Italian startup studio Mamazen, based in Turin, is looking for new CEOs. More precisely, Mamazen launched what it defined as a Call for Ceo&Founders: a selection process to identify five managers who will lead three startups already "validated" by Mamazen itself. One of these companies is already active in the real estate market, the others are still in development but Mamazan says they are focused, respectively, on pet and beauty tech.

Farhad Alessandro Mohammadi, Mamazen CEO and Co-Founder, explains that in the startup studio approach startups are created "only after careful analysis and with confidence that they can meet real market needs". This should be a major incentive for potential CEOs, because they can be fairly sure that their new company will succeed and will get to positive exit in just a few years. Mamazen says their startups' failure rate is at 40% and exit is completed in 4,3 years.

Candidate CEOs do not have to satisfy specific prerequisites, but Mamazen will give special attention to who already has some experience as startup founder,scaleup CXO or venture capital manager. Once appointed, in the first month CEOs and cofounders will have to dedicated 10 hours per week to their new company (there's no need to leave their jobs, if they already have one). Then, the effort will of course increase. Even if Mamazen says that "being a startup founder is not a full time job but a mindset", there are many things to do: pitches, business plans, operations, sales, product development, relations with customers, suppliers and banks.

CEOs and founders who will pass the Call selection can get 35 percent each of the company shares of their startups. Mamazen has also many other resources ready to help its own startups' growth. Most of all, an initial budget of 100.000 euros for the first nine months of operations and a team of marketers, product managers, sales and finance managers who can help CEOs in their daily job. "Projects that achieve their goals - says Mamazen - will access a maximum investment of 500,000 euros from IH1, Mamazen's investments holding company".

Photo: Farhad Alessandro Mohammadi and Alessandro Mina