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What exactly does an EIR do? Can anyone on HN who has been one, or known one really well tell us what a typical day in the life of an EIR is and what is exciti

by aditya 17y ago

What exactly does an EIR do? Can anyone on HN who has been one, or known one really well tell us what a typical day in the life of an EIR is and what is exciting about the job? As I understand it, it is a temporary position before you become the growth-stage CEO of a company that the VC has previously funded? Or to become the CEO of a CEO-less company that the VC is funding? Is that about right? What else do EIRs do?

jjolsen 17y ago
We had an EIR when I was in grad school. He would basically just give a lot of advise, and explain why everyone's ideas wouldn't work. The exciting thing is that you potentially hear a lot of nearly-good ideas and you get to help transform them into good ideas.
vibhavs 17y ago
Here's a good explanation that I found: "What does an EIR do?" - http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/what-does-an-eir-do/ http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/what-does-an-eir-...
- aditya 17y ago
  Ah, nice post. Also, worthwhile: http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/many-benefits-and-a-giant-risk-for-eirs/ http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/many-benefits-and... Slightly comparable risk to Chris Dixon's why you don't want to raise seed money from a VC firm: http://cdixon.org/2009/08/14/the-problem-with-taking-seed-money-from-big-vcs/ http://cdixon.org/2009/08/14/the-problem-with-taking-seed-mo...
jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
It depends on each firm, but it usually goes something like this: You just left a company like Google in a prime role or sold your last startup. You don't know what you want to start yet, but you jive with the firm. They want first dibs on what you do next and/or you already have a great relationship with the firm. It might be joining another startup that comes in through the door or doing your own thing. Bret Taylor did this with Benchmark before starting FriendFeed. Not sure if he frequents here,but he could give some insight. Jason Calacanis did it with Sequoia as an "Entrepreneur In Action" as well.

by aditya 17y ago

jjolsen 17y ago

We had an EIR when I was in grad school. He would basically just give a lot of advise, and explain why everyone's ideas wouldn't work. The exciting thing is that you potentially hear a lot of nearly-good ideas and you get to help transform them into good ideas.

vibhavs 17y ago

Here's a good explanation that I found: "What does an EIR do?" - http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/what-does-an-eir-do/ http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/what-does-an-eir-...

aditya 17y ago
Ah, nice post. Also, worthwhile: http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/many-benefits-and-a-giant-risk-for-eirs/ http://framethink.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/many-benefits-and... Slightly comparable risk to Chris Dixon's why you don't want to raise seed money from a VC firm: http://cdixon.org/2009/08/14/the-problem-with-taking-seed-money-from-big-vcs/ http://cdixon.org/2009/08/14/the-problem-with-taking-seed-mo...

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago

It depends on each firm, but it usually goes something like this: You just left a company like Google in a prime role or sold your last startup. You don't know what you want to start yet, but you jive with the firm. They want first dibs on what you do next and/or you already have a great relationship with the firm. It might be joining another startup that comes in through the door or doing your own thing. Bret Taylor did this with Benchmark before starting FriendFeed. Not sure if he frequents here,but he could give some insight. Jason Calacanis did it with Sequoia as an "Entrepreneur In Action" as well.