Startup Mentor (Exited Founder)

Why this role existsA lot of great B2B SaaS & AI founders are making high‑stakes calls in the dark: they change direction, hire or fire senior leaders, pass on an acquisition, or push for “one more round” without ever having seen how those decisions actually play out over a full company arc. The perspective that’s missing in most rooms is the one from founders who went from idea, to zero‑to‑one, through institutional rounds, all the way into an outcome, and had time afterward to process what truly moved the needle and what almost broke them.Full Stack CEO™ exists to build CEOs who treat product & AI, GTM, capital, and leadership as one operating system instead of four separate games. To do that, we’re assembling Startup Mentors (Exited Founders) who’ve actually lived the full journey (from first line of code or first customer through growth, boards, and exits or shutdowns) and know what durable, founder‑healthy success really looks like in the age of AI.About Full Stack CEO™Full Stack CEO™ is an operating system for VC‑backed (or VC‑aspiring) B2B SaaS & AI CEOs from first revenue to ~$25M ARR. Founders plug into:CEO Operating Room – a private, curated room of B2B SaaS & AI CEOs with weekly Control AMAs, Thursday Operator/Investor sessions, and direct access to VP‑level operators, exited founders, and VCs who’ve actually shipped, raised, and sat in boardrooms.Stage‑Based Labs – 6–12 week sprints (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A) that turn chaos into real traction, dashboards, and investor‑grade stories.CEO & GTM Advisory – 1:1 operator‑GP support on GTM design, control scorecards, runway, and board narrative when stakes are highest.This Founder Journeys & Exits mentor role sits across all three layers, giving CEOs lived‑experience perspective on the decisions that shape their entire company arc.What you’ll doAs a Startup Mentor (Exited Founder) you will:Join selected Tuesday “Control AMA” and Thursday Operator/Investor sessions to answer live questions on founder decisions across stages: co‑founder dynamics, pivots, exec hiring, boards, exits, and shutdowns.Drop into Labs (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A) when CEOs are hitting inflection points you’ve already lived—raising a tough round, considering an acquisition, firing fast, or resetting a strategy.Share the uncut version of your journey: what actually drove growth, what nearly killed the company, and what you wish you’d seen earlier at each stage.Help founders spot blindspots around timing (raise vs. sell vs. double‑down), people (who you bring in when), and self‑management (ego, burnout, identity, family).Offer practical frameworks for major decisions: when to take money, when to say no, how to run a sale or fundraise process, and how to talk to your board and team through it.Occasionally support 1–2 CEOs more closely around a specific high‑stakes moment (e.g., sale process, down round, painful restructuring, or shutdown) if both sides want it.Time commitment: ~2–4 hours per month, fully remote and flexible. You opt into the founders, topics, and stages where your experience is genuinely relevant.Who this is forYou’re likely one (or more) of these:Exited founder / former CEO of a B2B SaaS or applied‑AI company (acquisition, IPO, PE deal, or meaningful secondary), or a founder who went deep into growth and then shut down with real scar tissue and reflection.You’ve personally lived multiple stages: 0→1, Seed→A, A→B/C+, with responsibility for product, GTM, hiring, fundraising, and boards. Not just one function.You can talk as candidly about mistakes, near‑misses, and “I’d never do that again” decisions as you can about the highlight reel.You get energy from helping sharp founders see around corners.This is not a fit if:Your experience is mostly advisory/theoretical (consulting, coaching, services) without ever owning a company P&L or cap table.Your primary goal is to sell services or raise for your next project from the room. Any engagements that emerge should come from trust and fit, not from pitches in sessionsWhat you getA “Startup Mentor (Exited Founders) @ Full Stack CEO™” role you can proudly show on LinkedIn as part of the founding mentor network.A curated room of B2B SaaS & AI CEOs from first revenue to ~$25M ARR, plus other operators, investors, and exited founders—real relationships and a warm, qualified advisory / dealflow surface, not spray‑and‑pray networking.Clean, organic visibility into founders by helping them sharpen their story, control their metrics, and make better decisions; if advisory, board, or investment conversations make sense, you take them directly with the founder.Early access to the Full Stack CEO operating system (control scorecards, labs, GTM maps, and leadership/inner‑game frameworks) with your input shaping how the “journey from zero to exit” layer evolvesA front‑row seat on how AI‑era B2B SaaS companies are actually navigating growth, boards, and outcomes across dozens of live cases, not just one portfolio.You’re joining while the network is still small and handcrafted. The mentors who help build this now will shape how a generation of CEOs thinks about founder journeys, power, and survival in the age of AI.How to applyApply directly here on LinkedIn. Bonus points if you add a short note with:A brief overview of your founder journey (products built, stages reached, capital raised, exit/shutdown outcome)One concrete example of a moment on your journey where a single decision materially changed the trajectory of the company (for better or worse) and what you learned from itIf it’s a fit for this mentor cohort, you’ll be invited to a 30‑minute conversation with Yannick Kpodar, Founder & CEO of Full Stack CEO™, to align on expectations, topics, and where you can contribute most. If we don’t move forward this round, you’re very welcome to apply again for future mentor cohorts as the network expands