Founder-in-Residence

We're hiring a Full-Time Founder-in-Residence

Note: We're also hiring a part-time Founder-in-Residence specifically for our next fellowship cohort. If you're looking for a part-time intensive rather than a year-round role, check that out.

We've invested over $1 billion into hundreds of incredibly diverse startups: flying cars, robots, artificial pancreases, breweries, movie studios, and more. From ostrich farms to unicorns now worth over $1 billion. In all 50 states.

We aim to sprinkle the Silicon Valley fairy dust across the rest of the country. Our goal is to inspire 20,000 more founders to get started, encourage them to think bigger, hone their pitch, help them focus, and give them the funding they need to prove to the "normals" in the world that they are not crazy (or, at least, crazy in a lucrative way).

We believe founders who "have been there and done that" make the best early-stage investors. That's why we are hiring a Founder-in-Residence.

Dream Candidate

Our dream candidate is a restless founder between startups, willing to commit a year. You likely finished a grueling grind and need to recover before jumping back into the next adventure. You know - like us - that the job of an investor is so much easier than a founder. But you also know - eventually - the siren call of another startup will beckon.

The success or failure of your prior startup doesn't matter. What does matter is empathy for founders. The perfect candidate commands respect from founders: you've been in the trenches... and your advice proves to be true, more often than not.

In addition to empathy, we're also looking for intellectual curiosity and humbleness. One of the most fun parts of this job is to help founders in very different industries - not just tech. Are you the kind of person that would be excited to learn about the economics of ostrich farms? We're your people.

Things You Could Do

You will work directly with the founder, and we will design the role for your unique superpowers and interests. Here are some options:

Help a founder with the pitch. Most founders can't pitch their company. They often use jargon and fancy words. You understand that a 10 year old has to grok what they are doing in 5 seconds. You know what gets investors excited. Channel pg.

Discover formidable early founders. You often spot founders - with no external stamps of credibility - before they have succeeded. You don't follow the herd. You can sense founders who "have what it takes" after a half hour... not after a16z backs them.

Be a connector. You enjoy matching founders with the people who can help them. We run an 8-week accelerator multiple times per year, and you'll work with rotating part-time Founders-in-Residence who bring specific domain expertise for each cohort. You can be involved in any of them, or create your own programs.

Run the fellowship. You'll co-design and execute our 8-week accelerator cohorts, working with me and part-time FIRs. This includes selecting companies, mentoring founders, running weekly programming, and preparing them for Demo Day and seed fundraising.

Product / Design Feedback. We're big believers of the YC ethos: build quickly, talk to users, repeat fast. We favor product thinkers and makers who can guide founders in this direction.

Help focus the founder on the most important thing. In the moment, everything seems like a hair on fire / cluster-fuck dumpster fire emergency. But you have the experience and perspective to guide founders on what is truly important.

Skills

You are a founder. You get shit done. You know how to create something from nothing through sheer force of will, despite the naysayers, obstacles be damned. And you can inspire others to do that too.

Benefits

• Market-rate salary and options
• Earn carry from early-stage investments you source or mentor
• Unlimited vacation days (mandatory 3 weeks off)
• Medical, dental, & vision insurance
• We'll support you when you go off to found your next startup, including investing
• Apple equipment. Whatever you want.

To Apply

Please email dinki[@]wefunder.com with the following info:

1. What was your startup? What happened?
2. What's the most important thing you learned?
3. What excites you most about Wefunder’s mission?
4. If you joined Wefunder, what would you want to work on?
5. If the world collapsed, what is your post-apocalyptic survival skill?
6. Tell us how you are an interesting and cool human.