We’re hiring

Union Square Ventures has a long history – in internet time at least – of hiring off this blog (posts here, here, and here.) A fundamental assumption of the way we’ve hired is that we’re able to get to know great people through their “web presence” – the trail of online communities, projects, and services with which they’ve engaged.

Just as we invest in the transformative power of the internet, we’re also looking to build our organization off the internet – plus, we’ve met some really impressive folks through this blog. And so, in this vein, I’m excited to announce that USV is hiring an investment analyst.

The analyst position at Union Square Ventures is a two-year role designed for someone who doesn’t have an MBA. As an analyst at USV, you’ll learn what the venture capital business is about, and you’ll get insight into a handful of fascinating startups too. We hope that, after working with us, this person will move on to a startup or another venture firm or pursue an advanced degree.

The primary responsibility of the analyst is to help manage the day-to-day activities of the firm, including:

  • Meeting with entrepreneurs who have started businesses in which USV may be interested in investing
  • Performing market research and due diligence for potential investments, which could entail financial or web-analytics modeling, interviewing customers/users or potential customers/users, or testing products and services
  • Reporting for our investors, which includes helping to set companies’ valuations, writing quarterly updates, and packaging the material for our LPs
  • Working with USV portfolio companies, including helping out with hiring, events-planning, and research and attending board meetings
  • Designing and executing projects of your own direction that help USV and/or our portfolio companies

We’re looking for someone who demonstrates:

  • Deep understanding of the ecosystem of web and mobile services
  • Strong written and oral communication skills – well-defended opinions are a necessity
  • Familiarity with web technologies – you know the difference between the LAMP stack and a stack of lamps
  • Strong interpersonal skills – you’ll often be talking to entrepreneurs and other investors on behalf of USV
  • Comfort modeling in Excel
  • Ideally, prior design or programming experience or work in an investment or internet-related position

Our office is in New York’s Flatiron neighborhood, and the job starts immediately. We’re a small team, and we’ll be looking for someone who fits our culture. Culture’s a tricky thing to describe well, so we encourage you to check out our web presences.

If you’re interested in the position, please reach out:

First, we’re looking to see links that will help us get to know you. This could be anything from a Twitter account to a blog or Tumblr to a project you hacked together – whatever represents you best. We expect your web presence to represent who you are, not who you think an employer wishes you were, so please don’t waste time sanitizing your web presence before sending us there. We get it.

Second, we’d also like to hear from you, so we’re asking each applicant to record two short videos answering these questions: “Why are you interested in the analyst role at Union Square Ventures?” (up to a 90-second response) and “Which web or mobile services most inspire you?” (up to a 120-second response) We’re using Take The Interview to collect the video responses securely.

To apply, visit Take The Interview. None of the information you submit will be shared outside of USV. We’ll be accepting applicants until 6pm Eastern time on Thursday, October 13.

If you have questions, please leave them in the comments below. Otherwise, we’re looking forward to hearing about what you find compelling, what you’ve made, how you think, and why you’re into what we do.