Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern Clap (Virtual Playgrounds, Inc.)

Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern Clap (Virtual Playgrounds, Inc.) | clap.gg Ideal Location: Austin, TX or San Diego, CA | Mid-April — September 2026 About Clap Clap is an AI-powered challenge engine for brands, creators, educators, and communities. Type any idea, and the AI instantly generates a challenge with rules, scoring, and prizes – participants compete via short video clips judged by AI. The platform is white-labeled and embeddable, so challenges live on the partner’s own site while Clap runs the engine. We’re building a new way for people to engage together online, and we move fast. We’re led by two battle-tested founders (Sean & Dan) who’ve built and sold multiple startups — Pillow was acquired by Expedia, Notehall by Chegg. We’re VC-backed, in private beta with our first brand partner live, and building an AI-native product that wouldn’t have been possible even two years ago. If you want a front-row seat to a startup on the launchpad, this is it. The Role: We’re looking for a Brand Partnerships & Growth Intern to work directly with our CEO on brand outreach, growth experiments, and marketing operations. This is a hands‑on role where you’ll own real work from week one — researching prospects, running campaigns, and helping Clap land its first wave of brand partners. This is an intern‑to‑hire opportunity. Show us what you can do, and there’s a path to a full‑time role. What You’ll Do: Brand Pipeline (~50%) Research and build prospect lists of DTC/CPG brands that fit Clap’s platform (youth-focused, challenge-friendly, socially active) Draft personalized outreach emails and help book intro calls with brand prospects Prep for brand calls: competitive research, tailored talking points, customized pitch decks Join brand and creator calls — first as a shadow, then as a contributor, then leading portions Track the pipeline: who we’ve contacted, where conversations stand, what’s next Help capture metrics, draft write‑ups, and package our first case study — this is a key deliverable for outbound and fundraising Help onboard our first brand partners — manage campaign setup, timelines, and deliverables as we bring brands onto the platform Build repeatable processes for brand campaigns (briefs, approvals, launch checklists) that we can eventually productize into the Clap platform Coordinate with our marketing agency to ensure influencer activations and brand campaigns launch in sync Growth Experiments (~30%) Help design and run 2-3 growth experiments per month: landing pages, ads, tracking, and readouts Assist with ad campaigns and creatives — help build, test, and iterate on paid social ads across Meta and TikTok, and track what’s driving signups Working with social media manager to review & suggest content for our clap social profiles Assist with prize fulfillment and winner verification as campaigns launch AI-Augmented Ops (~20%) Using Claude Co-work other AI tools daily to accelerate research, drafting, and analysis Spot what’s manual that shouldn’t be — flag opportunities to automate or templatize recurring work Build lightweight templates: meeting prep docs, outreach drafts, experiment briefs, reporting formats Who You Are: Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or similar Strong writer – you can draft a cold email that doesn’t sound like a template Naturally curious and resourceful – you Google it before you ask Comfortable with ambiguity and fast pace (this is a startup, not a syllabus) Interested in creator economy, social platforms, and interactive content Bonus: experience with AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or similar Bonus: familiarity with Meta/TikTok Ads Manager, Webflow, or influencer marketing platforms What You’ll Get: Direct mentorship from Clap’s CEO – you’ll learn startup operations, fundraising, and go‑to‑market firsthand Paid access to Claude Co-work and other AI tools as part of your workflow Real ownership of projects that matter (not busy work) Intern‑to‑hire path based on performance Flexible hours – we’re open to adjusting around class schedules Compensation: Paid internship (details discussed during interview) #J-18808-Ljbffr Clap