We are a development, data science and design studio that works closely with founders and executives to create custom software and machine learning solutions.
AE Studio is a mid-sized startup from California and we are looking for data scientists/developers/designers to work remotely and/or from our office in Florianópolis. We have a highly skilled team building products to increase human agency using the most recent technologies for startups as well as large companies like Samsung and Berkshire Hathaway. We have an awesome work environment and a highly productive process.
We deploy the proceeds from our consulting work in development and data science and our skunkworks proceeds to support research into cause areas we think are of paramount interest to human beings. We have made a name for ourselves in cutting-edge brain computer interface (BCI) R&D, and now we want to replicate past successes and solve the problem of AI alignment (aligning future powerful systems with human best interests). We want to optimize for human agency, if you feel similarly, please apply to support our research efforts. Data scientists will have the opportunity between client projects to work on important alignment research, with the opportunity to potentially have your research project prioritized if particularly promi
We are looking for someone with strong problem-solving skills and self-management skills.
RECRUITING NOTE
Equity
Working at AE means receiving equity in some of our client projects and in the Skunkworks projects we incubate. The equity granted is priced at a value of $0 when you receive it. If it were otherwise, you’d be forced to pay taxes. But to be clear, there are no free lunches, only the choice of who pays for your sandwich.
At AE, the equity you receive is not free to AE. We invest millions annually in Skunkworks projects - paying our employees to build technology for which no client pays a bill. We receive equity from certain clients, which means we accept less in terms of our billable rate. We then pass that equity on to our employees. Sure it’s priced at $0 on day 1 - a call option on a stock trading at $100 with a strike price of $100 is priced at $0 today for tax purposes, but you’d want to receive that option. If you received that option on a dozen stocks, you’d be fairly confident that some of them would be worth a lot more than $0.
Offering this equity (by investing in Skunkworks or offering clients a lower rate) comes out of AE’s margins. Theoretically, we should be lowering salaries to compensate. But we’re competitive on that front as well. Over the long-term, we believe AE employees who stick around are likely to fare extremely well monetarily (no legal promises). We think long-term. You should too when you choose your employer.
We are looking to hire people who think long term. People create exponentially more value here in their 3rd or 4th year rather than their 1st or 2nd, and that only increases. The value you create leads to more equity issued every year, and you retain it while you remain at AE or at a Skunkworks co that spins out, in order to free up equity for others, which is how we afford to be generous with the equity.
* Disclaimer: If you leave AE on good terms, you can retain 20% of your equity if you continue to send leads our way, share our core values, etc. If you leave AE for your own AE-incubated Skunkworks project (or someone else’s), you retain 100% of your equity. Folks create exponentially more value here in their 3rd and 4th years than their 1st or 2nd - we want folks who think long-term like we do.
