Careers
Build things people keep.
We're a small studio that ships to production constantly. If you want range, ownership, and the satisfaction of running what you build, this is a good place to be.
The bet
Loneliness, attention, and the tools in between.
Our products sit at the messy intersection of how people connect, focus, and grow up online. It's a large, under-built space — and we'd rather hand it to a few people with real ownership than a large team with none.
How we work
A few non-negotiables.
- Written by default
- Real decisions live in short docs and pull requests, not meetings. If a meeting can be a doc, it is one.
- Write before you ship
- Non-trivial work starts with a one-pager: goal, non-goals, trade-offs. The why outlives the code.
- The right tool, no more
- Static HTML where it earns its keep, React where interactivity does, Postgres for state. The heaviest tool a surface needs and not a gram more.
- Ship from day one
- You push to production in your first week. Holding a problem from idea to production beats perfecting one slice of it.
Open seats
A few genuinely open roles.
Founding Engineer
CAD 130–170k + equity
Full-stack across React, TypeScript, and Postgres. You ship to production in your first week and own features end to end.
Apply →Product Designer
CAD 110–150k + equity
You design in the browser, not just in Figma. Interface, motion, and brand across every venture — then you build it.
Apply →Growth Operator
CAD 95–135k + equity
Distribution, lifecycle, partnerships, and the unglamorous ops that make products actually reach people.
Apply →Who we hire
Writers who code. Designers who ship. Operators who build.
Titles matter less than range. The people who do well here are uncomfortable throwing work over a wall — they'd rather hold a problem from idea to production than perfect one slice of it. Generalists with a deep spike.
How hiring works
Four conversations. One paid project.
You'll hear back within 72 hours at every stage, and the founder reads every application personally. If you ever get ghosted, that's a bug — write again.
- 01ApplyOne email: who you are, why this role, a link to one thing you’re proud of. No resume gymnastics — and don’t have Claude write it, we can tell.
- 02IntroThirty minutes with the founder. What you’ve built, what you want to build next. No trick questions — the aim is mutual curiosity.
- 03Work reviewYou walk us through something real you’ve shipped. We probe for craft and judgement, never whiteboard trivia.
- 04Paid projectOne small, scoped problem on something real, paid at your rate. You own whatever you make. Then a fast yes, or a clear and specific no.
Frequently asked
The honest answers.
Is this a big team?+
No — it’s a small, owner-operated studio, and early. You’d get the range and the responsibility that comes with that. We’d rather hire one person we’re sure about than five we’re not.
Remote, or in person?+
Remote-friendly. The studio is based in Vancouver; for most roles location doesn’t matter as long as there are a few hours of daily overlap.
Will I work with Claude / AI tools?+
Constantly. Claude Code is in the development loop here — fluency with prompting and tool use is part of the job, not a side quest.
What’s the equity story?+
Early-stage and real, but treat any equity as upside, not salary. We’ll be transparent about exactly what you’re getting at the offer stage.
Do you do whiteboard interviews?+
Never. You walk us through real work, then do one small paid project on a real problem. That’s the whole evaluation.
What’s the founder like to work with?+
Direct, reads everything, replies fast. Pushes back hard and takes pushback well. Won’t hire anyone he wouldn’t happily work beside every week.
A note from the founder
If you read this far, thank you. The roles are real, the bands are honest, and the studio is small on purpose. I'm trying to build the kind of place I'd have wanted to work at — small enough that you matter, serious enough that the work does.
If that lands, send a paragraph and a link to something you've made. I read every one.
— Iain · Vancouver
Don't see your role?
If you build things people keep, write to us anyway. Tell us what you'd want to own.
studio@purplecapybara.com