Are you looking for a new job? This is what an Entrepreneur-in-Residence does

Do you have to have founded a company first to become an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR)? Or do you become an EIR to one day be a founder? The answer? As is often the case: "It depends." Whether you're a career starter or an experienced entrepreneur, part-time or full-time, temporary or permanent, the role of the EIR is as diverse as the companies that offer it.

An Entrepreneur-in-Residence can and must be many things—strategist, project manager, consultant, doer, bridge builder. But when and where does this position really make sense? We asked EIRs from various industries and a human resources consultant to find out. In this article, you'll learn what an EIR actually does, how the role differs from that of Founders Associate and Chief of Staff , what qualifications are in demand, and how much you can earn as an EIR.

Literally translated, "Entrepreneur-in-Residence" means something like "entrepreneur in residence" or "entrepreneur in the house." This makes just as little sense as the English description of the position. To understand what the job description entails, let's take a look at which companies employ EIRs.

In itself, EIR is a position more likely to be found at a venture capital (VC) firm, says Janin Dreger, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the gastronomy app Neotaste , about her own role. After a successful investment, VCs will deploy experienced entrepreneurs from their network in their portfolio companies to drive growth and support the founders. "An Entrepreneur-in-Residence could, for example, support a startup in creating business plans to attract investors, help with the pitch deck, assist with market analysis, or develop a prototype," explains Sebastian Wesserle from the HR consultancy Angehirt. The position can be either full-time or part-time. Either an entrepreneur is deployed full-time by the VC in a startup and helps strategically with marketing and business development, or an otherwise active entrepreneur provides, for example, ten hours of their time each week as a mentor, the HR expert describes.