Founder Relations Associate

Pairs
United States +5 more
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for early-career professionals who manage founder relationships and understand fundraising processes, working in a remote setup with global collaboration and clear expectations.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience in founder-facing roles at accelerators or VC platforms
    — “Have worked closely with founders: at an accelerator, a VC platform team, a startup, or in a founder-facing commercial role.”
  • Individuals who can build trust quickly with diverse founders across multiple markets
    — “Build trust quickly with founders from different markets and backgrounds.”

Things to consider

  • The role demands strict adherence to expectations and transparency in communication
    — “The expectations you set are the ones we deliver against, so you only promise what we do.”
  • Candidates must be comfortable with AI tools and know when to use them judiciously
    — “Use AI tools daily, with clear judgement about where they improve your work and where they would compromise its quality.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in fundraising and specific cases where you converted hesitant founders
    — “Have turned conversations into commitments, and can walk us through one where the founder was hesitant.”
  • Demonstrate your ability to capture detailed founder profiles and decision-making blockers
    — “The founder's picture. Round, traction, runway, investor interest and the real blocker, captured clearly for the team.”
  • Showcase your understanding of fundraising stages and investor behavior
    — “Understand how a raise works: stage, round structure, lead investors, and why investors pass.”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • First conversations with founders
  • Capturing clear information about the company's status
  • Booking the next step
Typical background
Experience working closely with founders in a startup or VC platform

Skills & requirements

Required

SalesCustomer Relationship ManagementNegotiationMarket Analysis

Preferred

AI ToolsFounder Relations

About the role

Original posting from Pairs via Ashby

We are hiring a Founder Relations Associate to be the first person founders speak to at Pairs, and to help the right ones start working with us.

Pairs is a global network of family offices, institutional investors, VCs and angels. We screen deal flow very tightly, and the opportunities that clear our diligence go out to the network. We invest alongside them too.

THE ROLE

Founders who are raising hear a lot of pitches. Yours is the conversation that earns their trust, because it is about their raise, not about us.

On the first call, you learn where the company is, how much it is raising, who is already interested and what has stalled. Then you decide, with them, whether Pairs is the right next step.

When it is, you walk them through how we work and what it costs, and book the next conversation on the call. When it is not, you tell them so, and stay in touch until the timing is right.

Some founders are better served by our platform tier. For them, you run the demo and close it yourself.

We work with founders across the US, Europe and the Middle East. The expectations you set are the ones we deliver against, so you only promise what we do.

You will work directly with the two co-founders and our closing team. The organisation is flat, so you will see first-hand how we screen companies, what we decline and why.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

  • First conversations. A call that leaves every founder better informed about their raise, whether or not they work with us.
  • The founder's picture. Round, traction, runway, investor interest and the real blocker, captured clearly for the team.
  • The next step. Booked on the call, with the context the next person needs.
  • Founder relationships. The founders who are not ready yet, kept warm until they are.

YOU ARE A FIT IF YOU

  • Have worked closely with founders: at an accelerator, a VC platform team, a startup, or in a founder-facing commercial role.
  • Have turned conversations into commitments, and can walk us through one where the founder was hesitant.
  • Understand how a raise works: stage, round structure, lead investors, and why investors pass.
  • Set expectations you can stand behind. You never promise an outcome, and you would rather lose a deal than oversell one.
  • Build trust quickly with founders from different markets and backgrounds.
  • Use AI tools daily, with clear judgement about where they improve your work and where they would compromise its quality.

WHAT WE OFFER

  • A fully remote role, with working hours that overlap US Eastern time, where most of our founders are
  • Direct access to the co-founders and our closing team
  • Close collaboration with our internal team
  • A sales process that already works, and recorded calls to learn it from
  • Insight into how we screen companies and match them with investors
  • A base salary plus commission

Source: Pairs careers (Ashby)

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