We build real-time civilian threat intelligence for conflict zones — and we just landed our first operational pilot. Multi-model AI pipeline (Gemini 3 Pro / Flash) ingests OSINT from verified sources, runs it through a gated verification system, and pushes geolocated alerts to offline-first mobile clients. Think of it as a personal intelligence analyst for non-combatants — on a phone that works on 2G.
This is not a pitch deck. We have a working system: Django backend is live, Flutter apps are approved on both App Store and Play Store, multi-gate AI pipeline is processing real OSINT, admin console has human-in-the-loop verification for high-severity alerts. Since our last HN post: 93 candidates vetted across two months, 1 Senior AI/Backend Engineer hired (now owns the verification pipeline), and we've begun an operational pilot with Winrock International for counter-trafficking intelligence in Southeast Asia. Pre-seed is imminent with multiple NGO grant applications under review (WFP, IRC Airbel, DRK Foundation).
*We need one person*:
Founding Product Engineer / Systems Architect
You will own the Django backend, MongoDB schemas, and the Flutter UI that connects them. Our AI pipeline lead handles the Gemini orchestration — your job is to own the data layer, build the API surface, and wire it directly into the offline-first client. This is not drawing backend diagrams. You must be an end-to-end builder who cares about how a civilian interacts with the system on the ground in a crisis. A bug in this system isn't a 500 error — it's a missed warning in a conflict zone.
*Must have*:
Python/Django, MongoDB, Flutter (or high competence to pick it up fast), and system design thinking. Strong plus: DevOps (Docker, AWS), LLM integration, OSINT, geospatial.
We also welcome strong full-stack implementation engineers who ship fast and want founding-team equity. Same stack.
*Compensation (No BS)*:
- Now: Sweat equity (12-18% SA / 5-10% FSD, 4yr vest, 1yr cliff). This is founding-team ownership. - Pre-Seed (closing): $3,000/month + equity.
If you need full salary today, this is not for you. If you want to build something where the stakes are real and you're willing to bet on yourself to get there — we should talk.
Email: PeterJFrancoIII@gmail.com with subject line `[SENTINEL-BUILDER] - HackerNews Application`.
To prove you read this, include the word "Atlas" in your first sentence.
Include your Resume or GitHub + what you'd build in your first week. (Emails without the exact subject line are auto-archived.)
We build real-time civilian threat intelligence for conflict zones — and we just landed our first operational pilot. Multi-model AI pipeline (Gemini 3 Pro / Flash) ingests OSINT from verified sources, runs it through a gated verification system, and pushes geolocated alerts to offline-first mobile clients. Think of it as a personal intelligence analyst for non-combatants — on a phone that works on 2G.
This is not a pitch deck. We have a working system: Django backend is live, Flutter apps are approved on both App Store and Play Store, multi-gate AI pipeline is processing real OSINT, admin console has human-in-the-loop verification for high-severity alerts. Since our last HN post: 93 candidates vetted across two months, 1 Senior AI/Backend Engineer hired (now owns the verification pipeline), and we've begun an operational pilot with Winrock International for counter-trafficking intelligence in Southeast Asia. Pre-seed is imminent with multiple NGO grant applications under review (WFP, IRC Airbel, DRK Foundation).
*We need one person:*
*Founding Product Engineer / Systems Architect*
You will own the Django backend, MongoDB schemas, and the Flutter UI that connects them. Our AI pipeline lead handles the Gemini orchestration — your job is to own the data layer, build the API surface, and wire it directly into the offline-first client. This is not drawing backend diagrams. You must be an end-to-end builder who cares about how a civilian interacts with the system on the ground in a crisis. A bug in this system isn't a 500 error — it's a missed warning in a conflict zone.
Must have: Python/Django, MongoDB, Flutter (or high competence to pick it up fast), and system design thinking.
Strong plus: DevOps (Docker, AWS), LLM integration, OSINT, geospatial.
We also welcome strong full-stack implementation engineers who ship fast and want founding-team equity. Same stack.
*Compensation (No BS):*
- Now: Sweat equity (12-18% SA / 5-10% FSD, 4yr vest, 1yr cliff). This is founding-team ownership.
- Pre-Seed (closing): $3,000/month + equity.
- Seed (6-12 months): 75% market salary + equity. Increases from there.
If you need full salary today, this is not for you. If you want to build something where the stakes are real and you're willing to bet on yourself to get there — we should talk.
*Apply:* Email PeterJFrancoIII@gmail.com with subject line `[SENTINEL-BUILDER] - HackerNews Application`. To prove you read this, include the word "Atlas" in your first sentence. Include your Resume or GitHub + what you'd build in your first week. (Emails without the exact subject line are auto-archived.)
We build real-time civilian threat intelligence for conflict zones. Multi-model AI pipeline (Gemini 3 Pro / Flash) ingests OSINT from verified sources, runs it through a gated verification system, and pushes geolocated alerts to offline-first mobile clients. Think of it as a personal intelligence analyst for non-combatants — on a phone that works on 2G.
This is not a pitch deck. We have a working system (v1.0.34): backend is live, Flutter apps are approved on both App Store and Play Store, multi-gate AI pipeline is processing real OSINT, admin console has human-in-the-loop verification for high-severity alerts, and we just made our first hire. 73 candidates vetted, 1 accepted (Senior AI/Backend Engineer — now owns the AI verification pipeline). Pre-seed is imminent with multiple NGO grant applications under review (WFP, IRC Airbel, DRK Foundation).
*We need one person:*
*Systems Architect / Founding Backend Engineer*
You will own the Django backend, MongoDB document schemas, and infrastructure that everything else runs on top of. Our AI pipeline lead handles the Gemini orchestration — you own the data layer, the API surface, the deployment pipeline, and the system design that makes it all reliable at scale. A bug in this system isn't a 500 error — it's a missed warning in a conflict zone.
Must have: Python/Django (production), MongoDB, system design thinking.
Strong plus: DevOps (Docker, AWS), LLM integration, Flutter, OSINT, geospatial.
We also welcome strong full-stack implementation engineers who ship fast and want founding-team equity. Same stack.
*Compensation (No BS):*
- Now: Sweat equity (12-18% SA / 5-10% FSD, 4yr vest, 1yr cliff). This is founding-team ownership.
- Pre-Seed (closing): $3,000/month + equity.
- Seed (6-12 months): 75% market salary + equity. Increases from there.
If you need full salary today, this is not for you. If you want to build something where the stakes are real and you're willing to bet on yourself to get there — we should talk.
We are building an AI-powered civilian protection platform — real-time threat intelligence for non-combatants in conflict zones. Think Waze for airstrikes. Multi-model AI pipeline (Gemini) ingests OSINT, verifies it through gated analysis, and pushes geolocated alerts to offline-first mobile clients. People die when information is late or wrong — we are solving both problems.
We are currently unfunded, operating on sweat equity. Pre-seed is 6-10 weeks out. This is not a side project — we have a working system, a pipeline of 39 vetted applicants, and a founder who has been shipping code daily for months. But I will not sugarcoat it: right now, this is nights-and-weekends until funding closes.
*We need two people:*
*1. Systems Architect / Full Stack Dev*
You see the whole board. You think in pipelines, failure modes, and deployment constraints — not just endpoints. You will own the technical architecture of a system where a bug isn't a bad UX, it's a missed warning. Python/Django, MongoDB, LLMs (Gemini/Vertex AI). Bonus: Flutter, OSINT, geospatial.
*2. Implementation Partner / Full Stack Dev*
You ship. Relentlessly. You take a spec and it's done by morning. You don't wait for perfect — you build, test, push, iterate. Same stack: Python/Django, MongoDB. You will be the person who turns architecture into working product at startup speed.
Both roles require exceptional drive. This is a founding team — not a job listing.
*Compensation (No BS):*
- *Now:* Sweat equity only. You're building your stake.
- *Pre-Seed (6-10 weeks):* $3,000/month + equity per contributor.
- *Seed (6-12 months):* 75% market salary + equity. Increases from there.
If you need full salary today, this is not for you. If you want to build something that actually matters and you're willing to bet on yourself for 6-10 weeks to get there — keep reading.
We are building the world's first AI-powered civilian protection platform. Our mission is to provide military-grade threat intelligence directly to non-combatants in conflict zones (e.g., Ukraine, Middle East), enabling life-saving decisions during the critical first 72 hours of a crisis.
We are a Unfunded->Pre-Seed team looking for mission-driven builders who want to solve hard technical problems (GenAI multi-model verification, geospatial analytics, offline-first mobile apps) with immediate real-world impact.
I built TimeProof, a native macOS app to solve a problem I faced as a freelancer: providing proof of work without using invasive "spyware" or expensive subscription services like Upwork/Hubstaff.
The Problem: Most time tracking tools require monthly fees, upload your data to their servers, and often capture more than you're comfortable with. Clients want verification (screenshots/timelogs), but I wanted privacy and ownership of my data.
The Solution: TimeProof is a standalone, local-first SwiftUI app that automates screenshot capture and time logging.
Local Data: All screenshots and logs (times.csv) are saved directly to a folder you choose on your machine. Nothing leaves your device.
Proof Generation: It automatically stitches your session screenshots into a timelapse video (using AVFoundation/VideoToolbox for hardware acceleration), creating a visual "proof of work" artifact you can send to clients alongside your invoice.
Privacy Controls: You control when it runs. It only captures the screens you select.
Native Performance: Written in Swift/SwiftUI. No Electron bloat.
Technical Details:
Uses CGWindowListCreateImage (and transitioning to ScreenCaptureKit) for efficient capture.
Custom AVAssetWriter implementation with a pixel buffer pool to handle 4K/Retina timelapse generation without memory spikes.
Sandboxed with security-scoped bookmarks to persist access to project folders across reboots securely.
I built this to scratch my own itch, but I realized other devs and freelancers might find it useful. It's completely free to use.
Link: [App Store Link] (or your website if you have one)
I'd love to hear your feedback on the workflow or any feature requests!
We also welcome strong full-stack implementation engineers who ship fast and want founding-team equity. Same stack.
- Now: Sweat equity (12-18% SA / 5-10% FSD, 4yr vest, 1yr cliff). This is founding-team ownership. - Pre-Seed (closing): $3,000/month + equity.- Seed (6-12 months): 75% market salary + equity. Increases from there.
If you need full salary today, this is not for you. If you want to build something where the stakes are real and you're willing to bet on yourself to get there — we should talk.
Python 3.9+, Django 4.1.13, MongoDB, Flutter, Antigravity/Cursor IDE, Docker, AWS. Email: PeterJFrancoIII@gmail.com with subject line `[SENTINEL-BUILDER] - HackerNews Application`. To prove you read this, include the word "Atlas" in your first sentence. Include your Resume or GitHub + what you'd build in your first week. (Emails without the exact subject line are auto-archived.)