About Cotes
The firm takes its name from Roger Cotes, the 18th-century mathematician who first wrote down what the world calls Euler’s formula — the math that took astronauts to space, and the foundation of every spectral engine, including ours.
We trade trends that resonate across all timescales — not just one.
Cotes AI uses advanced signal processing to revolutionize financial market analysis, treating markets as intermingled waveforms rather than traditional chart patterns. Our proprietary spectral engines analyze phase relationships, harmonic structures, and regime changes, uncovering insights hidden in the frequency domain. These findings fuel the firm’s Spectral-Temporal Fusion architecture, an approach to financial AI grounded in the principles of mathematics, physics and engineering.
The firm operates a calibrated alpha engine across regulated binary markets, with live coverage on Kalshi and active expansion to Polymarket, Webull, and adjacent CFTC-regulated venues. The product is shipping; the research stack is mature. The capital function is the next investment, and we are hiring the person to lead it.
Role Description
This is a fractional, remote-within-US role for a Chief Financial Officer, with travel to investor meetings in San Francisco and New York expected. The CFO will own the firm’s capital strategy, investor relations, and financial operations as we close our friends-and-family round and prepare for institutional capital. This includes building and defending the financial model, managing diligence rooms, leading round documents alongside counsel, and standing up the financial operating cadence the firm will run on through Series A. The role involves close collaboration with the founder, counsel, and the operating team to translate the firm’s technical edge into a capital story institutional investors can underwrite.
Responsibilities
• Own the firm’s capital strategy: SAFE round close, seed planning, Series A roadmap, and investor pipeline
• Lead investor relations end-to-end. Take the meetings. Manage the diligence rooms. Close the rounds
• Architect and maintain the financial model, cap table, and runway scenarios
• Partner with counsel on round documents, governance, and corporate finance matters
• Stand up financial operations: bookkeeping cadence, R&D credits, vendor management, payroll architecture
• Lead the firm’s evolving capital posture as we expand from Kalshi across Polymarket, Webull, and adjacent CFTC-regulated venues
• Partner directly with the founder on capital, governance, and strategic finance. No layer in between
Qualifications
• Ten or more years of finance leadership at venture-backed startups — or be a prodigy
• Real, demonstrable experience taking a company from seed through Series A or beyond. You have closed rounds, not just observed them
• Established relationships with institutional venture investors at funds writing checks at our stage
• Fluency in SAFE structures, priced rounds, 409A, cap table mechanics, and standard venture documents
• Comfortable in financial services, fintech, or quantitative trading environments. Crypto and prediction-market exposure is a plus
• Strong analytical and modeling skills; you build the model, you don’t outsource it
• A track record of closing real money under real pressure. Founders who have worked with you raise their next round faster
Engagement
Fractional engagement, 10–20 hours per week, with the expectation of full availability during active fundraises and diligence cycles. Path to full-time CFO upon Series A close for the right fit.
Compensation
Founding-team equity. Cash compensation commensurate with experience, scaling with the firm. Direct reporting line to the CEO.
To Apply
Send a brief note on relevant experience and one round you closed under pressure to the email below. We respond within 48 hours to candidates we want to speak with.
careers@cotes.ai
Steve Lacy
Founder & CEO, Cotes AI
