Henry Gretsch
Launchpad Co-Lead, JSV
Southern Methodist University
Lead Venture Scout
Launchpad / Venture Scouts
Learn venture capital by finding the next generation of founders.
A year-round, performance-based role for students to identify, evaluate, recruit, and support the next class of JSV Launchpad founders. Top performers earn a paid summer internship in San Francisco.
Notify Me
Applications open June 22
About the Role
The front line of the JSV Launchpad sourcing engine.
Access
To Silicon Valley
Exposure to the broader Silicon Valley ecosystem through the relationships you build. A real, working role with access to the partners at an active early-stage VC firm with a credible external title.
Experience
Source, select, win, steward
JSV Venture Scouts are the front line of JSV's sourcing engine. You will identify, vet, and interview student founders at your school and across your network.
A Path
Academic year to SF
The role during the school year is a chance to work toward a summer venture internship. Top performers earn a position in San Francisco alongside the Launchpad cohort.
The Work
What You Will Do.
- Source student founders at your school and across your network through relationships, hackathons, entrepreneurship clubs, pitch competitions, and direct outreach.
- Run cold outreach to founders, clubs, programs, and faculty using JSV templates as a starting point.
- Maintain a consistent LinkedIn presence to promote Launchpad and drive inbound applications.
- Vet and interview founders to assess fit before bringing them to Lead Venture Scouts or partners.
- Manage your pipeline in the shared CRM and advocate for the strongest candidates.
- Sell founders on JSV Launchpad once they are interested.
- Represent JSV publicly in your school and network.
- Contribute to the program itself, including ideas for marketing, branding, and how Launchpad evolves.
Who We Are Looking For
We’re looking for students who are deeply connected to campus life: club leaders, fixtures in entrepreneurial circles, and the people who hear about promising founders before anyone else.
- Embedded in the social fabric of their campus and entrepreneurial communities.
- Comfortable with cold outreach, follow-up, and rejection.
- Curious about startups and able to represent JSV professionally.
- Strong enough in marketing, engineering, operations, finance, or founder judgment to evaluate early teams.
- Hungry for the access, responsibility, and visibility the role provides.
One Way to Win.
Bring the strongest companies into the cohort. Find them, interview them, advance the best candidates, and show them why JSV Launchpad is the right place to build.
There are no quotas or set hours. Your work is visible to Lead Venture Scouts and JSV partners, and strong performance throughout the academic year is the path to a paid summer internship in San Francisco.
Current Team
The People in the Room.
The current team you will be working with, including Lead Venture Scouts and venture scouts from recent Launchpad years.
Cosmo Guion
Launchpad Co-Lead, JSV
Washington University in St. Louis
Lead Venture Scout
NG
Nicolas Giannini
JSV Summer Intern
University of Washington
Sourcing Analyst
Apply
Applications open June 22.
Think you know where the best student founders are building? We want to hear from you.
Notify Me
Applications open June 22