About the Experience

EIRs are immersed into the ecosystem and have an opportunity to directly impact the future of Startup San Diego. We are looking for forward-thinking minds to:

• Work closely with the Startup San Diego Executive Director, Fellows, & Board of Directors
• Assist in setting Startup San Diego’s near term strategic priorities
• Advise on trending topics of interest in the startup ecosystem
• Suggest engaging content and speakers for community & signature events
• Serve as track/content captains for signature events
• Mentor early-stage entrepreneurs
• Collaborate on initiatives to connect SD founders and resources 
• Promote and attend Startup San Diego’s signature events
• Moderate panel discussions and/or lead workshops
• Contribute to other projects/events as requested

The Startup San Diego Entrepreneur-in-Residence program is one of the most selective and prestigious programs for entrepreneurs looking to build community, grow an organization, and get connected to the most influential members of the San Diego startup ecosystem. Startup SD EIRs are organized across our programmatic competencies (Convergence Conference, San Diego Startup Week, 1st Mondays, and Annual Startup San Diego Incubator) but work together, leveraging individual expertise to ensure the success of internal targeted outcomes. 

Limited entrepreneurs are chosen each year and given the mission of significantly improving and growing the San Diego innovation ecosystem. Work with the best, learn from the best, build with the best!

Who Should Apply?

We are looking for entrepreneurs to complement the small team’s many superpowers to help us continue to pivot and respond to all the world’s challenges while taking Startup San Diego to new heights. 

Our Executive Director, Alexa-Rae Navarro, came to the organization in December of 2019 just in time for the pandemic wave. For the last eight years she has worked at the intersection of the tech, corporate, education, non-profit, and public sectors focused on building and scaling entrepreneurship programming and community.

The ideal candidate:  

• Has 5-10 hours of volunteer support bandwidth per week (This definitely ebbs and flows based on our programs and events, but the expectation is that folks are available for this timeframe on a weekly basis)
• One year of experience as a founder or one of the first five employees at a company
• Plans to start a startup (or currently starting one)
• Embraces diversity 
• Has a passion for inclusive community and bringing people together
• Is a generalist with specializations such as marketing/communications, sales/BD, community building, customer success, event planning, or project management
• Tech savvy (ideally knows how to operate our tools ie. Slack, Hubspot, Mailchimp, Canva, Google Suite, etc.)
• Has a “Roll-up your sleeves-no task too big or too small” attitude; A majority of administrative tasks and heavy lifting for events and programs are executed by internal staff, contractual support and fellows, however, EIRs will need to be comfortable with being a “doer” and executing projects/tasks as needed
• Loves experimentation and isn’t afraid to throw away hours of work if there’s a better way to do something and definitely not afraid to fail
• Collaborative team player and low ego 
• Comfortable speaking in front of crowds and representing our mission + values to the community

Applications for the Startup San Diego EIR program are now OPEN!