ABOUT CONTRARY

Contrary identifies the world’s top talent, and invests in companies they start or join.

Backed by iconic founders from Tesla, Reddit, Facebook, and many more, we identify and invest in the world’s top talent – first – and then relentlessly support them from seed to scale.

THE ROLE

We've invested in everything from delivery, to defense, to dog food. Some startups were little more than an idea and a team when we partnered, while others were doing millions of dollars of revenue each month.

We have big plans as we grow our team, and you'll be a core part of making that happen. We’re looking for a scrappy generalist to primarily work alongside Eric Tarczynski.

This role could be considered an “all-access behind the scenes” opportunity. You’ll do everything that Will and the rest of the investment team does: support our portfolio companies, meet new founders, build our networks across different spaces, communicate with LPs, and get in the weeds of nitty-gritty tasks that come with operating a venture fund.

One day you may be helping a startup recruit from our talent network, and another day you may be researching the cardiac rehab software market. This is designed to be the most high-growth role possible with tightly-coupled mentorship.

YOUR FUTURE

Contrary is ultimately in the business of identifying stellar people, wherever they come from. You'll work with Will and the investing team to:

• Meet entrepreneurs raising money. Nothing is too early for us — our goal is to find the most inspired and ambitious individuals we can, and back them before anybody else will.
• Deeply understand the businesses and markets we're looking at. Early-stage investing is known for "gut feel" decisions, but we insist on having every conversation with a prepared mind.
• Help us tell the Contrary story to stakeholders such as Venture Partners at universities, and LPs who invest in our funds.
• Leverage the Fellowship and tools like Startup Search or Startup Fair to meet future founders and help them get off the ground.
• Prepare investment research to raise capital for our funds.
• Be a scrappy generalist who does whatever needs doing!

YOUR PAST

We expect breadth and rigor both intellectually and operationally, but are very amenable to alternative backgrounds. Your education and work histories are far less important to us than what you've personally accomplished.

That said, we've listed a handful of qualities that we think are important:

• You have tolerance for excitement/intensity, as well as tolerance for boredom. We are fast moving but also get our hands dirty with the startup grind.