Talent Investor - Venture Studio

Founders Factory; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Shares in portfolio

Hybrid working

International travel

25 days annual leave

Mental health day per quarter

Calendar freedom day

Global office travel

Networking with founders and investors

Job summary

Founders Factory in London is seeking a Talent Investor to sit at the intersection of venture, talent and company building, identifying exceptional people to found our next generation of companies.

You’ll work with Venture Builders, Studio Leads and founders to map founders, assess founder-market fit and recruit early founding teams across product, technology, commercial and growth. You’ll build a scalable approach to founder sourcing and talent intelligence.

Qualifications

• Ability to spot exceptional people and develop a strong point of view on their potential.
• Understand businesses, markets and what makes founders successful.
• Build genuine relationships and influence people to make high-stakes career decisions.
• Source talent creatively, particularly people who aren't actively looking.
• Operate with limited information, ambiguity and autonomy.
• Balance instinct with evidence and be willing to change your mind.
• Move quickly without compromising judgement.
• Communicate clearly and challenge assumptions when needed.

Responsibilities

• Identify exceptional founders across our global network and beyond.
• Build talent maps and develop viewpoints on founder and operator opportunities.
• Assess founder-market fit beyond CVs to gauge potential for building a company.
• Develop relationships with exceptional people who aren’t actively looking for roles.
• Convince founders to pursue entrepreneurship with Founders Factory.
• Help founders identify and recruit early founding teams across product, tech, commercial and growth.
• Develop our approach to founder sourcing, assessment and talent intelligence.

Skills

Spot exceptional people

Founder-market fit

Relationship building

Talent sourcing

Autonomy

Decision making

Communication

Quick decision making

Job description

About Founders Factory:

Founders Factory is a venture studio and accelerator. We build technology companies from scratch, working with leading corporate partners to identify opportunities, develop new products and businesses, and build the founding teams that turn them into independent companies.

Unlike a traditional VC, we don't just invest in companies that already exist. We help create them. That means our approach to talent is different too. We believe the right founder can fundamentally change the trajectory of a company.

About the Role:

As a Talent Investor, you'll sit at the intersection of venture, talent and company building, helping us identify the exceptional people who will build our next generation of companies.

Our ventures often start with a problem or opportunity, rather than a founder. Your job is to find the person who can turn that opportunity into an excellent business.

You'll work closely with our Venture Builders, Studio Leads and founders to:

• Identify exceptional founders across our global network and beyond.

• Build talent maps and develop a point of view on where the best founders and operators sit.

• Assess individuals for founder-market fit, looking beyond CVs and conventional credentials to understand their potential to build a company.

• Build relationships with exceptional people who aren't necessarily looking for their next role.

• Convince them to take the leap into entrepreneurship and build with Founders Factory.

• Help founders identify and recruit their early founding team across product, technology, commercial and growth.

• Develop our approach to founder sourcing, assessment and talent intelligence as we build more ventures.

This isn't traditional recruitment. You won't be given a list of vacancies to fill. You'll be given venture theses and asked to work out who could build them.

You'll have significant autonomy to experiment with how we identify, assess and attract exceptional people, and your work will directly influence the quality and trajectory of the companies we build.

About You

At your core, you're obsessed with exceptional people and curious about how great companies are built.

You might come from VC, executive search, strategy consulting, investment banking, a high-growth startup, venture building or talent. You don't need to have worked in venture before.

What matters is that you can:

• Spot exceptional people and develop a strong point of view on their potential.

• Understand businesses, markets and what makes founders successful.

• Build genuine relationships and influence people to make high-stakes career decisions.

• Source talent creatively, particularly people who aren't actively looking.

• Operate with limited information, ambiguity and a high degree of autonomy.

• Balance instinct with evidence and be willing to change your mind.

• Move quickly without compromising your judgement.

• Communicate clearly and challenge assumptions when needed.

You don't need to be a founder or have a traditional career path. We care more about your judgement, curiosity, ambition and ability to identify exceptional people.

What You'll Be Measured On

• Founder quality: Exceptional founders joining our ventures.

• Founder-market fit: The quality of our decisions around who should build which company.

• Speed: Moving from venture thesis to founder commitment quickly.

• Founding teams: Helping founders build the teams they need to succeed.

• Talent intelligence: Building a proprietary network and understanding of exceptional founders and operators.

• Repeatability: Making our approach to talent investing better and more scalable over time.

A Career in Venture

Talent Investing sits at the intersection of people, company building and venture capital.

You'll develop an investor's perspective on founders and companies at the earliest possible stage, often before there is a company to invest in.

Over time, there is scope to develop into broader venture-building and investment responsibilities across Founders Factory, depending on your performance, interests and the needs of the business.

Our Culture

Working at Founders Factory is very different from working at a traditional company. We are resilient business builders, passionate about what we're creating and comfortable operating in uncertainty.

We:

• Think big, act small, move fast

• Value momentum over perfection

• Embrace uncertainty and remain decisive

• Suggest solutions, not problems

• Prioritise diversity to strengthen our collective intelligence

• Are polite, generous and show empathy to others

What We Offer

• Competitive salary

• Shares in the Founders Factory global portfolio

• Hybrid working - typically Tuesdays and Thursdays in the London office

• Up to 5 weeks working abroad each year

• 25 days annual leave

• 1 additional mental health day per quarter

• Monthly calendar freedom day

• Travel opportunities across our global Founders Factory offices

• Access to our network of founders, investors, operators and corporate partners

Founders Factory is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where people can authentically be themselves, challenge assumptions, take risks and think creatively.