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Wondercraft founder: Work as a chief of staff before launching a startup – it’s like paid college 

Wondercraft founder

Dimitris Nikolaou is the co-founder of Wondercraft, a startup that has created a platform for creating ads, podcasts and audiobooks using AI.

Founded in mid-2023 by Nikolaou and Youssef Rizk – both former Palantir engineers – alongside former Spotify executive Oskar Serrander, Wondercraft lets people create “hyper-realistic” AI voices from text input.

The startup operates globally from offices in London and New York. In February 2024, Wondercraft announced a $3m Seed round led by Will Ventures, Y Combinator, ElevenLabs, Steven Bartlett and other angel investors.

In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Nikolaou explains why you should hire a designer early, the benefits of working as a startup’s chief of staff, and why he’s excited by “likeness IP”.

1. Which role was the most important early hire you made?

Dimitris Nikolaou: I’ll cheat here and I’ll actually give you three....