Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern Clap (Virtual Playgrounds, Inc.)

Clap; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 25,000 - 34,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentorship from CEO

Access to Claude Co-work and AI tools

Ownership of projects

Intern-to-hire path

Flexible hours

Paid internship

Job summary

Clap (Virtual Playgrounds, Inc.) is seeking a Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern to work directly with the CEO on brand outreach, growth experiments, and marketing ops. You’ll own real work from week one—from researching prospects to running campaigns and helping Clap land its first wave of brand partners.

This intern‑to‑hire opportunity offers mentorship, paid access to Claude Co-work and AI tools, and a path to a full‑time role based on performance, with flexible hours to fit class schedules.

Qualifications

• Degree in Marketing, Business or Communications or similar.
• Strong writing ability suitable for cold emails.
• Curious and resourceful; can Google before asking for help.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast pace in a startup setting.
• Interest in creator economy and social platforms.
• Bonus: experience with AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT; familiarity with ads platforms.

Responsibilities

• Brand Pipeline: research brands, draft outreach, book intro calls, prep for calls, participate in calls, track pipeline.
• Growth Experiments: design/run 2–3 growth experiments monthly, assist with ads and creatives, review content, verify winners.
• AI-Augmented Ops: leverage AI tools to speed up research, drafting, and analysis, identify automation opportunities, create templates.

Skills

Strong writer

Curious

Resourceful

Ambiguity-tolerant

Fast-paced

Education

Marketing/Business/Communications degree

Tools

Claude

ChatGPT

Meta Ads Manager

TikTok Ads Manager

Webflow

Job description

Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern

Clap (Virtual Playgrounds, Inc.) | clap.gg

Ideal Location: Austin, TX or San Diego, CA | Mid-April — September 2026

About Clap

Clap is an AI-powered challenge engine for brands, creators, educators, and communities. Type any idea, and the AI instantly generates a challenge with rules, scoring, and prizes – participants compete via short video clips judged by AI. The platform is white-labeled and embeddable, so challenges live on the partner’s own site while Clap runs the engine. We’re building a new way for people to engage together online, and we move fast.

We’re led by two battle-tested founders (Sean & Dan) who’ve built and sold multiple startups — Pillow was acquired by Expedia, Notehall by Chegg. We’re VC-backed, in private beta with our first brand partner live, and building an AI-native product that wouldn’t have been possible even two years ago. If you want a front-row seat to a startup on the launchpad, this is it.

The Role:

We’re looking for a Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern to work directly with our CEO on brand outreach, growth experiments, and marketing operations. This is a hands‑on role where you’ll own real work from week one — researching prospects, running campaigns, and helping Clap land its first wave of brand partners.

This is an intern‑to‑hire opportunity. Show us what you can do, and there’s a path to a full‑time role.

What You’ll Do:

Brand Pipeline (~50%)

• Research and build prospect lists of DTC/CPG brands that fit Clap’s platform (youth-focused, challenge-friendly, socially active)
• Draft personalized outreach emails and help book intro calls with brand prospects
• Prep for brand calls: competitive research, tailored talking points, customized pitch decks
• Join brand and creator calls — first as a shadow, then as a contributor, then leading portions
• Track the pipeline: who we’ve contacted, where conversations stand, what’s next
• Help capture metrics, draft write‑ups, and package our first case study — this is a key deliverable for outbound and fundraising
• Help onboard our first brand partners — manage campaign setup, timelines, and deliverables as we bring brands onto the platform
• Build repeatable processes for brand campaigns (briefs, approvals, launch checklists) that we can eventually productize into the Clap platform
• Coordinate with our marketing agency to ensure influencer activations and brand campaigns launch in sync

Growth Experiments (~30%)

• Help design and run 2-3 growth experiments per month: landing pages, ads, tracking, and readouts
• Assist with ad campaigns and creatives — help build, test, and iterate on paid social ads across Meta and TikTok, and track what’s driving signups
• Working with social media manager to review & suggest content for our clap social profiles
• Assist with prize fulfillment and winner verification as campaigns launch

AI-Augmented Ops (~20%)

• Using Claude Co-work other AI tools daily to accelerate research, drafting, and analysis
• Spot what’s manual that shouldn’t be — flag opportunities to automate or templatize recurring work
• Build lightweight templates: meeting prep docs, outreach drafts, experiment briefs, reporting formats

Who You Are:

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or similar
• Strong writer – you can draft a cold email that doesn’t sound like a template
• Naturally curious and resourceful – you Google it before you ask
• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast pace (this is a startup, not a syllabus)
• Interested in creator economy, social platforms, and interactive content
• Bonus: experience with AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or similar
• Bonus: familiarity with Meta/TikTok Ads Manager, Webflow, or influencer marketing platforms

What You’ll Get:

• Direct mentorship from Clap’s CEO – you’ll learn startup operations, fundraising, and go‑to‑market firsthand
• Paid access to Claude Co-work and other AI tools as part of your workflow
• Real ownership of projects that matter (not busy work)
• Intern‑to‑hire path based on performance
• Flexible hours – we’re open to adjusting around class schedules
• Compensation: Paid internship (details discussed during interview)