About First Round

First Round is a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” We fill in where we can until the team is filled out, tackling crucial early hiring and equipping those who are great at building product with the skills to sell it, too. By getting the foundational firsts right, we increase the odds of finding extreme product-market fit. Our founders’ “imagine ifs” have turned into companies like Notion, Roblox, Uber, and Square.

About the Chief of Staff Role

We’re looking to add a Chief of Staff to our team who will work directly with Partner Bill Trenchard as his trusted right hand in our San Francisco office.

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 the partnership at First Round, including portfolio engagement, special projects, reviewing new investment opportunities, financial reporting and management of administrative staff. This is not a 9-5 role. There are often times when we will need to work long hours (nights or weekends).

Responsibilities include:

• Managing and tracking new investment opportunities
• Conducting research and investment diligence
• Managing partner projects and events
• Initiating and leading special projects (building internal products and programs, research deep dives, etc.)
• Managing and tracking relationships and communication within the First Round community and partner networks
• Managing and processing email communication
• Assembling briefing books in advance of meetings
• Overseeing scheduling and contact management performed by executive assistant

This position is not:

• An associate position nor a partner-track role. Instead, it is an ideal opportunity to get involved with building incredible companies and to learn from the best of the best.
• Expected to source companies or to be directly entrepreneur-facing. Rather, you will work with Bill to help review, analyze and prioritize existing deal flow.
• All glamorous. It involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Bill spends a large portion of the day in his inbox — and you will too.

You might be a good fit if the following describes you:

This is a unique opportunity in which individuals from many backgrounds could excel. Here are just a few examples of profiles we think could be great:

• An aspiring entrepreneur who wants a rare window into the VC and fundraising side of the business.
• A generalist with a passion for technology and a penchant for learning new things fast.
• A project manager who thrives keeping the trains running on time with little oversight.

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 a great teammate with no ego who is self-motivating and takes initiative. 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 are observant (and caught the typo in the prior sentence). 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.

We hope to meet with candidates with at least 3 years of working experience.

Please note this role is based in San Francisco and requires at least 3 days per week in-office.

Our Values

At First Round, we value resourcefulness, team-play, excellence and hustle. To give you a sense of what our team is all about, check out our values that guide our work:

• Try harder for founders. They’re our customers — LPs are our shareholders. Going above and beyond for our founders is what we do. We strive to be a founder's most valuable investor. That’s why we don't pull term sheets, and we're always in for their second round. We respond to their emails in hours, not days. We build candidate pipelines, unprompted. We arrange meal deliveries when they become a new parent. Simply put, we go above and beyond to earn that right to be their first call every time there’s a bump in the road.
• Give your unvarnished opinions and unwavering support. We strive to be kind, not nice. One of the most (counterintuitively) compassionate things you can do is to offer your unvarnished opinion — along with your unwavering support. That willingness to risk a fleeting moment of discomfort in exchange for someone else’s growth is long-term kindness.
• Treat the little things like big things. Everything can always be made better. We’re all about the carefully crafted, the nitty-gritty, and the bespoke. Whether it’s hand cutting each nameplate, or debating the optimal shape of the dinner table, no detail is too small to sweat.
• Make speed a habit. Whatever you’re building, remember that now is better than two weeks from now. We’re fans of starting small and iterating quickly. No matter what we’re launching, you’ll likely hear this question in a meeting: “How soon can we get something out there?”
• Invent and wander. Never stop experimenting. The best ideas are born out of experimentation. Our flagship programs have always come from our penchant for going out on a limb and approaching problems with a different perspective.
• Build wider doorways and longer tables. We're in the business of backing people and betting on their ideas — no matter where they come from. While talent is evenly distributed, opportunity is not. First Round is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workspace and we encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply!

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