Calling all builders, engineers, designers, investors, and everything in between - Venture Partner applications for 2023 are now open!
Contrary is a venture firm, backed by the world's most iconic entrepreneurs, that identifies and invests in the world’s most exceptional talent. We invest up to $5M in a small number of startups each year, and work closely alongside them to build enduring businesses.
Each year, we assemble a team of exceptional student Venture Partners (VPs) to work closely with us on the HQ team. They hail from 20-30 universities across the US and Canada, and are a diverse group of founders, engineers, designers, hustlers, researchers, writers, and everything in between.
As we head into this upcoming school year, we're excited to recruit the next generation of students to join the Contrary family.
Being a Venture Partner
Your role as a Venture Partner is to be the go-to resource for founders on campus. One day you might grab coffee with someone working on a side project. The next day, you might research the latest AI trends or dig into enterprise sales software because we're evaluating relevant companies. You'll learn how to think like an investor, have the experience of making impactful investment decisions, and see what goes into building a successful early-stage startup.
We look for independent thinkers with diverse experiences -- underestimated backgrounds make for the best VPs! Previous VPs have given up a career as a pro climber to attend college, written apps with 100k+ downloads, and filmed a documentary in the Arctic. There is no specific VP archetype. The only requirements are that you love tech and early-stage startups, and will put in the time and effort to make the most of the opportunity.
All the details you'll need
- We're hosting a national info session virtually on Tuesday, September 5th at 8pm ET/5pm PT. We'll give an in-depth overview of Contrary and the Venture Partner role. RSVP below.
- We will review applications as they come in, so apply now. The sooner the better. We have a final deadline of September 17th at 11:59pm PT.
- We generally prefer people with more than one year of school left, but have made exceptions in the past, especially for MBA students.
- Our selection process includes 3 steps: an interview with a member of the Contrary HQ team, a more casual chat with existing VPs at your school (if applicable), and a conversation with our founder, Eric.
- Reach out to vp@contrary.com with any additional questions. We're always happy to chat and/or direct you to the appropriate resource.
- The Venture Partner role is a school-year commitment that lasts until you graduate.
Genuinely, we can't wait to hear from you, and we look forward to reading your applications!
RSVP for the National Info Session
Disclosure: Nothing presented within this article is intended to constitute legal, business, investment or tax advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Contrary LLC (“Contrary”) nor does such information constitute an offer to provide investment advisory services. Information provided reflects Contrary’s views as of a time, whereby such views are subject to change at any point and Contrary shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. Companies mentioned in this article may be a representative sample of portfolio companies in which Contrary has invested in which the author believes such companies fit the objective criteria stated in commentary, which do not reflect all investments made by Contrary. No assumptions should be made that investments listed above were or will be profitable. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in these statements. Nothing contained in this article may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular company. Past performance is not indicative of future results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Contrary (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for Contrary to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at www.contrary.com/investments.
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