Talent Investor

Firstly, what is Talent Investing?

Talent investing is the earliest form of venture capital that exists. We invest in people, before they have ideas and before they’re in a team. Imagine Mark Zuckerberg when he was at Harvard in his first year. That’s the person we’re going after and we want to empower them to achieve exceptional things. 

Why should you do it? 

This really is the ‘Get your hands dirty phase’. You will be working with someone before they’ve considered what company they’re going to build and taking them all the way through to the first fundraise. There are lots of challenges and complexity involved so talent investors need to be passionate and adaptable in day-to-day life. 

Who are Entrepreneur First?

Entrepreneur First pioneered talent investing in 2011. Since then we have invested in over 500 companies, built a portfolio of over $10 billion and become the leading Pre-Seed institution in Europe. Every year we deploy 10’s of million in capital to help the next generation of founders. We recently raised our Series C with $153 million in capital which gives us plenty of runway. 

What will you do?

This job is complex. Working with someone before they have an idea and spanning a 12-18 month relationship to the first fundraise requires a wide array of skills and responsibilities. Your main focus is networking through fields of high talent density.

EF has one of the strongest networks in the world with top institutions, universities and companies giving us access to incredible founders every year. Your role is in the identification, selection and support of these founders. 

How we help founders

Primarily we help Entrepreneurs find Co-Founders. Every 6 months we put together a programme of over 100 people from commercial and technical backgrounds who can work together on difficult problems. Your main role is finding and selecting this group of people

Once in a team, we then advise them on start-up strategy and finally help them with fundraising through our network of angel investors and venture capital firms. 

And finally when teams have built their products we then provide a cash injection of £80,000 for a 10% stake in that company. We then begin the process of introducing VC's who can lead their seed rounds.

Why would we be a good place for you? 

The learning at Entrepreneur First is incredibly steep and rewarding. You’ll have access to an incredible network of outliers and get to work at the peak of your ambitions. 

This is a front-row seat to the future of innovation and technical breakthroughs. 

Our team works with high amounts of autonomy which is well suited to someone seeking freedom within their role to create and execute. 

Who do you need to be?

Our Talent Investors tend to be in the early phase of their career (2-6 years). In our team we have Ex-Founders, PhD students, Early stage employees and consultants. No one background is perfect because it’s unlikely you’ll have done this before.

If you’re interested, apply and find out with a cover letter explaining relatable skills to the work described above. 

A deep interest in entrepreneurship is a must. It’s also important you’re familiar with VC economics and thinking. Finally you need to be a strong networker and happy to spend lots of time working on deep relationship building. 

Salary and benefits 

*£35,000 - £50,000 basic salary 

*End of year bonus (Based on performance) - £20,000 - £25,000

* Generous holidays: in addition to 23 days holiday, we also close the office down for around two weeks over Christmas and New Year.

* A Learning & Development allowance to purchase any product or service that will contribute to your personal or professional development. (£400)

* A Wellness allowance to spend on things enhancing your health and wellbeing, e.g. gym membership, yoga classes, Vitality, subscription to Headspace etc.

* Enhanced maternity and paternity pay, plus broader leave policies. We care about our team and enabling the right balance between home and working life.

Freedom to work from home or in the office, though the role is based in London. 

Apply now 

If the above feels like you then please apply! We’re recruiting quickly, everyone will receive a response within 2 days and we’re aiming to start as soon as possible.