixable. Desk research and brainstorming establishes ideas for solutions. Some ideas may generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining, whereas others will require support from donors or government. We believe that solutions to social problems can usually find finance for scale from somewhere, so long as they really are proven.

To establish proof we’ll devise and deliver the simplest, cheapest, fastest tests we can. For commercial initiatives this may mean establishing that customers can be acquired for much less money than they generate in profit. For not-for-profit initiatives it may mean demonstrating that a desired outcome can be delivered for a price that donors or government are willing to pay. The nature of the proof is determined by the idea.

Once an idea is proven we’ll put a top-notch team in place to scale it, and source finance where necessary. We’ll continue to monitor and assist the success of the team, while recognising that management need the freedom to operate without unnecessary overhead.

We typically work in our airy Clerkenwell office on Mondays and Thursdays, and from home on other days.

The role

This isn’t a normal EIR role: you will have real responsibility for delivering project goals. Over the time you work with us you will inherit 2-3 initiatives which are built and launched but need further work to determine scalability. You will have day-to-day responsibility for management of the initiatives (each of which is its own company) as well as being responsible for proving how much growth is (or is not) achievable for each initiative.

You will:

  • Run each company as interim MD

  • Ensure high quality of day-to-day operations

  • Ensure high quality reporting of operating and financial metrics

  • Recruit and manage team members

  • Perform early B2B business development (sales) activity to determine how successful those channels can be for growth

  • Contribute ideas to other CanDo projects

Although these responsibilities are broad, in all initiatives our operations are well-developed already and so day-to-day operating responsibility should be light. You are likely to spend half (or more) of your time on business development, so you should enjoy selling. It may well be that you can deliver all of these responsibilities in under 30 hours/week - we are flexible about time commitment so long as the job gets done.

About you

You....

  • Have been an entrepreneur before, managing multiple staff and exploring multiple channels for growth

  • Are comfortable managing initiatives which involve some technology development

  • Are good with spreadsheets and know how to deliver analytical reporting

  • Have demonstrable business development (sales) experience and are comfortable creating new sales leads from scratch

The offer

  • £80k p.a. base salary + up to £20k p.a. profit share (all calculated monthly and pro-rated for time worked)

  • Initial 6 months contract: at month 5 we will agree whether this should be extended to 12 months (and same for 18 months at month 11).

  • We realise that EIRs are a special breed: that you’ll have other interests and need us to work flexibly with you. We will do what we can to help you develop the next steps in your career, and we’ll provide an accommodating and supportive environment while you’re with us.

Talk to us about this role

If you're interested in finding out more, send an email to jobs@teamcando.com. Please attach your CV or a link to your LinkedIn so we can make sure there's a potential fit.

Agencies and visas

No agencies please. We are not yet able to sponsor visas.