Security Officers

Founder In ResidenceAfore Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in technology companies at the pre-seed or "invention" phase. Afore doesn't just invest early; it defines what early means. The firm helped shape pre-seed into the default first institutional round for founders and continues to lead that category today. When founders are just an idea, a deck, or a prototype, Afore is often the first call.$750M AUM across multiple fundsLeads rounds with conviction—investing $2M+ pre-everythingPortfolio companies have raised $3B+ in follow-on funding200+ portfolio companies across B2B and B2CTrusted early partner to founders who go on to build category-defining companiesSome of the most category-defining companies start not in a boardroom, but in a dorm room or a hacker house. Afore is building a dedicated Foundry function to find the most ambitious technical students before anyone else does — and to be the first institutional believer in them.The RoleAfore is looking for a Founder in Residence to build and own its University program. This person will live at the intersection of student builders and early-stage venture — identifying, engaging, and supporting exceptional technical students across top engineering and startup universities, well before they're on anyone else's radar. This is not a traditional investing role: it's a network-building, talent-scouting, and community-building mandate for someone who already moves fluidly through student founder ecosystems.ResponsibilitiesBuild and own Afore's presence across a target list of university ecosystems (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, UIUC, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, Waterloo, and other strong engineering/startup schools)Identify and build relationships with the most ambitious technical students at each target university, often before they've started a company or gained visibilityDesign and run recruiting pipelines capable of surfacing ~10 standout founders per cycle, multiple times a yearTap into and build relationships with existing source pools — hacker houses, student startup communities, university VC/accelerator programs (e.g. Dorm Room Fund, Contrary, Z Fellows), and former student foundersCreate and run programming (hacker houses, fellowships, campus events, founder dinners) that gives Afore early, authentic access to student buildersRepresent Afore on campus and within student founder communities as a trusted, embedded presence — not a visiting investorFeed qualified, high-conviction student founders into Afore's broader investment pipelineOwn this initiative end-to-end with significant autonomy, reporting directly to the Managing PartnersIs This You?You're deeply embedded in student founder or hacker culture — not observing it from the outsideYou can walk onto a campus you've never worked with and find the 10 most ambitious technical students within weeksYou've built real networks and communities before — hacker houses, student programs, founder groups — and people showed up because of you specificallyYou think like a scout and operate like an organizer: scrappy, high-energy, and relentless about follow-throughYou don't need a traditional investing track record — what you need is proof you can find talent before it's obviousYou're energized by being close to the earliest, rawest stage of company building — before there's a deck, sometimes before there's even an ideaYou're a current or former startup founderPreferred QualificationsCurrent or former startup founderRecently graduated or still closely connected to the student ecosystemEngineering or technical/hacker background strongly preferredDemonstrated experience organizing hacker houses, student communities, startup programs, or founder networksStrong existing relationships across multiple top universitiesTrack record of identifying ambitious students or founders before they were well knownHigh energy, entrepreneurial, scrappy, and self-organizedComfortable building a program largely from scratch with minimal oversightWhat Makes Afore an Exciting Place to BeInvests in people before ideas — often pre-product, sometimes pre-ideaHelped define pre-seed as the default first institutional round for foundersLeads with conviction: $2M+ checks pre-everything$3B+ in portfolio follow-on funding, $12B+ combined valuation (Hightouch, Gamma among them)~3 of 5 portfolio companies skip seed entirely, straight to an $80M average Series AAccess to 200+ investors through Afore's Spring and Fall showcasesNetwork spans operators from OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and DeepMindSame instinct behind Afore's Founder-in-Residence cohorts, now extended onto campusPerksGround-floor role in building a new function at a category-defining firmDirect access to the most promising technical talent at the earliest possible stageHigh ownership and real decision-making responsibilityClose collaboration with a small, high-performing teamExposure to a wide range of universities, communities, and emerging buildersCarry within the fund