Build a company function, not just complete tasks.
Your lane will carry real responsibility, visible outcomes, and room to improve how the whole company works.
Five open founding seats · One company to build
Join the Trailblazer Founding Team
Help build a hard-asset company that starts with real manufacturing work and grows toward AI, autonomy, drones, and long-term space infrastructure.
TrailblazerFab gives us a practical place to start: solve customer problems, ship physical parts, generate revenue, and build the technical and operating capability behind the larger mission.
We are looking for five people who want more than a narrow job. You will own an essential part of the company, build the system inside your lane, and see your work shape what Trailblazer becomes.
Why join now
Early Enough to Shape It. Real Enough to Build It.
The foundation exists. The roadmap is ambitious. The next step is not another strategy document—it is a small team turning direction into customers, hardware, operating systems, technical leverage, and momentum.
See the direct line from today's work to the larger vision.
Revenue, manufacturing discipline, software, and partnerships all compound into the capabilities Trailblazer needs next.
Earn meaningful upside by building meaningful value.
Founding-team equity and performance upside are designed to reward sustained contribution—not attendance or titles.
Company framing
Start With Real Work. Build Toward a Much Larger Mission.
Trailblazer is building at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, cognitive AI, autonomy, drones, and long-term space infrastructure.
The near-term focus is TrailblazerFab: paid manufacturing work that creates revenue, customer relationships, technical discipline, and operating capability. That base supports the larger direction: drones, autonomy, infrastructure systems, and the long-term space depot vision.
We start with parts, prototypes, and fabrication because they create cash flow and capability. The goal is not to stay small. The goal is to build the operating base for something much larger.
Leadership model
Founder-Led, Built by Operators
Mike Myers has spent two years establishing Trailblazer's technical foundation, strategy, and long-term direction.
Now the company needs five founding leads who can turn that groundwork into customers, shipped hardware, reliable operations, technical leverage, and strategic opportunities. Each lead will own a critical execution lane and build the system inside it.
Bring your craft.Build your lane.Make the entire company stronger.
The first twelve months
What We Need to Build Together
Year one is about turning six capable people into one operating company. These are the outcomes we need to create—not promises that someone else has already completed.
01 · CustomersBuild a base of repeat business
Consistent outreach, fast quotes, collected revenue, and customers who return.
02 · DeliveryMake the shop reliable
Jobs shipped on time, quality customers trust, and margin visible on every project.
03 · SystemsCreate one operating rhythm
Clear intake, scheduling, job data, automation, documentation, and handoffs.
04 · LeverageOpen the next set of doors
Partnerships, funding pathways, and working technology that expand what we can build.
Founding team model
The Six-Seat Founding Team
Founder & CEO
Company direction, capital strategy, technical foundation, and long-term vision.
Sales & Business Development
Pipeline, quotes, closed deals, collected revenue, and repeat business.
Manufacturing / Fabrication
Job execution, quality, materials, process, delivery, and margin discipline.
Operations / Execution
Job tracking, scheduling, inventory, cost visibility, and operating rhythm.
Partnerships / Capital / Growth
Grants, institutional relationships, strategic partners, and capital pathways.
AI & Autonomy
Internal tools, quote automation, job intake, autonomy support, and technical leverage.
The Founder & CEO sets direction. Sales brings in work. Manufacturing builds and ships it. Operations keeps delivery reliable. Partnerships opens capital and strategic doors. AI & Autonomy makes every seat faster.
Open founding roles
Choose the Part of the Company You Want to Build
Every seat has a clear mission and measurable outcomes, but none comes with a finished playbook. You will create the process, make the calls, learn from the work, and leave behind a function that can grow.
Open founding role
Sales & Business Development Lead
Own the pipeline that keeps the company moving.
Own customer acquisition for TrailblazerFab: outbound outreach, discovery, quoting, closing, collections, and repeat customer development.
- Equity
- 3%–4.5% full earnable equity
- First-year upside
- Sales commissions on closed and collected revenue.
Open founding role
Manufacturing / Fabrication Lead
Own the floor. Make sure every part ships right.
Own the print and fabrication process: materials, machine operation, job costing, quality control, prototype builds, and delivery reliability.
- Equity
- 3%–4.5% full earnable equity
- First-year upside
- Manufacturing margin, project completion, and quality/delivery bonuses.
Open founding role
AI & Autonomy Builder
Build the tools and intelligence layer underneath the company.
Build internal software, quote automation, job intake systems, manufacturing review tools, and support the longer-term autonomy and drone roadmap.
- Equity
- 2.5%–3.5% full earnable equity
- First-year upside
- Bonuses tied to shipped automation, measurable time savings, useful demos, and technical leverage.
Open founding role
Operations / Execution Lead
Keep the company moving while everyone else is heads-down.
Own job tracking, scheduling, inventory, delivery status, cost visibility, and the operating rhythm that keeps a small hard-asset startup from dropping details.
- Equity
- 2%–3% full earnable equity
- First-year upside
- Project completion, delivery, and execution milestone bonuses.
Open founding role
Partnerships / Capital / Growth Lead
Find the money, relationships, and doors that move the company forward.
Own grants, non-dilutive funding, institutional relationships, strategic partnerships, accelerator opportunities, and capital-pathway support.
- Equity
- 1.5%–3% full earnable equity
- First-year upside
- Bonuses tied to grant, partnership, funding, resource, and strategic-growth outcomes.
Compensation and ownership
Build Value. Earn Ownership.
Trailblazer may reserve up to 20% of the company for the five founding roles and exceptional performance. The intent is simple: the people who help create lasting company value should have the opportunity to share meaningfully in it.
Equity is earned through sustained contribution and long-term commitment, with four-year vesting and a one-year cliff. First-year work can also create upside through commissions, margin bonuses, project incentives, grants, partnerships, and shipped automation.
- Four-year vesting with a one-year cliff.
- Monthly vesting after the cliff.
- Unvested equity returns to the company if someone leaves.
- Final equity form is subject to legal, tax, and entity structure.
- First-year upside may include commissions and performance bonuses.
First-year cash needs and performance compensation are role-specific conversations. We would rather discuss them directly and honestly than publish a formula that cannot account for the person, the lane, or the company's stage.
Final compensation, equity structure, vesting, and legal terms are subject to formal written agreements, company structure, tax/legal review, and continued active contribution. Nothing on this page is an offer of securities or employment.
IP and company ownership
Everything Built for the Company Stays With the Company
All work created for Trailblazer, TrailblazerFab, Primordia Systems, or related company projects belongs to the company. This includes code, AI systems, CAD, product designs, manufacturing processes, customer and CRM data, quotes, pricing systems, technical documentation, internal tools, drone and autonomy work, company research, grant and investor materials, brand assets, supplier relationships, and trade secrets.
Every founding team member must sign appropriate IP and invention assignment, confidentiality, and company-protection agreements. This is required to keep the company fundable, protectable, and buildable.
How we will work
A Small Team Where Your Work Is Visible
Close to the decisions
You will work directly with the founder and the other founding leads. Customer feedback, shop-floor reality, operating data, and technical results will shape what we do next.
Trusted with a real lane
Founding leads are expected to propose plans, make day-to-day decisions, improve systems, document what works, and be accountable for outcomes—not wait to be handed a checklist.
The founder instinct
For People Who Want to Build From the Ground Up
You may have thought about starting a company of your own. You see unfinished systems, unmet customer needs, and better ways to work. What you want is not a safer job—it is the chance to build alongside other people who will carry the weight with you.
We are not selecting for the most prestigious résumé in the room. We are looking for resourceful people who take responsibility, learn quickly, stay close to the work, and keep moving when the playbook runs out.
You think like an owner
- You notice what needs doing and begin.
- You care about customers, cash, quality, and the details.
- You make decisions with the whole company in mind.
- You want responsibility that is real, not ceremonial.
You can build without a finished playbook
- You turn ambiguity into the next useful action.
- You communicate clearly and document what others need to know.
- You are willing to sell, make, organize, test, or learn what the moment requires.
- You measure yourself by what became real because you were there.
This will be demanding. Early-stage resources are limited, priorities will move, and nobody gets to hide behind a title. The opportunity is to build the company with people who carry different parts of the same challenge.
Frequently asked questions
Before You Apply
Is this a normal job?
No. These are founding team roles. Early compensation may be limited, but performance bonuses and earnable equity may provide meaningful upside.
Is equity guaranteed?
No. Equity is earned through sustained contribution, performance, formal agreement, and vesting.
When does equity vest?
Equity vests over four years with a one-year cliff. Nothing vests before month twelve; monthly vesting follows the cliff.
What happens if someone leaves before one year?
No equity vests. Unvested equity returns to the company.
Does first-year work have upside?
Yes. First-year upside may include commissions, project or margin bonuses, grant and partnership bonuses, automation bonuses, and revenue milestone compensation.
Are founding team members real owners?
Yes, if they earn it through contribution and vesting. The goal is meaningful ownership and real responsibility, not token equity.
Who owns work created for the company?
The company does. Company-related code, CAD, designs, processes, customer data, tools, research, documentation, and materials belong to Trailblazer / TrailblazerFab.
Is this remote?
Some roles may be partly remote, but manufacturing and operations roles require local or regional presence near the Charlottesville / Lake Monticello, Virginia area.
How do I apply?
Complete the form below. It prepares an email you can review, supplement with attachments, and send to the founding team.
Application
Build the Next Chapter With Us
Trailblazer is looking for five founding leads who can help turn two years of groundwork into a real operating company.
If one of these lanes feels like the work you have been waiting to own, tell us what you have built, sold, shipped, organized, or funded—and what you believe you could build here.