Job Description

First Round is a venture capital firm that's laser-focused on helping seed stage companies win. Across our offices in San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia, we roll up our sleeves every day to help incredible founders build their companies from day one.

We’re looking to add a Chief of Staff to our team who will work directly with our San Francisco based Partner, Liz Wessel, as her trusted right-hand. This role is an in-person role in San Francisco.

At First Round, individuals in this role supercharge our investment team by creating and managing processes that deliver world-class services and experiences to entrepreneurs. This role will engage across all functions of First Round, including reviewing new investment opportunities, special projects, partner branding/marketing, portfolio engagement, and management of administrative staff. This role is a balance between strategy and sharp execution.

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A typical day will be about 50% operations and 50% shadowing your partner on investment and founder calls. Responsibilities include:

• Managing and tracking new investment opportunities (across Salesforce, Airtable, Notion, and other software we use)
• Managing and tracking relationships and communication within First Round portfolio companies, community and partner networks
• Conducting research and investment diligenceInitiating and leading special projects (building internal products and programs, research deep dives, etc.)
• Managing and processing email communication
• Managing partner projects, brand/marketing initiatives and events
• Overseeing scheduling and contact management performed by executive assistant
• Rolling up your sleeves and doing lots of manual work, whether it be Salesforce administration, data labeling, and more.

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This position is not:

• An investing role. You will not be investing, but you will be joining most pitches that your partner is leading / on.
• A partner-track role. Instead, it is an ideal opportunity to watch the process of investing first-hand, work with incredible founders, and to learn from the best of the best.
• Expected to source companies or to be directly entrepreneur-facing. Rather, you will work with Liz to help review, analyze and prioritize existing deal flow and support our portfolio.
• A 9-5 job. You’ll often need to work some nights or weekends, whether it be to hit a deadline or for a weekend pitch.

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This is a unique opportunity in which individuals from many backgrounds could excel. Here are just a few examples of profiles we’ve seen do a good job in this role:

• Someone with startup experience who thrives keeping the trains running on time with little oversight.
• An aspiring entrepreneur who wants a rare window into the VC and fundraising side of the business.
• A startup or tech generalist with a passion for technology and a penchant for learning new things fast.
• A former investment banker who wants to learn more about early stage investing.

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We believe the strength of our team comes from diverse backgrounds and experiences. You might be a good fit if the following describes you:

• You’re fascinated by technology and how today’s entrepreneurs are shaping the future. You don’t necessarily need deep knowledge of the venture capital industry, but you should be excited about the field and eager to learn the business quickly. Most importantly, you are a fast learner and laser focused on execution with the drive to get things done. You’re deeply organized, detail oriented and reliable above all else.
• You're curious and intuitive — a creative and unconventional thinker, yet also highly analytical and logical. You're a fantastic (and prolific) writer and pride yourself on thoughtful, eloquent communication. You know the right questions to ask, as well as when to listen and learn. You have the polish and presence to regularly interact with seasoned CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs.
• You are extremely detail-oriented and want to create an A+ experience for those you work with. Nothing is too small and you love to go above and beyond what others expect of you. You resonate with the quote “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.”
• You have at least 4 years of working experience.
• You are based in San Francisco and are okay being in the office 3 days per week.

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Our Values:

• We serve entrepreneurs. We owe them our unvarnished opinion and unwavering support.
• We honor quality. The little things matter. High standards and attention to the craft are valued here.
• We favor action and think long-term. We decide and execute with urgency today. We define success with the long-term in mind.
• We cherish diversity and inclusion. The strongest communities around the world are diverse and inclusive. We work hard to make sure ours is, too.
• We do things our own way. We choose to be original and find unique, creative solutions to our biggest problems.
• We have fun. We take our work seriously, but not ourselves.

The salary range for this role is $130,000-$150,000. Our talent team is happy to share more details about our total compensation and benefits package.