First Round is a venture capital firm laser-focused on helping seed stage companies become the next big thing. Taking cues from startups, we operate more like a company than a firm and are constantly experimenting with new ways to grow our community and help our companies (like Uber, Square and Blue Apron) access the knowledge and connections they need.
How can we design software to serve and support thousands of entrepreneurs at scale? How can we collect and distribute the most meaningful data amongst our 300+ startups?
These are the questions you’ll answer as First Round’s Product Manager. Collaborating closely with our engineering team, you’ll own development of our existing tools for entrepreneurs—including First Round Network (our intranet for everyone at our startups), and First Round Careers (our portal to connect brilliant people with jobs in our community). You’ll create detailed product specs, map new user journeys and site architecture, and draw up wireframes of new features.
Our Product Manager will also own our growing trove of data projects, including private surveys for our community (the only comprehensive startup compensation survey in venture capital, for instance) — and very public projects like the State of Startups.
Who We’re Looking For
Candidates from a range of backgrounds could excel in this role. Here are just a few of the profiles we think could be great (and we’re open to even more ideas):
- A project manager with strong product sense who wants to learn product management.
- A strong product-focused engineer who wants to transition to product management.
- A front-end developer with the ability to design user flows and suss out edge cases.
- A data analyst with an interest in web analytics, user research and product management.
- A junior product manager who wants to understand what drives user behavior and what makes startups tick.
What We’re Looking For
1–3 years of experience. You’re early in your career and are fascinated by technology. You’re captivated by what the future holds and how today’s entrepreneurs are shaping it. You don’t necessarily need deep knowledge of venture capital, but you should be excited about the field and willing to learn the business fast. Most importantly, you’re an execution machine who knows how to get sh*t done. This is the ideal opportunity for someone that wants to eventually start a company.
Creative spirit and design sensibility. You’re radically inventive, original, and take pleasure both in creating things that users want and articulating the rationale behind them. You express yourself fluently through words and images. You might have experience with visual design, user experience design, prototyping, or testing out new ideas.
Comfort with data analysis. You know your way around a relational database, and your toolkit probably includes Excel, SQL, R, and more. The idea of combing through analytics and user data excites you, and learning the latest web analytics tools comes easily. You enjoy your deep research.
Project management expertise. You have a proven ability to manage and deliver projects on schedule. Even if you haven’t shipped many before, you’ve managed complex projects end-to-end, from the idea stage through scoping, development and release. You know the difference between sprints and Kanban boards, and love the details of product development.
Humility and empathy. You have the polish and presence to regularly interact with seasoned CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs. You know the right questions to ask, and when to listen and learn. You enjoy talking to customers and translating their feedback into products that delight.
How to Apply
Please email productmanager@firstround.com with your resume and a short (1–2 paragraph) explanation of why you’d be great for this role pasted in the body of your message. Please note if you’re applying to multiple positions.
