Are you ready to help run the world’s leading student venture fund? If so, keep reading.
Welcome to Dorm Room Fund, a student-run venture fund created to help student founders build game-changing startups. Built by students and powered by the nation’s premier early-stage VC fund, First Round, our volunteer organization helps student founders win with a strong network of investors, world-class mentors, a dedicated portfolio support team, and a $20,000 check.
If building world-class brands, telling powerful stories, and using great design to move mountains runs in your blood, we want YOU to apply to Dorm Room Fund’s HQ Team.
How much do these roles matter at DRF? Hint: a lot.
Dorm Room Fund isn’t just some extracurricular club or student group. Since 2012, our community of founders has gone on to raise over $1 billion in follow-on investments in their companies from the world’s leading VCs and created over $4 billion in market value. We’ve invested in category-defining companies like Brooklinen, Blockstack, FiscalNote, and Bevi because their founders saw the power of Dorm Room Fund’s community and unique support capabilities first hand.
But how did Dorm Room Fund build the most recognized brand and most capable portfolio support resources in student startups?
It’s all thanks to our remote HQ team.
What is the DRF HQ team?
Our HQ team is the engine that powers DRF and the compass that defines the fund’s strategic direction. The team’s eight members own three core goals:
- Enable DRF to find and engage the world’s best student founders.
- Use diverse skills and expertise to help our founders succeed.
- Strengthen the DRF community.
Whether advising portfolio companies on their go-to-market strategies, launching a newsletter and podcast to engage and inspire new student founders, or leveraging analytics to help target the next great campus innovation ecosystem, our founders and partners count on HQ to make the magic happen — and tell the DRF story along the way. HQ team members are the strategic thinkers driving DRF’s growth, the creatives behind its brand, and the first call for founders in need.
Working closely with our CEO Molly Fowler, HQ is a SWAT team of top-notch student operators with backgrounds ranging from Bridgewater to SpaceX, Airbnb to Silicon Valley Bank and startups at every stage of growth. Members of our HQ team have gone on to found venture-funded startups, grow businesses to millions in revenue, become first engineers at some of the nation’s hottest startups, and lead teams in senior positions at tech companies post-grad.
Who can apply?
For all roles, to be eligible to apply, you must be:
⚡️ An active, full-time student, currently enrolled at an accredited academic institution (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, JD, MBA, etc.), with at least one full year left in your program.
⚡️ Willing to commit 10+ hours per week to DRF for at least one year.
Deadline to apply: Sunday, April 18th @ 11:59 PM PST.
What are the roles?
Head of Design
Dorm Room Fund is looking for an enthusiastic lover of all things brand and design to join the HQ team as the Head of Design. Design plays a critical role in all that we do here at DRF HQ — we care deeply about our visual identity and continue to strive to improve as we expand nationally. You could be the person leading the charge!
What will you do as Head of Design?
In this role, you will work directly with DRF portfolio companies on design needs they may have, including but not limited to:
⚡️Reviewing pitch decks and assessing their current brand identity
⚡️Advising on hiring a freelance designer or their first full-time designer
⚡️Giving feedback on their product and/or website
⚡️Light design touch-ups
In addition, you will be responsible for all of our internal Dorm Room Fund brand identity and design work, including:
⚡️Evolving and maintaining the DRF brand
⚡️Creating assets for our newsletter, blog, website, annual retreat, and much more
⚡️Driving the aesthetic for DRF as we expand to more campuses and reach more founders
⚡️Building UI workflows for internal products
What skills do you have?
This is the perfect role for someone looking to gain real design leadership experience while working directly in the VC and startup space.
Must-haves:
⚡️An obsession with all things brand and brand design
⚡️Experience with the Adobe Creative Suite + Figma
⚡️Experience with Product & UX/UI Design
⚡️A positive, can-do, no-such-thing-as-grunt-work attitude
Nice to haves:
⚡️Experience working at an agency/leading tech company or startup
⚡️Love of products and product design
This role is fun and requires significant self-direction and vision, since the Head of Design is a one-person show, for the most part, working closely with DRF’s CEO and other operational teams. For all students interested, please apply below and include a portfolio link! Applications without a portfolio link included will not be considered.
Head of Content
Top-notch written, audio, and visual content are critical to sharing the story of the DRF community with the world. Dorm Room Fund’s new Head of Content will serve as the driver of our internal content efforts and a key voice of the DRF community.
DRF’s content does more than just inform our founders and our partners: DRF is a home for the entire student entrepreneur ecosystem. The Head of Content will manage, create content for, and define the strategic direction of our website, newsletter (The Syllabus), social media, and podcast (Office Hours).
Whether we’re sharing the latest tips on hiring your first engineer, interviewing the founder of a multi-billion dollar company for our podcast, or connecting top talent to job opportunities, DRF’s content channels help founders and student entrepreneurs inside our community and out — regardless of their university or location.
What will you do as Head of Content?
⚡️You will serve as a key voice of DRF — helping founders and budding VCs across the country with sage advice, awesome connections, and the occasional well-placed meme.
⚡️You will take the lead on managing, creating content for, and defining the strategic direction of DRFs blog, newsletter and podcast.
⚡️You will work with partners and guest creators to develop a full suite of integrated content, including: blog posts, newsletter content, social posts, e-books, website content and interviews for our podcast.
⚡️ You will manage all of Dorm Room Fund’s audience growth across social channels.
⚡️You will advise DRF founders on content strategy.
⚡️You will help grow DRF’s online community.
What skills do you have?
Must-haves
⚡️ You are an excellent writer and online raconteur with a portfolio of written work to show for it.
⚡️ You can edit other people’s work with an eye towards maintaining DRFs brand voice and high standards.
⚡️ You can partner closely with DRF’s Managing Partners, Investment Teams, and marketing team to make sure all DRF’s external communications and campaigns work together.
⚡️ You’re not afraid to dive into analytics to understand where DRF’s content is working and where it’s not.
Nice-to-haves
⚡️You have podcasting skills and love audio.
⚡️ You’re a social machine and know now to drive organic growth on existing and emerging platforms.
⚡️You have experience partnering with a full marketing team to meet and exceed ambitious goals.
⚡️You have experience growing a subscription newsletter audience.
Head of Marketing & Growth
Dorm Room Fund is looking for an enthusiastic lover of all things marketing and digital whiz to join our team as the Head of Marketing & Growth. Marketing, audience development, and analytics play a significant role in what we do at DRF HQ — be it expanding our reach and engagement with VCs and entrepreneurs, broadening our community, or spreading the missions and successes of our portfolio companies.
The new Head of Marketing & Growth will be responsible for defining our growth goals and brand activation strategy, working with our content and marketing teams to plan and execute campaigns, and coming up with creative ways to expand DRF’s reach and engagement to new audiences.
What will you do as Head of Marketing?
⚡️You will serve as a key driver behind Dorm Room Fund’s digital marketing and community engagement efforts.
⚡️You will lead marketing and distribution strategy for DRF’s original content including our newsletter.
⚡️You will develop creative and original campaigns for brand activation around noteworthy DRF events and updates.
⚡️You will work closely with DRF’s Head of Community/Social to architect a brilliant audience development strategy and manage growth across all platforms.
⚡️You will define growth goals and KPIs and own analytics reporting and insights.
⚡️You will work directly with DRF’s amazing founder community and advise on growth marketing and audience development for our portfolio companies.
What Skills do You Have?
Must-haves
⚡️You are a digital marketing guru with a track record of planning and executing successful multi-channel campaigns across web, social, events, email, etc.
⚡️You are familiar with web and social analytics and know how to translate quantitative information into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
⚡️ You can partner closely with DRF’s Managing Partners & Investment Teams and marketing team to help create a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy and contribute to writing/editing original content for DRF’s website and social media.
⚡️ You are passionate about the entrepreneurship/VC community and eager to help bring new groups into the DRF orbit.
⚡️ You’re a social machine and know now to drive organic growth on existing and emerging platforms.
Nice-to-haves
⚡️You have experience growing a subscription newsletter audience.
⚡️You have experience partnering with a full marketing team to meet and exceed ambitious goals.
⚡️You have podcasting skills and love audio.
Head of Community & Social
The Dorm Room Fund community is comprised of brilliant, driven, and resourceful people from across the country who share a passion for entrepreneurship. We bring together a network of investors, founders, operators, and alumni heavily invested in DRF and each other, and it’s one of our greatest strengths.
Dorm Room Fund’s new Head of Community & Social will serve as a driving force behind our community platform, facilitating connection and engagement between members of the DRF family and serving as a point of contact between DRF and its external stakeholders.
Whether its planning lecture series, supporting portfolio company founders through partner introductions and virtual meetups, alumni events, or creating stellar social content to help tell the DRF story, the Head of Community and Social will be responsible for ensuring connection between members of the community and making sure DRF is visible and accessible to the outside world.
What will you do as Head of Community & Social?
⚡️You will serve as a key internal and external voice, helping to build the DRF community and foster connection and growth.
⚡️You will take the lead on organizing events within DRF connecting investment partners, our HQ team, alumni, and founders including: virtual founder dinners, DRF lecture series and guest speakers, alumni programming.
⚡️You will be the primary point of contact facilitating DRF’s portfolio company platform support services.
⚡️You will take the lead on managing our external relations via social media and open events.
⚡️You will advise DRF founders on strategies for social media and community engagement.
⚡️You will keep DRF partners up to speed on media, tech trends, and on how other companies are marketing themselves successfully.
What Skills do You Have?
Must-haves
⚡️You are an excellent writer and social wizard with a demonstrated track record of success engaging and growing audiences.
⚡️You are passionate about bringing people together and have experience planning and coordinating events and programming.
⚡️ You can partner closely with DRF’s Managing Partners and marketing team to help create a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy.
Nice-to-haves
⚡️You have podcasting skills and love audio.
⚡️You have experience partnering with a full marketing team to meet and exceed ambitious goals.
Head of Operations
Dorm Room Fund is looking for an enthusiastic lover of all things operations and management to join our team as the Head of Operations. The new Head of Ops will be responsible for working closely with DRF HQ’s managing partners, CEO, HQ and investment teams across a variety of verticals and projects to drive success and efficiency for all DRF initiatives.
What will you do as Head of Operations?
⚡️You will lead planning and project management in collaboration with DRF HQ’s managing partners.
⚡️You will be responsible for DRF HQ’s internal communications and deliverables.
⚡️You will work across all HQ teams including content, marketing, design, and engineering to align goals, strategies, and timelines for initiatives including founder support, community events/engagement, web builds, major content projects, and design.
⚡️You will manage operational assets and resources and own DRF HQ’s internal knowledge base and workflow.
What Skills do You Have?
Must-haves
⚡️You are a driven and experienced project manager and have a proven track record of working successfully across multiple teams to drive results.
⚡️You are highly organized and an effective communicator who knows how to juggle multiple projects and work collaboratively with stakeholders throughout a business.
⚡️ You can partner closely with DRF’s Managing Partners, CEO, and HQ team to plan and execute a variety of initiatives.
⚡️ You are passionate about the entrepreneurship/VC community and eager to help bring new groups into the DRF orbit.
⚡️You have experience with project management tools and software including Notion, AirTable, Slack, etc.
Nice-to-haves
⚡️You have experience working in a fast-paced entrepreneurial setting and/or with startups.
⚡️You have experience partnering with a full marketing team to meet and exceed ambitious goals.
⚡️You have some basic knowledge of design and/or software engineering concepts.
Learn more and apply here!
Get more Dorm Room Fund news and updates on Twitter and learn more on our website. Want more DRF content? Subscribe to our newsletter. Ready to take your startup to the next level? Apply here to be considered for an investment from Dorm Room Fund. Until next time! 🚀