Startup Analyst - MBA summer internship

We’re looking for an MBA intern with an interest in entrepreneurship and venture capital to work with our intelligence team over the summer. If the thought of spending your time researching Europe's leading startups, investors and innovators excites you, please get in touch.

This role would suit anyone with experience conducting diligence on startups, market mapping, sector trend analysis, at a venture capital fund, consultancy, research provider or similar.

About Sifted

Sifted is an award-winning new media platform, backed by the Financial Times, reporting on the world of technology and startups in Europe. Four years after launching, our high-quality journalism is a must-read for many founders, investors and people working in startups across the continent.

We’re friendly, hard-working and passionate about what we do. We have a flat structure, collaborate across disciplines and everyone has an impact across many areas of the business. We value feedback, honesty and clear communication.

We offer a single membership offering, providing exclusive access, providing exclusive access to digestible research briefings on emerging sectors, industry networking roundtables, access to our pro newsletter and in depth industry specific reports.

The problem we want to solve

Investors in public equities receive more sell side research than they could ever possibly read. Private equity investors have enough boutique research providers and consultancies to evaluate new deals. What about Venture Capitalists? Nothing apart from the odd needle in a haystack self published blog on Medium / LinkedIn / Substack, and opaque networks that may or may not deliver.

We are going to change that. As venture matures as an asset class, so must the information on which it runs. Startup databases are great but inherently backwards looking and lack context/analysis. As the leading media outlet on European startups we are read by key investors and decision makers in the ecosystem, and want to empower them by doing the research that will allow them to focus on their own individual value adds.

Core responsibilities include:

• Regularly mapping different sub-sectors in the European startup ecosystem including:
  Market trends, competitive landscape, recent investment, key figures, future outlook
• Developing workflows to capture the insight gained during Sifted’s journalistic work
• Creating and writing sub-sector intelligence briefs (think sell side research but 2 instead of 100 pages), including:
  Market maps, informative charts, explanatory paragraphs, startup names to watch lists, conduct market research including contacting companies / funds
• Building out the internal Sifted startup database

What are we like to work for?

We have a small-company mindset, but big company goals, and can draw on many of the strengths and benefits of a world-respected brand, the Financial Times. We’re friendly, hard-working and passionate about what we do. We have a flat structure, collaborate across disciplines and everyone has impact across many areas of the business. We value feedback, honesty and clear communication.

Location

London (although we are open to semi-remote applicants — ie. people who could travel in 2/3 days per week)

You MUST have right to work in the UK to apply for this role.

Requirements

• Interest in tech and startups and an understanding of how technology is transforming society and business
• Previous experience conducting research on startups
• Knowledge of Venture Capital as an asset class and the dynamics that drive deals
• Comfort with uncertainty and the ability to change tack without experiencing discomfort (projects can arise/change focus at the last minute)
• Willingness to build a business and define a role, this isn’t a plug and play position since it hasn’t been done before!
• Flexibility, as Sifted is a young business, a willingness to get involved in all aspects of the business as needed is key
• Whilst this role requires the ability to write clear, concise and informative briefings, it is not a journalistic role.

Benefits

• Between £100-£120 per day dependant on previous experience
• Monthly team lunches for our all-hands meeting and seemingly endless snacks
• Regular team socials… (e.g. pub quizzes, dinners, rounders games)