Chief of Staff to Vinod Khosla

Chief of Staff to Vinod Khosla

Menlo Park, CA · In person · Full-time · 3-year commitment

About Khosla Ventures

Vinod Khosla is an entrepreneur and investor ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ 2026 Midas List of the world’s top venture investors. He backs ambitious ideas before they become conventional wisdom and built Khosla Ventures around venture assistance: working directly with founders to turn technical breakthroughs into lasting businesses.

KV backs entrepreneurs pursuing bold, early, and impactful technologies. Across AI, healthcare, energy, and more, the ambition is to make essential services more accessible, scarce resources more abundant, and entirely new capabilities possible. KV investments include OpenAI, General Intuition, Discovery Loop, Cognition, DoorDash, Instacart, Stripe, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and Rocket Lab.

Three of KV’s five managing directors were named to the 2026 Midas List, offering the opportunity to learn directly from Vinod within a team of accomplished investors and company builders.

About the role

We’re hiring a Chief of Staff to serve as a thought partner to Vinod. You’ll work directly with him across investment opportunities, portfolio support, research, and writing, combining independent judgment with hands-on execution. Your work will range from meeting founders and investigating unfamiliar technologies to drafting communications and helping portfolio companies address important questions.

The core of the job is judgment: evaluating founders and technologies, investigating unfamiliar questions, and developing recommendations that inform Vinod’s decisions. As you build trust, you’ll lead conversations on his behalf, assess opportunities, and determine next steps.

You’ll learn how Vinod evaluates opportunities and builds conviction by conducting diligence, contributing your own views, and seeing how decisions play out. You’ll be expected to turn that thinking into action and follow through.

What you’ll do

• Evaluate opportunities and conduct diligence. Meet founders, assess inbound opportunities, investigate technologies, markets, products, and teams, and develop a clear recommendation.
• Develop analyses and communications. Write investment recommendations and meeting briefs, and help draft essays, presentations, and correspondence. Make complex ideas clear and the reasoning easy to assess.
• Support portfolio companies. Track business performance, financing plans, milestones, and leadership needs. Review company updates and board materials, prepare for conversations, and identify where Vinod or KV can help.
• Drive portfolio projects. Work with founders and the KV team on research, strategic questions, and company priorities. Bring structure to open-ended assignments and follow through to completion.
• Keep work moving. Anticipate needs, track opportunities, prepare for meetings, and ensure follow-through.
• Build relationships. Engage founders, researchers, operators, and investors whose expertise can inform the work.
• Contribute independent judgment. Challenge assumptions, push back constructively, and explain what evidence would change your view.

What we’re looking for

• Achievement, depth, and intellectual range. You’ve demonstrated excellence in academic or professional work and taken ownership of difficult things. You’ve gone deep in at least one area and can learn unfamiliar domains quickly.
• Independent thinking. You reason from first principles, distinguish evidence from assumption, and are comfortable saying “I don’t know” before finding out.
• Clear communication and people skills. You write precisely, explain complex ideas succinctly, listen carefully, and disagree constructively.
• Initiative and disciplined execution. You’re organized, detail-oriented, and reliable. You manage competing priorities, anticipate needs, and deliver in an unstructured environment. You use tools, including AI and automation, to improve how work gets done.
• Integrity, composure, and low ego. You handle sensitive information responsibly, remain effective under pressure, and bring the same care to routine coordination as to consequential decisions.
• Interest in founders and technology. You want to understand how ambitious ideas become businesses. Venture or startup experience is a plus.

Evidence of these qualities matters more than credentials. Founders whose companies succeeded, failed, or wound down are welcome, as are candidates with unusual paths and international backgrounds.

A three-year chapter

This role is designed as a three-year commitment, with the opportunity to develop your judgment through direct work with Vinod, founders, and experts across disciplines.

Previous Chiefs of Staff have gone on to build companies, launch investment firms, and take leadership roles at KV. The experience can provide a strong foundation for entrepreneurship, operating, or investing. This is not a dedicated investing seat or a guaranteed path to one.

Practical expectations

• Work in person in Menlo Park every day, generally from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Maintain around-the-clock availability, including nights and weekends when needed.
• Commit to three years.
• Live near Menlo Park or relocate there. Relocation support and visa sponsorship are available.

This requires substantial time and flexibility. It will suit someone who wants significant responsibility and is comfortable with ambiguity.

How to apply

Submit your resume and brief responses to the application questions. Write clearly and directly. We want to understand how you think.

The process includes conversations with the KV talent team, members of Vinod’s team, and Vinod.