Become a Caritas Venture Co. Associate

The Associate Program is a performance-based partnership where skilled practitioners deliver AI transformations using our proven methodologies. Associates work on client projects, earning outcome-based compensation while maintaining flexibility and autonomy.

We never pay wages. Every associate is a 1099 contractor, and every dollar is tied to something that happened. There are three ways to earn. Bounty shares: each shipped outcome has a fixed pot, and drivers transfer shares to the people who help them ship. Groundwork face time: paid discovery is billed to the client by the minute at role-based rates, and you are paid for your billable hours (Associates start at $100 per billable hour; Senior Associates and Principals earn more). Closing: whoever brings a prospect to a recorded yes on Groundwork earns $500, half of the one-time activation fee, once the client's invoice clears. On outcomes, revenue generally splits three ways: one-third to Caritas as the capital provider, one-third to whoever sells the work, and one-third to those who fulfill it.

Bounty pots typically run $2,500–$7,000 per shipped outcome, and the largest to date is $10,500. Within each pot, lead operators capture 70–95% and pair contributors 3–10%, depending on what they shipped. Top performers ship multiple outcomes per month. Every payout settles publicly on ARLOS. See live earnings at arlos.app.

The minimum bar is evidence that you have made at least three distinct people measurably better off by implementing generative AI into their professional workflows. Beyond that, strong business acumen, excellent communication skills, and familiarity with our open-source methodologies all help. We value practical experience and proven results over credentials.

One thing: be productive, in any one of three ways. Earn shares in a live ARLOS bounty, log at least four billable hours of Groundwork face time, each traceable to stubbing out a new ARLOS bounty or meaningfully improving the scoping of an existing one, or close a Groundwork engagement. Nobody assigns you work. You browse what's live in ARLOS, reach out to drivers whose work interests you (your patron and Slack make this easy), shadow, and find a slice to take off their plate. Drivers exchange shares for real help. The first 30 days are free. From then on, the same three-way bar applies every month.

$500 per month, and only for months when you hit none of the three marks. Your first 30 days are free regardless. After that, any month where you hit none of the three marks means an invoice for $500 to keep your seat for the following month. You have 30 days to pay it; if it goes unpaid, your membership ends automatically. Hit any one mark in a month and nothing is invoiced. Membership is voluntary: you can leave at any time and owe nothing for the months you contributed, and if you have paid for a month and leave partway through, the unused portion is refunded.

A prospect you brought through the fit call gives recorded assent, verbal or written, to the standard Groundwork terms: the $1,000 one-time activation plus the rate card. That gets logged with you as the closer. Once the client pays the activation invoice, you are paid $500. Groundwork then bills by the minute, and the goal is to scope and activate a Quick Win in a Box as quickly as possible. If you also made the original introduction to the decision maker, the referral program pays you 10% of every successful Quick Win with that organization on top.

Every associate is paired with a patron: an advanced associate who meets with you live at least once a month, makes driver introductions, and helps you land your first contributions. Every sync ends with a concrete next step: a bounty to shadow, a slice to take on, or a Groundwork draft to flesh out. Patrons earn a share of the upside when the people they mentor succeed, so their guidance is incentive-aligned, not charity. As you advance, you take on apprentices of your own.

Associates start by contributing on active bounties and earning shares through transfers, then progress to driving bounties themselves, then to scoping and selling new engagements. High performers can advance to Principal level, leading teams of associates, and potentially become founding CEOs or Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) of spin-off product companies.

No. The program is designed for flexibility. Many associates balance this with other commitments, and you choose your availability and the work you take on. The one fixed expectation is the monthly bar: at least one productive mark every month, or the $500 membership fee applies. It's about delivering outcomes, not logging hours.

Yes, at any time, and you can leave at any time too. Two things are non-negotiable: the client's good comes first, and confidentiality, privacy, and trust are absolute, with zero tolerance for violations of the NDA and data-protection terms you sign at onboarding.