Shape the
future. Join EF

A small number of people will have an outsized impact on the world, by identifying and enabling those that create technologies to shape our future. We call this Talent Investing.

Our mission is backed by renowned investors, with an agile team operating globally. At EF you will unlock both your own potential and the founders’ you work with by becoming a Talent Investor or part of the team that supports them.

View Open roles at EF

Who you are

We’re looking for the next generation of Talent Investors to join us. We want those that are:

Intellectually curious

with a deep and persistent desire to increase your understanding of the world. Are you constantly updating your knowledge and beliefs through self-directed learning?

Innately driven

to achieve the most ambitious goals agentically. Are you restless in your pursuit of excellence and won’t take no for an answer? You will need to run through walls and find creative ways to achieve your desired outcomes, often within ambiguous frameworks and feedback loops.

Strong network builders

able to build meaningful connections with exceptional people and meet them at their level. You should already have your own network which will be developed further as you continue to immerse yourself in the role.

Discerning judges of people

able to see the potential in people before it’s obvious to others. You should hold yourself to high expectations before doing the same of founders. Can you recognize exceptional ambition whilst remaining realistic? Can you spot outliers within their peer group or the person at the tail of the distribution curve?

Excited by the role of technology

and its capacity to shape the trajectory of economies and nation states. You do not need deep technological understanding, just the curiosity and determination to up-skill through self-directed learning.

Before becoming a Talent Investor I cofounded an NFT platform in Paris that enabled individuals to support political campaigns and nonprofits. Before that I did a masters in Public Policy at Yale and a Government History undergraduate degree.

I’ve worked with a number of founders now, ranging from government, AI and defense to space, entertainment, and sports. As a TI you get to meet exceptional people every day. If you get excited by this idea then this is the role for you.

U.S. Talent Investor, Senior Associate

What you’ll do

Talent Investors support founders throughout the journey, from their first coffee encounter to their company Exit. Your role will involve:

Identifying

exceptional individuals before they’ve been valued as such. You will develop and execute your own theses on where to find the exceptionally talented, then meet them in person and draw them to the path of founding.

Advising

founders on FORM to ensure they work on the best idea with the right cofounder. Talent Investors help turn good ideas into outstanding ones and facilitate transformative cofounding relationships rather than simply productive ones. At EF we enable founders to create the most impactful companies in the shortest amount of time. You will be fundamental to this.

Fundraising

with founders in San Francisco during LAUNCH . Over time you will be expected to develop your own network of investors, funds, specialists, and past founders. This network will be used to leverage the pace at which your founders can grow and scale to become significant venture backed startups.

My specific interests are B2B, consumer, and deeptech but I’m interested in anything going from 0 to 1 really.

I love spending time with some of the smartest, most ambitious people. You need to be creative but also rigorous and the job leaves a lot of freedom so you’re like a mini-entrepreneur. Before this I was a Data Scientist and Product Manager as well as a two time former founder myself.

Matt Clifford, Cofounder and Chairman of Entrepreneurs First

Why you'll love this

Join a small, exceptionally talented team and accelerate your career trajectory alongside the founders’ you work with. You can expect:

to an unparalleled network of world-class investors (Charlie Songhurst), experienced advisors (Chris Mairs), and exceptional operators (Nat Friedman).

Day to day you will be working alongside brilliant founders constantly obsessing over the most interesting problems at hand. These are experts in their domain, using AI and cutting edge tech to create step changes at the frontiers of their industries. Your trajectory and how much you learn from these people will compound exponentially.

and insights from seasoned Talent Investors who have worked with thousands of founders, on hundreds of ideas, across many markets. This exclusive collective knowledge equates to a lifetime of valuable experience from a decade of pioneering work. This is your chance to quickly develop your own taste for the exceptional as you learn first hand from industry leaders.

to shape the role into what you want it to be. There is no single defined path for a Talent Investor. You will have the freedom to follow your instincts as you develop your own theses and deep dive into the areas you believe will shape the future.

For many, the degree of autonomy and self-direction can be daunting. For some, it offers an opportunity to build a career path perfectly suited to them, allowing the most ambitious candidates the freedom to express their own true potential.

on the lives of potentially millions of people. Talent Investors actively create versions of the world that don’t yet exist by seeking out the right individuals to build it.

If you’ve received a text message from your GP in the UK or used Spotify’s AI DJ feature then this was partly made possible by the TI that helped develop Accurx and Sonantic.

There are very few roles that will recognize you as one of the defining factors in the creation of a generation defining company. This is your chance to get your hand on the wheel, helping founders to build in the right industry at the bleeding edge of development. If you succeed, this is your seat at the table; your chance to make a difference.

opportunity to personally benefit from the long-term incentives of Talent Investing. Mike Moritz is the aspirational pinnacle for Venture Capitalists. He became a billionaire not by founding, but by spotting and backing extraordinary founders. The Mike Moritz of Talent Investing doesn’t currently exist, it’s all to play for.

My background is in Philosophy and Logic. Before EF, I worked as a science journalist and interned at an anti-corruption NGO in Kyiv & at the UN Yugoslav Tribunal in the Hague.

In 6 months I have worked with over 30 founders, many of whom are venture backed and doing amazing things.

If you love innovation and want to build a theory of what makes someone truly exceptional, then EF could be the place for you.

Matt Clifford, Cofounder and Chairman of Entrepreneurs First

The difference between Talent Investing and Venture Capital.

The VC industry plays an important role in allocating capital to the best performing startups in the ecosystem. Talent Investing is unique because it creates the supply of startups for that ecosystem.

Talent Investors back individuals at the earliest possible stage, before they have a pitch deck, cofounder or traction. They invest in people and potential, supporting founders to lean into their strengths and create companies that wouldn’t necessarily exist.

As a Talent Investor you will get to say yes to a lot more people than a VC does, as well as becoming an intrinsic part of a potential unicorn’s success story rather than just being the first investor.

Will talent investing help me be a founder?

At EF we believe that the best way to be a founder is by founding. If you’re still exploring this idea then being a Talent Investor could be a valuable step. You will understand firsthand what it means to go from 0 to 1, and can expect the following:

Extensive exposure and insights across various technologies and industries, working with founders who are experts in their field.
An unparalleled network of advisors and operators and a deep collective knowledge of what it takes to build a globally significant startup.
Access to events and fireside chats featuring some of the world’s top founders and investors including Patrick Collison, Demis Hassabis, and Clare Hughes Johnson.

Talent Investing often attracts ambitious and driven people who have dealt with ambiguity either as a former founder, aspiring founder, or someone working in startups.

Talent Investing is not recruiting.

It’s more of a craft. Talent Investors are opinionated, building networks and high touch strategies to find exceptional people in unusual places.

Talent Investors are expected to develop an impeccable taste, unparalleled curiosity, and an unrelenting drive to find the caliber of people who will go on to build the future.

Once found, you will be supporting these people on a continued daily basis throughout FORM. Your relationship will extend for many years after the program as you help navigate the rapid trajectory of building a globally significant startup.

What is the standard career path?

There isn’t one. Talent Investing offers a rare opportunity to shape your own career path with a high degree of autonomy and self-direction.

The diversity and malleability of the role creates an unusual level of optionality.

There are a number of TIs that have been at EF for many years who are now managing their own cohorts in different global sites. There are others who move up the investing chain to work at traditional VCs such as Sequoia, Balderton, or EQT, whilst others go on to be founders or founding members of early stage startups.

What does a typical day look like?

It varies dramatically from day to day, that’s what makes the role so engaging. There are three main ‘parts’ to the Talent Investing cycle:

Developing talent clusters within your networks; organizing hackathons, going to university campuses, or scheduling zoom calls to screen and inspire the most exceptional people to join a cohort.
Cultivating and advising these founders on the program; guiding them to work on the right idea with the right cofounder as quickly as possible.
Enabling founders to raise the largest round possible; joining them in San Francisco to help pitch at Demo Day and connecting them to other advisors and investors.

Talent investors will take founders through the whole cycle before starting again for their next cohort. Talent Investors often highlight the variety and fast paced nature of the role. This is not a formulaic 9-5 office job.

Will I need to travel?

Being a Talent Investor involves physically embedding yourself in networks of exceptional people who you think can define the next generation. This will involve a mixture of online and in person activities, mapping talent clusters from university campuses, to AI labs, to distributed Discord communities.

How and where you find talent is largely up to you. Your job is to immerse yourself in these unique pockets of obsessive individuals, building trusted relationships by remaining interested and interesting to them.

As our strategy shifts more towards the US you will also be involved with the LAUNCH program in San Francisco and help cement our role as the bridge between the best global talent and Silicon Valley.

How much experience do I need?

There are a number of different levels you can apply for as a Talent Investor:

If you’re still at university then we offer intern opportunities over the holiday periods.
If you’ve recently graduated with 0-3 years of experience then the associate role is a great opportunity to get into the world of startup investing earlier than most other routes. Prior experience in the startup ecosystem is usually advantageous.
If you already have experience in venture or founding and are looking to help create the next generation of startups then we have roles as senior Talent Investors as well.

Do I need a deep technical domain understanding?

No. You need an obsessive commitment to discovering, nurturing, and retaining exceptional talent and will be operating at the cutting edge of many different domains. Talent Investors are driven to explore and understand diverse technologies and industries so that they can make informed decisions about potential founders’ capabilities. You may naturally have an interest and prior knowledge in an area which you are encouraged to explore and deepen but this is also something you can develop on the job.

Curiosity is one of the few pre-requisites for success as a Talent Investor.

How will I be managed?

You will be given an incredible degree of autonomy and creative control from a very early stage. The freedom allows you to explore various technologies and industries at will, and to build a network with smart and interesting people however you see fit.

You will receive apprenticeship from experienced investors and senior TIs with years of exposure working with many founders.

The best TIs lean into this freedom for self-directed learning and actively embrace the lack of a linear career path and multiple stakeholders to report to.

What does success look like?

People who like to win at structured games often struggle as a Talent Investor due to the unstructured nature of the role.

Talent Investors are initially assessed on how many exceptional founders they bring onto the program. How these founders develop and what they go on to create is often more ambiguous until later down the line.

EF is, however, the pioneer of Talent Investing and has amassed a wealth of data to help hone this process of identifying and enabling the outliers.

Will I stay in touch with founders?

Yes. Talent Investors are often seen as a ‘third cofounder’ in the early stage; building high trust with founders, listening to what they’re scared of, helping to identify hurdles, and navigating the complexities of building a startup.

Great Talent Investors, like great investors, solve problems. This means being available, well-connected, and indispensable. Does a founder need a visa? You know the right lawyer. Are they hiring? You introduce them to candidates and recruiters. When founders win, you win.

Talent Investors make a significant dent in the lives of the founders they work with, changing the course of their careers simply by being the first person to believe in them. Most Talent Investors remain in contact with the founders they work with and their role and type of input will develop together.

I'm keen, what should I do next?

The Talent Investor applications are run and managed by local sites. If you want to learn more about the TI role then please make sure you have read the careers page and relevant posts.

Our current Talent Investors regularly post about their roles and what they get up to day-to-day. These can be found on their personal social channels, as well as reposts on EF’s central LinkedIn and X accounts. Please reach out or follow their accounts if you’d like to learn more about a potential career as a Talent Investor.

If you are interested in becoming a TI:

Please apply here. We keep all our job listings across the global sites up-to-date.
You will receive an automated email response acknowledging receipt of your application.
We try to respond to all applicants within 1-2 weeks. If we think your profile may be a fit for the role, we’ll reach out to set up an initial call with one of our local TIs to learn more about your experience and potential.