Product Manager / Former Founder, New Initiative

About Cartesia Our mission is to architect AI that learns from and interacts with the world like humans do. We're pioneering the model architectures that will make this possible. Our founding team met as PhDs at the Stanford AI Lab where we invented State Space Models (SSMs), a new primitive for training efficient, large-scale foundation models. Our team combines deep expertise in model innovation and systems engineering with a design‑minded product engineering group to build and ship cutting‑edge models and experiences. We are funded by leading investors such as Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Factory, Conviction, A Star, General Catalyst, SV Angel, Databricks and many others. We also have support from a broad group of advisors and more than 90 angel investors across a variety of industries. About The Role Cartesia is hiring a Product Manager to lead a new initiative at the company—a 0→1 product effort built on top of our foundation models. We are looking for someone who can operate as the CEO of this initiative. This is not a traditional PM role. You should have already lived the 0→1 loop—customer discovery, building, selling—and be able to set the pace for a squad of researchers, engineers, designers, and GTM partners. You will own the initiative end to end and report directly to the Head of Product. You will shape strategy, run discovery, spar with research, and push deals to close alongside GTM. Your Impact Own the initiative's roadmap, strategy, and execution pace—translate customer evidence into strong, opinionated bets and eliminate work that isn’t worth pursuing Shape go‑to‑market alongside the GTM team, from positioning to pricing to which segments to target first Run customer discovery personally and partner with GTM to close the early wave of customers Drive cross‑functional alignment across research, engineering, design, and GTM as a peer—without relying on formal authority Become a credible external voice for Cartesia through writing, talks, and customer‑facing thought leadership What You Bring Founder experience: you have founded (or been founding PM at) a B2B SaaS, AI, or developer‑tools startup and personally taken a 0→1 product into market—living the full loop of customer discovery → building → selling Execution velocity and ownership: a deep bias to ship, comfort with ambiguity, and a track record of setting the pace for the people around you; you treat blockers as personal problems to solve Deep working knowledge of modern AI/ML systems and the tradeoffs that matter in production—or a clear track record of getting to expert‑level in a technical domain within weeks Customer‑led and sales‑comfortable: you've personally driven early customer acquisition at a previous company, can run a discovery call solo, walk a technical buyer through architecture, and push a deal to close alongside GTM Product taste paired with technical depth: you can spar with research and engineering on model behavior, eval design, and architecture, with strong opinions grounded in customer evidence Cross‑functional leadership without authority: you've led R&D + GTM + design as a founder and can do it again here as a peer; a strong written communicator who produces primers, narratives, and POVs that travel on their own Nice to Have Already a credible external voice in applied AI—or clearly capable of becoming one and excited to grow that presence Built a real‑time or applied AI product previously Prior PM time at a high‑velocity AI lab or infra company (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI) Technical degree or prior engineering experience Location & Policy In‑office policy: We’re an in‑person team based in San Francisco, London, and Bangalore. We love being in the office, hanging out together, and learning from each other every day. Visa sponsorship: We provide visa sponsorship support and assess each circumstance on a case‑by‑case basis. However, sponsorship is dependent on many factors, including the role and the location you will be based in, and we cannot always guarantee success. We ship fast. All of our work is novel and cutting edge, and execution speed is paramount. We have a high bar, and we don’t sacrifice quality or design along the way. We support each other. We have an open and inclusive culture that’s focused on giving everyone the resources they need to succeed. Benefits (US Employees Only) Compensation: Competitive base salary alongside attractive equity package Health Insurance: Fully covered medical insurance along with dental and vision for you and your family Parental Leave: 9 weeks paternity and 12 weeks maternity leave 401(k) Commuter Allowance: A monthly stipend to help you get to and from the office Flexible PTO: Take as much time as you need to recharge your batteries Meals & Snacks: Lunch, dinner, and plenty of snacks provided daily #J-18808-Ljbffr