We’ve spent the last 13 years investing in category-defining companies. By “category-defining,” here’s what we mean: companies that are on track to reverse type 2 Diabetes in 100M people, companies that give database a new name, companies that empower consumers in their relationship with their credit provider, companies that give homeowners the freedom to move, and companies that are unlocking a faster and more sustainable future.

At Caffeinated, we’ve invested in exceptional entrepreneurs, and last year, we brought on a new investor to run Scout Fund III **to partner with more exceptional entrepreneurs at the inception stage. We have learned a lot from Scout Fund III and are excited to announce that Caffeinated is growing again: we’re looking for two investors to join our early stage investment team to manage Scout Fund IV (USA) and Scout Fund V (LatAm).

This is truly an investor role. You’ll make the calls, you’ll cut the checks, you won’t need permission. You’ll be my partner, and I will work directly with you and impart everything I’ve been fortunate to learn. You will be responsible for investing $20M into 40 startups over the next two years. Like our Scout Fund III manager, you will hit the ground running and:

1. Develop unique deal flow and a world-class network. We will complement your network with serious access to founders and executives at exceptional startups like Varda and Settle, as well as angels who were first checks in companies like Anduril and Stripe.
2. Build your own investment track record by sourcing and investing in startups alongside the best investors in the world. Scout Fund III includes: Known Medicine (Khosla), Spindle (Accel), Hadrian (Founders Fund, Lux), and Polywork (a16z, the Collison brothers). Scout Funds I and II includes: Anchorage, Aven, Bitwise, Clubhouse, Dapper, Deel, Divvy Homes, dYdX, Loft, Mercury, Notion, Pulley, and Spring Discovery. The Funds are currently generating a blended gross MOIC of 8.4X.
3. Learn what makes exceptional founders and startups tick - from seed to IPO and beyond. You’ll see what challenges they face and what progress they make in real-time - from recent breakouts like AgentSync to pre-IPO companies like Divvy Homes - and identify inflection points that merit doubling-down on investments.
4. Discover what type of investor you are. As a generalist, you can invest in the domains and themes that excite you the most. As my partner, you’ll have freedom to operate - visit Miami, move to New York - whatever helps you find exceptional entrepreneurs. With my mentorship, you will learn how to invest in your unique way, because as long as you hustle and have taste, there is no one way to be a technology investor.

This role might be a good fit if you identify with Caffeinated’s core values: you hustle, move fast, have good taste, listen, and are humble. At Caffeinated, we’ve come a long way because we embody our values with rigor. We collaborate with founders from the very beginning, betting on them, and supporting them intently through their journeys. Just like the flavor of every pour over is determined by subtle choices -- the climate in which the beans are grown, the soil acidity, how the beans are roasted, ground, and served -- so too do we distinguish ourselves by teaming with founders early and emphasizing the importance of every subtle choice in our craft.

At Caffeinated, we have broad values, but a specific understanding of what they mean to us. When we say “we move fast,” we mean that we mentally committed to the founders of Loft within two blocks of a walk together, and verbally by the time our walk ended, not even an hour later. What “high integrity” means to Caffeinated is that a deck from a competitive company gets forwarded to the trash, not to our portfolio founder. “Hustle” is the word we use to describe the way we’ve raised debt capital for portfolio companies in less than a week, based on a single document, in a process that would’ve taken a bank/debt fund months. “High conviction” is the confidence with which we teamed with Howie Liu and Andrew Ofstad and invested in every round of Airtable since inception, stepping up to lead their Series B when no one else would.

As long as you embody, with distinction and vigor, the values we listed above -- and have 2-4 years of experience working at a startup, tech company, or in finance -- you could be a great fit. And if you work well independently, bring an original, existing network (e.g. ex-Affirm, ran the Georgia Tech ACM Programming Team), put people first, take care of others as well as yourself, are solutions-oriented, and kick your ego to the curb -- then you could be who we’re looking for. We’re not looking for a brand name school on your resume. We’re not looking for someone who synonymizes this opportunity with Twitter clout. We’re looking for someone who plays long-term games -- meaning, you believe in an exceptional founder even if their first endeavor fails.

We’re looking for aggressively open-minded individuals. What does it mean to be aggressively open-minded? Well, have you ever put some real elbow grease into unscrewing a tight glass jar? Our minds are usually screwed shut the same way -- but all the best ideas, and opportunities, are on the other side of the vacuum seal.

As my partner, I promise to invest in you. I promise to help get you to where you want to be next, the way I do with the companies we invest in. After your 2 year run, I imagine your possibilities are limitless: you could run Scout Fund VI, start a startup, join a portfolio company, start your own venture fund, or become a General Partner at another top-tier fund. You could do something else exceptional. Something category-defining, no matter what sort of category you choose.

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