./ Common Magic

CM-01Operating manual, hire no. 1

Build the machine

Common Magic invests in products with community at their core in Europe and the US. This is the manual for the critical first hire.

this page is designed to be played with

Location
London
When
Full-time, or four days for the right person
Comp
Salary plus carry
Apply Read the manual
Fig. 1  CM-01 operating unit, front viewSelect a numbered part
title.draft vote in ch. 6 Operating partner ch. 6 has the faders title sound ops trust fun start 1 2 3 4 5 6 width: 30 portfolio companies the important one

One firm, one GP, seeking one critical new part.

This is the machine you’d run. Press any part to see what it does, and keep an eye out for what’s hidden.

oh, you opened it. of course you did

That’s exactly the curiosity this job needs. When you email, end with p.s. four screws and tell me one thing you’d rebuild about this page.

Sarah

1

Overview

What this machine is for

Common Magic is a solo GP fund investing in the inception rounds of companies in Europe and the US, on the thesis that the next wave of generational companies will be powered by community.

Think Hugging Face to Apple, Stripe to GitHub to Roblox. Each has a distinctive ideology and a strategy built on deep engagement with its customers, where the ecosystem or community around the product is the moat. Each knows that story is strategy.

The fund is specialist generalist, with an intentionally diverse portfolio of 30 companies and one horizontal thread running through them. A few of them:

the best companies build worlds. so should funds

2

The GP

Who you’d be working with

Hi! I’m Sarah. I started Common Magic after a few decades working closely with founders: first crafting stories and large-scale communities at startups, then at Google, then through angel investing.

Founders tell me Common Magic earns its place on their cap table through thesis clarity, distinctive value-add and a personal style built on high trust.

Read more here

3

Critical parts

The fund’s first hire, working across three pillars

Operations part 2

Own and run the machine behind the fund: the tech stack, workflows, pipelines and reporting. If a process repeats, you make it a system. If something’s broken or slow, you get creative and improve it.

Events part 3

Given our thesis, creating spaces for fun, deep conversation and real connection is core work. From founder dinners to hackathons and LP events, you’ll own our strategy here.

Network part 4

From research to publishing to network building, you’ll contribute to the fund’s world model, spot patterns to help CM and its portfolio founders win.

Outside those pillars you’ll see everything a small fund does, from potential new investments to portfolio support to working with LPs.

and if chairs need putting out, we both put them out

4

Operator requirements

Switch on the ones that sound like you

exceptional at some, hungry to learn the rest

5

Common Magic’s operating principles

How we work is the work

  • Service mindset

    Founders first, always. CM earns the right to do what we do every day by being a great partner.

  • True believers only

    We believe exceptional people bend the world to their will, and that what they build will bridge the gap between the world we have now and the world we want next.

  • Trust through transparency

    We do our best work in high-trust relationships. We believe real trust earns you the right to be very honest.

  • Ownership

    We hold ourselves accountable for the choices we make and aim for high standards.

  • The best way to learn is to do

    Funds are products. Products get launched, then iterated.

  • Don’t forget to have fun

    See the knob on the unit. It only goes up.

6

Name this part

Operating partner? Chief of staff? Let’s find a title you love.

Title mixerPress a key to vote

whichever title is winning shows on the unit’s display

7

Specifications

The practical bits

LocationLondon
HoursFull-time. Open to four days a week for the right person.
CompensationSalary plus carry. Happy to share the range early in the process.
Works withSarah, founders, LPs and a lot of interesting people

To be transparent: this is an operating role with room to grow, not a stepping stone to an investor seat. You’ll spend deep time with founders and sharpen your judgement. We can figure out where that leads together. If you want to be an investor in the short term, this isn’t the right fit.

8

Sound

What’s playing while we work

Now playing at CM

Good for building systems, writing memos and putting out chairs.

Play on Spotify
9

Press start

How to apply

A few lines on you, links to things you’ve built or written, and that’s it. Portfolios and projects welcome. No cover letters needed.

Write the email
To
sarah@commonmagic.xyz
Subject
Build the machine
Why this. Why now. A few lines on you.
Links to the things you’ve made.
A

Appendix: file index

The same manual, for people who prefer directories

./buildthemachine/
├── README.md
├── about-sarah.md
├── parts/
│   ├── ops.txt
│   ├── events.txt
│   └── network.txt
├── operator.checklist
├── principles.txt
├── drafts/titles.txt
├── spec.sheet
├── playlist.m3u
├── apply.eml
└── .screws   0 of 4 found

dotfiles are for the curious