I’m looking for an Associate
By: Christoph Janz
Tags: Chief Of Staff, Recruiting, Venture Capital, Technology, VC

Between Board seats, deal-flow, sourcing candidates for the P9 Family, and coming up with (sometimes) funny jokes for our monthly newsletter, I feel pretty stretched these days. Therefore we decided to look for an Associate who will work closely with me to help me k̶e̶e̶p̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶a̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶a̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ increase our bandwidth to spot outstanding startups and to deliver a world-class service to our portfolio.

The role is similar to what some firms call “Chief of Staff”. This is a great job description from First Round. However, a “Chief of Staff” sounds like someone who’s managing staff, and that’s not what the job at Point Nine is about. That’s why we’re calling it “Personal Associate to Christoph Janz”, or just “Associate”.

Responsibilities include:

Deal sourcing: You’ll review a large number of incoming leads that reach us through various channels. You’ll identify the most promising ones, and you’ll make sure that all applications are processed speedily.

You’ll review a large number of incoming leads that reach us through various channels. You’ll identify the most promising ones, and you’ll make sure that all applications are processed speedily. Deal assessment : You’ll do in-depth research to evaluate potential investments. That involves communicating with founders, testing products, doing market research, and calls with industry experts.

: You’ll do in-depth research to evaluate potential investments. That involves communicating with founders, testing products, doing market research, and calls with industry experts. Communication: You’ll help me manage and process email communication.

You’ll help me manage and process email communication. New initiatives: You’ll initiate and lead special projects (e.g., new services for the P9 Family, internal tools, research deep dives).

You might be a good fit if the following describes you:

You have a huge passion for technology startups and an entrepreneurial mindset. You’re curious and a fast learner.

You have 2–3 years of experience within the tech startup ecosystem (be it as a startup employee/founder or on the investment side).

You’re a digital native. You love no/low code tools. Extra points if you have a background in software development or product design.

You have excellent analytical skills, and you love to work with numbers.

Your English is better than mine. Your written English communication skills are AAA.

You thrive working in a remote setup. You’re extremely well organized, detail-oriented, and reliable. You know how to prioritize, and you get things done.

I love this tweet. Doesn’t mean you won’t get a salary. ;-)

The job is a full-time remote position, and we’re open to candidates from anywhere in the world. Depending on what time zone you’re in, you may have to get up early or stay up late to ensure enough overlapping working hours. You’ll be working mostly with me, but you’ll also interact with the wider P9 team.

I’m hoping to get many applications from people with diverse backgrounds. In order to make the application process as inclusive as possible, I’m asking candidates not to send me their resumes or LinkedIn profiles initially. Instead, we’ll be using an online assessment test that we hope will help us identify the best candidates.

The test takes about 80 minutes to complete and is a mix of standard questions provided by TestGorilla (the assessment platform we’re using) and a few custom assignments that we came up with. I know I’m asking candidates for a lot of their time 🙏🏼, but I think the test is quite interesting, so hopefully, it won’t be a complete waste of time for applicants.

I believe that this job is an amazing opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and technology. If you’re interested, please head over to TestGorilla. If you know someone who might be the perfect candidate, please spread the word. Thank you!

UPDATE (March 9, 2021): We’ve received a huge number of amazing applications. Big thanks to everyone who applied — it means a lot to me that so many people are interested in working with us. We are no longer taking new applications and I’ve removed the TestGorilla link above.