Can You Help Us Find The Next Uber? Buzzfeed? Cruise?

Over the last eight years, we’ve been fortunate to invest in extraordinary entrepreneurs who birthed and built industry-leading companies including Uber, Buzzfeed, Cruise, Periscope, Hotel Tonight, and Makerbot. We’re equally excited about some of our newer investments in companies like Kuvee (Keurig for wine), PillPack (the pharmacy of the future) and Dia&Co(leading subscription commerce for plus-size fashion), to name a few.

We’re looking for a Senior Associate to push our thinking and help find the next great companies by acting as a new set of eyes, and ears, and a voice for our team.

Is that you?

ABOUT US

We have $200M under management across three funds and we’re the first institutional money in nearly all the companies in which we invest. Our portfolio includes over 225 investments throughout the world, but the majority of investments are in the Bay Area, Boston and NYC. Despite the breadth of the portfolio, we maintain a small, close-knit team with offices in Harvard Square, MA and SoMa, SF.

We’re contrarians. We believe VC is a hell of a drug and startups are generally more successful when they raise less money, that entrepreneurs should obsess over use cases instead of themes, and that big businesses grow in weird spaces and unusual places.

Our mission is to be the most aligned venture capital fund for founders at the seed stage. The founding team is a group of experienced start-up founders, not career investors. In fact, half of the investment team are busy operating startups?—?James Tamplin (Firebase/Google), Zach Klein(DIY/Vimeo), Jack Groetzinger (SeatGeek) and Raj de Datta (BloomReach), Caterina Fake (Findery).

The FC vibe can be described as a handful of empathy for what it takes to start a venture from scratch, a fist of strong-willed conviction, many doses of humility, and a pinch of chutzpah, determination, and humor (2 tbsp). Like a startup, we’re constantly evolving and learning as we go.

Here’s the type of person we’re looking for:

You are innately curious about the world and thrive when you’re surrounded by other smart, determined people. You’ve founded a company in the past and have the scars to show for it. You find yourself walking into any business?—?like an artisanal coffee shop, and wonder how to make their customer experience better. You’re constantly trying new products and have elite status with Test Flight.

• You’ve started a business in the past and have the battle scars to help inform your advice to founders.
• You HAVE and LOVE taking points of view on tech and start-ups and sharing them with your colleagues and the world. You breathe conviction.
• You’re capable of defending your POV but you’re open to debating and changing your viewpoint.
• Ideally, you have a Bay Area network in the tech ecosystem or other relationships that can help the fund.
• You recognize the value of helping start-ups by both engaging in the tech community online and offline.
• You are substantive and sociable.
• You are a self-starter and can work without too much direction.
• Most of all, you want to work on helping the next generation of great companies learn from each other so that they can ultimately make a dent in the universe.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Senior Associate role means being a full-fledged member of the investment team, attending weekly meetings with the ability to debate potential investments (without being afraid to disagree), discuss strategy topics, and conduct diligence.

You will be based in the San Francisco office and primarily charged with pursuing and analyzing west coast opportunities and reporting to Micah, the SF-based partner. Nonetheless, you’ll serve as a co-pilot on deals with all three partners, across the Boston & SF teams.

Most importantly, you are eyes, ears and a voice for the fund.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities will include:

• Sourcing deal opportunities, meeting with prospective companies & conducting due diligence
• Attending & networking at investment industry events
• Contributing original content to our blogs, forums, and social channels
• Building rapport with FC portfolio companies, supporting all stages of their growth
• Tracking/reporting on metrics, to identify areas of operational improvement for the fund
• Helping to manage part-time MBA Associates
• Quality control all wine and beer flowing in and out of our Cambridge and SoMa offices
• *Ok, just making sure you’re paying attention

BENEFITS (all the standard stuff + some extra goodies)

• Competitive salary
• Health benefits
• Really smart, passionate, and fun colleagues?—?you’re a part of the team
• All the standard SF perks: Adjustable standing/sitting desks, an endless stream of La Croix, a wide range of energy bars/artisanal jerkies, 4th Wave coffee (we’re investors!), etc.
• Most important, the FC team will provide significant mentorship, coaching, and feedback. We believe that the venture business is a craft that is best learned by practice. We’ve invested heavily in our Associates and many have gone on to start businesses (including PillPack), join established firms, and even launch their own VC funds.

GETTING IN TOUCH

If the above sounds like a good fit, submit your application at the AngelList link below. We’ll make sure to review anything you send us, the more the better! Twitter handles, LinkedIn profiles, websites, etc.

Apply here!

Founder Collective is an equal opportunity employer.