Founded in 2016 with offices in Los Angeles (HQ) and New York and a staff of 37, M13 is a venture capital firm that invests in the brightest founders building the future of consumer behavior in work, commerce, health, and money. M13’s Propulsion Platform is powered by one operating partner for every investing partner: our founders get access to deep operational expertise, tech tools, and a community that helps them build faster and better. 

Messier 13 (or M13) is one of the brightest star clusters in the Northern sky. It’s full of remarkable individual stars, and when those stars come together, they create something that’s truly greater than the sum of its parts. All of us at M13 contribute to our collective success by being brighter together.

We invest in early-stage consumer technology companies focused on the Future of Work, Commerce, Money, and Health, with a cultural focus on how Web 3.0 is powering these sectors. We are currently making initial investments out of our third fund, a $400M fund, and managing follow-on investments for M13’s Fund I and Fund II. 

We are seeking our first Venture Counsel to manage our firm’s legal affairs and play an important role as an operating expert resource to our portfolio companies. Based in NY or LA, our Venture Counsel will perform legal review of all M13 investment transactions, contracts, and compliance, in partnership with our external firms. 

What you’ll be doing:

• Financing transaction management: Work with the investment team to draft term sheets for proposed financing transactions. Serve as a liaison and coordinator between the investment team and M13’s outside counsel on transactions. 
• Compliance management: Execute on required tasks necessary for the firm to fulfill its reporting and documentation obligations related to compliance with SEC regulations and internal processes and procedures. Advise on technical matters relating to compliance, such as security and document management, and where applicable, ESG. Maintain and update compliance policies as necessary.
• General legal matters: Work closely with firm leadership on a variety of projects relating to legal, and business matters, reviewing insurance policies, and interpreting SEC rules, regulations, and laws applicable to venture capital firms. Other legal matters may include reviewing a wide variety of marketing materials, such as a review of vendor and employee contracts, review of non-disclosure agreements, and playing a role in future fund formations. 
• Supporting the Portfolio:  Like all M13 partners, the Venture Counsel will be an operating expert resource to our portfolio companies on best practices and approaches to legal issues they may encounter.
• Investor Relations + Reporting: Partner with investor relations and fundraising activities to provide legal oversight and input on external communications, public and investor relations, government affairs, security, financial services, administration, and human resources.
• Stay up to date on best practices and be able to offer insights into compliance, regulatory changes, ESG, communications, as well as HR, administration, accounting – and other functions that serve as the backbone of the firm.
• Review marketing materials related to fundraising, Carta management, LP legal matters and reporting. 
• Provide up-to-date securities law advice and compliance guidance for investor-facing materials.

What you bring to the role:

• 10 - 15 years of corporate experience with a major law firm or in-house legal department, ideally in emerging companies/venture practice groups, and/or compliance experience with private investment funds.
• Experience serving as internal counsel at an early-stage technology company is a plus but is not a substitute for significant transaction experience as noted above.
• Strong business judgment and project management skills to be able to execute beyond core legal areas. Exhibits the potential to be a strategic business leader and a value-added partner to the firm’s teams across multiple areas.
• Empathy for founders, flexible and collaborative mindset who is happy to take on a variety of tasks to support the firm’s growth.
• Additional legal experience including a balance of transaction experience on the investor side and company side of transactions is a plus.
• Strong oral and written communication skills are important, and some financial analytical capabilities are required.
• The ideal candidate will be based in LA or NY, but we are always open to remote locations for the right person.

What’s in it for you:

• One Team, One Dream: A chance to work alongside world-class VC talent in a collaborative and developmentally focused culture that is respectful, inclusive, diverse, and inspiring. You’ll do the best work of your life here and have fun doing it.
• Comprehensive Health Package: Medical, dental, and vision plans that are thoughtful and supportive of the needs of each M13 employee.
• Open PTO Policy: We're focused on healthy work-life balance and therefore set no firm guidelines as to how much time off each employee is permitted to take.
• Investment in Your Future: Employee Profit Sharing Program and 401(k) Retirement Plan with matching for all employees.
• Many more excellent perks are available within our comprehensive benefits program.

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized folks tend to only apply when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit.

About M13:

M13 provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We deeply understand the value of bringing together a team with different perspectives, educational backgrounds, and life experiences. We encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.