People and roles
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19 roles
Founders
Academic Spinout FounderAn Academic Spinout Founder is a university-employed researcher, academic, or other institutional inventor who helps form a separate company to commercialize research-derived intellectual property, know-how, or expertise connected to the institution.Aspiring FounderAn Aspiring Founder is a person seriously considering or planning to start a company but who may not yet have committed full-time, formed a company, assembled a team, or begun sustained startup operations.Bootstrapped Founder Considering VentureA Bootstrapped Founder Considering Venture is a founder currently funding growth mainly from personal resources or operating revenue who is actively deciding whether outside venture capital would materially improve the company's path.Build-in-Public FounderA Build-in-Public Founder deliberately makes selected parts of company-building visible while work is underway; the boundary is a recurring disclosure-and-feedback practice, not radical transparency or a separate organizational office.Emerging-Ecosystem FounderAn Emerging-Ecosystem Founder is a startup founder building from a regional ecosystem where access to risk capital, experienced talent, mentors, knowledge networks, scale support, or international markets is materially less developed than in mature global hubs.First-Time FounderA founder starting a company for the first time, with no prior startup to draw on.
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Fundraising FounderA startup founder actively preparing for or conducting an external capital raise for the company.Non-Technical Co-FounderA Non-Technical Co-Founder is a founder whose primary contribution is outside direct software or technical-system implementation, commonly in product, customers, sales and marketing, operations, recruiting, fundraising, or company building.Post-Exit Restarting FounderFounder who recently exited and is starting their next company.Pre-Product FounderFounder before a validated first product, working from hypotheses toward evidence and a path forward.Relocating International FounderRelocating International Founder is a founder moving across borders to establish, operate, or continue a startup in a destination jurisdiction while coordinating company execution with immigration and relocation requirements.Repeat FounderA Repeat Founder is a person starting a new business after having previously started or owned at least one business; the category does not require a prior exit or prior success.Roll-Up FounderFounder rolling up small businesses in a vertical. PE-style strategy.Solo FounderSolo founder. No co-founder, often technical and operating.Stealth-Mode FounderFounder using selective, time-bounded public disclosure.Student FounderConcurrent student and venture-founder responsibilities.Technical Co-FounderFounder capable of building the initial technology without total outside dependence.Underrepresented FounderUnderrepresented Founder is best treated as a context-bounded founder identity: a founder whose access to startup opportunity, networks, finance, or decision-makers is constrained by historically underserved or intersectional conditions in a specified market.Vibe-Coder FounderA Vibe-Coder Founder is a startup founder who personally creates or materially evolves a software product through natural-language interaction with AI coding systems, judging progress mainly through working behavior rather than line-by-line code authorship.
28 roles
Investors
Angel Group MemberIndividual angel investor participating in group review and investment activity.Angel InvestorAn individual investing personal capital directly into private early-stage companies.Angel Network LeadAn Angel Network Lead organizes an angel-investor group or network so members can source, screen, diligence, decide on, execute, and support early-stage investments through a shared process.Angel Syndicate BackerInvestor who selectively backs startup deals through a syndicate or deal-specific vehicle rather than acting as the syndicate lead.Angel Syndicate LeadAn investor who sources, evaluates, presents, and coordinates deal participation for a group of angel backers.Aspiring VCAn Aspiring VC is a person actively trying to enter or advance into venture-capital investing through education, mentorship, networking, and demonstrated investment work; the label does not establish employment by a fund.
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EIR at a VC FundAn EIR at a VC fund is an experienced founder or operator embedded for a bounded period to explore or build a potential venture and, in some programs, support investment and portfolio work; the role is distinct from a permanent investment partner because the EIR's primary mandate is temporary exploration, building, or operating contribution rather than standing fund governance.Executive AngelIndividual angel investor with senior for-profit executive experience who invests personal capital in early-stage companies.Exited Founder AngelFounder who exited and is now angel investing.Family-Office Direct InvestorA Family-Office Direct Investor is a family principal or investment professional who sources, evaluates, executes, or oversees investments made directly into private companies or assets on behalf of a family investment entity, rather than participating only through external funds.Holdco OperatorA Holdco Operator works at the parent or operating-group level of a holding company that owns multiple businesses, concentrating on capital allocation, governance, incentives, finance, and senior leadership rather than running every subsidiary day to day.Independent SponsorAn Independent Sponsor is a deal-by-deal acquisition sponsor that leads a transaction and assembles capital partners for that specific deal rather than relying on a committed blind-pool fund.Operator-AngelAn Operator-Angel is a current or former operator or entrepreneur who invests personal capital directly in early-stage companies and may contribute operating expertise after investing.PE InvestorFor this dossier, a PE Investor is a GP-side private-equity investment professional who evaluates, structures, recommends, and monitors investments in private companies; this role is distinct from an LP that allocates capital to private-equity funds.PE Portfolio OperationsPrivate-equity operating-group role for portfolio-company value creation.PE Secondaries InvestorA PE Secondaries Investor evaluates and executes investments in existing private-equity fund interests, portfolios, companies, and GP-led transactions, including continuation vehicles; this differs from a primary-fund investor focused mainly on new commitments and from an adviser representing a seller.Search FunderA Search Funder is an acquisition entrepreneur who raises search capital from investors to find, acquire, lead, and grow one operating business under the traditional search-fund model.Super AngelSuper Angel has no single stable boundary: sources variously describe an unusually active individual angel investing personal capital and a professionalized seed investor whose use of outside capital may make them a micro-VC manager.VC AssociateAn investment-team professional who supports venture sourcing, evaluation, diligence, internal decision work, and portfolio activity without final partnership authority.VC FellowA VC Fellow is a participant in a time-bounded formal venture-capital education, apprenticeship, placement, or leadership-development program; fellowship status alone does not define seniority, employment, compensation, or investment authority.VC Head of Investor RelationsA VC Head of Investor Relations is the senior fund-facing operator who leads relationships and information flow between a venture-capital manager and current or prospective limited partners.VC Marketing LeadSenior venture-firm marketing or communications operator with firm-specific scope across brand, partners, funds, and portfolio.VC Operating PartnerVenture-firm operating specialist supporting portfolio value creation.VC Platform LeadSenior venture-firm operator leading non-investment or investment-adjacent Platform capabilities across pre-investment firm support and post-investment portfolio support.VC PrincipalSenior venture investment professional with substantial deal ownership and firm-specific final authority.VC ProfessionalVC Professional is a broad working Persona for a member of a venture-capital firm who contributes to sourcing, evaluating, executing, monitoring, or supporting investments.VC Program ManagerA VC Program Manager designs and operates recurring venture-firm or venture-platform programs for founders, emerging fund managers, scouts, fellows, mentors, or ecosystem partners; the role is primarily accountable for program execution and participant experience rather than holding independent investment authority.VC Talent PartnerA venture-firm platform specialist who advises and assists portfolio companies with recruiting, hiring, executive talent, culture, and related people work.
9 roles
Limited Partners
Endowment LPAn Endowment LP is an institutional investment decision-maker or team representing an endowment that allocates capital to externally managed private funds as a limited partner while preserving the endowment's mission, spending, risk, and donor obligations.Family-Office LP AllocatorFamily investment decision-maker translating family objectives into portfolio allocations and commitments.Foundation LPFoundation-side allocator or overseer of endowment capital, with organization-specific authority boundaries.Fund-of-Funds GPA GP managing a pooled vehicle that invests primarily in other investment funds and may also make co-investments.Fund-of-Funds LP AllocatorA multi-manager private-markets allocator evaluating external GPs and funds for client portfolios.Individual EM-Backing LPNatural person investing personal capital as a limited partner in an emerging-manager private fund.
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LP / AllocatorAn LP / Allocator is an asset-owner-side investment professional or governance participant who translates institutional objectives into manager or fund commitments and monitors those delegated relationships; the role is distinct from the external investment manager or GP being selected.Pension Fund LPInstitutional pension allocator investing as a private-fund limited partner.Sovereign Wealth LPSovereign-wealth investment professional acting in an external-manager or fund-allocation capacity.
6 roles
General Partners
Corporate VC PartnerSenior investment leader in a corporate-sponsored venture program, operating under parent-defined mandate and governance.Established Fund PartnerAn Established Fund Partner is a senior venture-capital or private-markets investment partner with durable responsibility for investment judgment, portfolio outcomes, firm and fund stewardship, and relationships with founders and limited partners.First-Check Early-Stage GPGP leading pre-seed and seed rounds. First institutional money in.Follow-On Early-Stage GPA venture fund GP whose mandate includes deciding and executing subsequent investments into existing early-stage portfolio companies.Late-Stage GPA Late-Stage GP is a general-partner-side investment decision maker in a venture or growth-equity fund whose strategy targets more developed private companies; the stage focus changes diligence, ownership, value-creation, and liquidity work but does not remove the GP's broader fund-management obligations.Venture Secondaries GPA Venture Secondaries GP is a decision-maker at an investment manager that acquires existing venture-fund interests, existing shares in venture-backed companies, or interests in GP-led continuation and special-situation vehicles.
4 roles
Fund Managers
Emerging Manager GPGP building and managing an early institutional fund and firm.Rolling Fund ManagerA Rolling Fund Manager operates a venture investment program that continuously accepts LP capital through subscriptions to consecutively formed quarterly funds and deploys each quarter's vehicle into qualifying investments.Solo GPOne-person venture-fund manager with sole investment-decision responsibility.Venture Studio GPGP at a venture studio building companies in-house from idea stage.
3 roles
Scouts
Multi-Program ScoutIndependent venture scout participating in more than one sponsoring program.Scout with Personal FundEarly-stage scout who also controls a personal investment vehicle.VC ScoutA participant who identifies and refers potential venture investments under a fund or scout-program relationship, usually without the fund partnership authority of an investor.
5 roles
Operators
Early-Stage Startup OperatorNon-founder early-company operator working across functions or building operational infrastructure near the founding team.Senior Startup OperatorSenior leader translating startup strategy into operational execution, with company-specific title and scope.Startup CXOA Startup CXO is a non-founder or founder C-suite executive responsible for running a major company function and contributing to enterprise leadership in a venture-backed startup or scale-up.Startup Job SeekerA Startup Job Seeker is a person actively applying for, or passively open to, employment at an early-stage or venture-backed company; this describes a labor-market participant rather than a runtime role.Startup OperatorA Startup Operator is a cross-functional business-operations professional who turns company priorities and operational ambiguity into coordinated execution, repeatable systems, and decision-ready information.
1 role
Builders
5 roles
Corporate Innovators
Cloud / Platform Partner Program LeadLead of a cloud or platform startup partner program (AWS, Azure, GCP).Corporate Development LeadInternal owner of inorganic strategy and transaction execution.Corporate Innovation Lab DirectorA corporate leader responsible for an internal innovation program that evaluates, pilots, or develops new technologies, ventures, or business models.Corporate InnovatorEmployee in an established company who organizes innovation opportunities, systems, or partnerships.Platform Strategic Partnerships LeadSenior owner of cross-company platform partnerships that extend product or market outcomes.
1 role
Students
10 roles
Creators
Founder-Focused PodcasterA Founder-Focused Podcaster is a podcast host or editorial lead whose recurring subject is startup founders, operators, company-building decisions, and the practical lessons behind them; the role is defined by editorial focus, not by whether the host is personally a founder.LinkedIn CreatorA professional content maker focused on stories, education, engagement, and online community, distinct from but potentially overlapping with an influencer.Startup Beat JournalistA Startup Beat Journalist is a journalist whose assigned or self-defined reporting beat covers startups, venture capital, or the business of technology, with reporting rather than promotion as the defining function.Startup Ecosystem PodcasterA Startup Ecosystem Podcaster is a host or producer who regularly turns conversations with founders, investors, operators, and other ecosystem participants into an edited and distributed audio show for a defined startup audience.Startup YouTuberYouTuber covering startups, founders, or venture.Startup/Venture Book AuthorAuthor of a book about startups or venture capital.
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Startup/Venture Newsletter AuthorRecurring email-centered startup or venture publication, bounded by beat and audience.Tech BloggerA Tech Blogger is a writer or practitioner who publishes recurring technical content for a defined audience, explaining technologies, engineering work, tools, techniques, projects, or industry developments; the role is defined by authorship and technical communication rather than a specific platform or employer.VC-Focused PodcasterA podcast creator or host whose recurring editorial subject is venture capital, startups, founders, investors, and company building.X (Twitter) CreatorAn X Creator is an individual or creator-led business that uses X as a primary public channel for original posts, Articles, images, video, or live conversation in its own voice, building an audience and sometimes monetizing that audience; the role is distinct from a social-media manager publishing in a client's institutional voice.
4 roles
Researchers
Entrepreneurship ProfessorAn Entrepreneurship Professor is a higher-education faculty member whose assigned field includes entrepreneurship and whose work may combine teaching, research, student mentoring, institutional service, and engagement with entrepreneurial practice; the role is distinct from an entrepreneurship-program operator whose primary accountability is program delivery rather than faculty scholarship and instruction.Entrepreneurship Research LeadAn Entrepreneurship Research Lead directs or coordinates an evidence-producing research program focused on entrepreneurs, new firms, venture finance, entrepreneurial ecosystems, or related policy; the role is distinct from a program operator whose primary job is delivering founder support and from a professor role defined mainly by teaching.Independent ResearcherAn Independent Researcher conducts and is accountable for a research program or project without relying on a current organizational sponsor to own its governance and conduct.PhD Advisor (Spinout-Adjacent Lab)A PhD Advisor in a spinout-adjacent lab is an academic supervisor whose university research, trainees, intellectual property, or expertise intersects with a startup or spinout; the advisor is not necessarily a company executive.
26 roles
Ecosystem Builders
Accelerator Alumni MentorAn Accelerator Alumni Mentor is a founder who completed or participated in an accelerator and later returns in an advisory capacity to support a current cohort through experience-sharing, questioning, feedback, and relevant connections; the role is program-linked and distinct from accelerator staff who operate the cohort.Accelerator LeadAn operator responsible for designing or running a structured startup accelerator and coordinating its participant, mentor, partner, and investor experience.Accelerator PartnerPartner at an accelerator. Mentors and invests through the program.Alternative Accelerator LeadRuns a non-traditional accelerator (e.g. solo-founder cohorts, country-specific).Community OrganizerOrganizer who convenes and sustains a purpose-led community.Conference OrganizerA Conference Organizer arranges and coordinates the operational aspects of a conference or professional gathering; the role is distinct from a venue, supplier, sponsor, speaker, or attendee that participates in the event.
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Coworking OperatorA Coworking Operator is a staff member who integrates flexible-workspace operations, member experience, community facilitation, and commercial occupancy work; the role is broader than reception or event hosting alone.Demo Day HostA Demo Day Host is the program or event operator responsible for preparing and running a startup showcase and its investor-access workflow; the Persona is not merely the on-stage emcee and does not automatically make investment decisions.Ecosystem BuilderAn Ecosystem Builder is a practitioner who improves the relationships, access points, information flows, coordination, and shared capacity surrounding entrepreneurs across a place or community rather than serving only one company or program.Emerging-Manager Network LeadOperates infrastructure and relationships for emerging fund managers rather than acting as a participating manager.Entrepreneurial Development Program LeadAn Entrepreneurial Development Program Lead designs and operates a structured support program that helps aspiring or current entrepreneurs build capabilities, access resources, and progress toward business outcomes.Fellowship Program LeadLeads a selected-cohort fellowship lifecycle rather than participating as a Fellow.Government Startup Program LeadPublic-sector owner or overseer of a startup-support program.Incubator DirectorA leader accountable for operating and developing an entrepreneur-support program that incubates selected ventures or founders.IRL Event HostAn IRL Event Host is the person or small organizing team accountable for convening and running a recurring in-person startup-community gathering, including the participant experience before, during, and immediately after the event.Local/Regional Government Innovation OfficerA Local or Regional Government Innovation Officer is a public-sector professional who helps a council or combined authority identify, shape, test, and support novel approaches to strategic, economic-development, or service-delivery challenges using evidence, collaboration, and structured innovation methods.National Government Innovation OfficerThe persona is distinct from a single service owner or project manager when its responsibility spans multiple initiatives, agencies, missions, or system-wide innovation capacity.Nonprofit Ecosystem BuilderA Nonprofit Ecosystem Builder is a mission-led professional who connects, empowers, and coordinates entrepreneurs and support actors to improve the whole local or regional entrepreneurial system rather than operating only one startup program.Pre-Accelerator LeadA Pre-Accelerator Lead designs and runs a structured program for people or teams at the idea, research-commercialization, or earliest startup stage, helping them validate a business case and become ready for company formation, a later accelerator, investor review, or another defined next step.Regional Startup Association LeadLeader of a regional startup association or chamber.Startup MentorAn experienced participant who provides recurring non-executive guidance to startup founders or teams, usually without formal operating authority.University Entrepreneur-in-ResidenceExperienced venture practitioner embedded in a university program.University Innovation Center DirectorA University Innovation Center Director is a university-based leader responsible for the strategic management and operations of an innovation or entrepreneurship center or hub, distinct from coordinator and instructional roles.University Startup Careers LeadA University Startup Careers Lead is provisionally a university careers or entrepreneurship professional who helps students and recent alumni explore startup employment and connects startup employers with university talent; the role does not itself decide hiring outcomes or operate student ventures.University Technology Transfer OfficerA university commercialization professional who evaluates, protects, licenses, or helps form ventures around institution-owned research and intellectual property.Venture Builder OperatorA Venture Builder Operator is a hands-on company-building professional inside a venture studio or corporate venture builder who repeatedly executes shared operational work across new ventures; the role is distinct from a founder because it transfers capability and ownership to venture leadership, and from an accelerator operator because the studio helps build companies directly rather than mainly advising existing teams.
23 roles
Service Providers
DevRel LeadLeader of the function connecting a technology company and developer audience.Early-Stage Startup LawyerLegal adviser to early-stage or emerging companies on formation, governance, financing, and related corporate matters.Equity AdvisorFormal startup advisor compensated with equity for defined support, distinct from an informal mentor.Founder CoachA Founder Coach is a professional coach who partners with startup founders in structured, goal-oriented reflection and action; the role facilitates the founder's thinking and development rather than taking operating authority, and it must be distinguished explicitly when the same person also mentors, advises, assesses, or provides therapy.Founding-Team RecruiterA Founding-Team Recruiter is the first or foundational in-house recruiting specialist who both executes early-company hiring and builds the recruiting function's initial operating system.Fractional CFOA Fractional CFO provides CFO-level financial leadership on a part-time, interim, or defined-scope basis without being a full-time employee.
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Fund AdministratorA specialist or service function managing an investment fund's middle- and back-office accounting, investor, transaction, and reporting operations.Fund Formation LawyerA Fund Formation Lawyer is a lawyer who advises a private-fund sponsor or manager on designing, documenting, negotiating, closing, and maintaining the legal structure through which investors commit capital and the adviser operates the fund.Fundraising AdvisorExternal specialist supporting fundraising preparation and process, bounded from securities sales.Growth Marketing ConsultantExternal full-funnel growth specialist focused on measurable experiments and outcomes.Independent Board DirectorAn Independent Board Director is a non-executive board member whom the board considers independent under applicable governance criteria, distinct from executive management.Investor CoachCoach specializing in venture-investor decision-making, leadership, and role challenges.Late-Stage / M&A Startup LawyerLawyer for growth rounds, M&A, and exits.Pitch CoachSpecialist coach on pitching, narrative, and fundraising presentation.Placement AgentA Placement Agent is an intermediary retained to introduce, market, or facilitate a private securities offering to prospective investors and help move qualified interest through diligence and closing.Startup Bootcamp OperatorA Startup Bootcamp Operator is a staff member who designs or executes a fixed-term, cohort-based startup accelerator; the Persona is distinct from founders participating in the program and from mentors or investors contributing episodically.Startup Design Agency PrincipalA Startup Design Agency Principal is an owner or senior partner of an external design studio serving startup clients who combines authority over the agency business with accountability for client-facing design quality and delivery.Startup EducatorEducator of entrepreneurial competence and venture practice.Startup Executive SearchThe market participant behind Startup Executive Search is an executive-search consultant or search-firm team retained to advise a venture-backed company on defining, identifying, assessing, attracting, and integrating a senior executive or board leader.Startup PR PrincipalA Startup PR Principal is a senior communications practitioner who owns or advises external-communications workstreams for a startup, spanning narrative, launches, earned media, analysts, executive visibility, and sensitive issues.Startup-Focused AccountantAccounting professional for startup compliance, reporting, cash visibility, and advice.Tech M&A AdvisorA Tech M&A Advisor is a transaction adviser who helps a company evaluate, structure, negotiate, and execute the purchase or sale of a technology business or technology assets.Venture Debt ProviderThe persona is a creditor and risk manager, not an equity investor, even when a facility includes warrants or depends partly on the venture-financing ecosystem.
3 roles
Other roles
Hackathon OrganizerA Hackathon Organizer designs and operates a time-bounded collaborative build event, coordinating challenges, participants, teams, mentors, judges, partners, logistics, submissions, and follow-up; the role is distinct from a challenge owner who supplies the problem and from a judge who evaluates projects.VC General PartnerA venture fund partner with material authority over investment decisions, fund strategy, portfolio governance, and the firm relationship with limited partners.Venture PartnerA venture-firm participant operating under a venture partner title or arrangement whose sourcing, investment, portfolio, or operating authority may differ materially from both a general partner and an external scout. The precise authority boundary remains subject to firm-specific research.
Pick your way in
Three ways into the startup world. Choose the one you came for.