About First Round

First Round is an early-stage venture capital firm on a mission to build and serve the world's strongest community of entrepreneurs.

We help startups like Notion, Uber, Roblox, Square, and hundreds more tackle company building firsts. We connect entrepreneurs with the knowledge, people, and companies they need for maximum impact.

Whether it’s pre-seed, seed or Series A, we’re building the world’s best product for founders who are just getting started.

About the Chief of Staff Role

We’re looking to add a Chief of Staff to our team who will work directly with Partner Josh Kopelman as his trusted right hand in one of our three offices (San Francisco, New York or Philadelphia) — but the first 90 days will need to be in person with Josh in Philadelphia. 

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. 

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 Josh to help review, analyze and prioritize existing deal flow.

• All glamorous. It involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Josh 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 comunication. 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 2–3 years of working experience.

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:

• We try harder for founders. They’re our customers – LPs are our shareholders. Going above and beyond for our founders is what we do.

• We give our unvarnished opinions and unwavering support. We strive to be kind, not nice.

• We treat the little things like the big things. Everything can always be made better.

• We make speed a habit. Whatever we’re building, now is better than two weeks from now.

• We invent and wander. Never stop experimenting.

• We 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.

First Round is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workspace. We encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply because we believe that our diverse team helps us make better, more empathetic decisions.