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Whatnot (YC W20) is a livestream shopping platform and marketplace backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, and CapitalG. We’re one of YC’s top companies and one of the fastest growing marketplaces ever. We’re laser focused on creating an exceptional software company, team, and place to work. You can read our principles here.
Our mission: enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce. We’re building the future of ecommerce; an interactive community where creators can make a living off their passion.
Did we mention we’re high growth? In January 2021, Whatnot had 10 ambitious employees. Today, the Whatnot team is 120+ employees and will exceed 300 by year end. We’re hiring forward thinking problem solvers across all functional areas. We recruit thoughtfully, can adapt quickly, and are scaling fully remotely.
Opportunity Size
The ecommerce experience has been static for 20+ years and is one of the largest opportunities for disruption in the startup space today. Livestream shopping is a $170B GMV market in China and has grown 100% YoY. Retail is a $5T market opportunity!
Role
We’re looking for an outstanding Product Counsel who will be responsible for a wide range of day-to-day legal matters. Reporting to the Director of Legal, Product Counsel will be one of the first three lawyers to support the entire company and will be responsible for providing high quality legal and business judgment cross-functionally to multiple departments, including Engineering, Product, Design, Security, Marketing, and Trust & Safety. Product Counsel will be involved in a variety of legal projects as the company continues its exciting growth, building new products and expanding globally.
What you’ll do:
- Serve as one of the first points of contact for legal issues throughout the product development lifecycle and provide practical day to day and strategic advice and solutions to the engineering and product teams, in order to minimize legal risks while advancing business goals and initiatives. You will need to be patient, solution-oriented and have a clear sense of acceptable compromise.
- Support the readiness and release of products and features by identifying and driving resolution of issues related to privacy, data security, marketing, competition, intellectual property, and other legal and regulatory areas.
- Build processes that address risk and allow the business flexibility and freedom to move quickly. And, provide strategic guidance, including guides and playbooks for the business.
- This role will require your guidance on a wide variety of data protection compliance issues. A working knowledge of the data privacy laws in the U.S. and Europe, including the CCPA and GDPR, is necessary.
- Assist Director of Legal and partner with outside counsel on issues and matters as needed
About You
Curious about who thrives at Whatnot? We’ve found that low ego, a growth mindset, and leaning into action and high impact goes a long way here.
As our next Product Counsel, you should have 5+ years of legal experience, plus:
- A JD from an accredited law school
- Admission to at least one US state bar or eligible to register as in-house counsel with at least one US state bar
- Experience in consumer protection, privacy, data protection, and/or advertising law
- Experience in product counseling for SaaS or consumer-facing digital products
- Excellent drafting, written and verbal communication skills and ability to adapt legal requirements in balanced, creative and pragmatic ways to facilitate clear and open communication at all levels of the organization
- Independent and strategic thought combined with excellent team player qualities (team over ego) and a willingness to take on additional responsibilities
- Ability to internalize the business's priorities, think creatively, and translate legal requirements into actionable (and flexible) advice
- Ability to integrate into cross-functional teams with a cooperative and participatory approach.
- Resilience, resourcefulness, and the ability to make recommendations and decisions with imperfect facts
- Experience with contests and marketing
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
Nice to Have
- Prior experience with a fast-growing start-up, ideally a user-generated content platform, or an eagerness to contribute in such an environment
- Experience at both a law firm and in-house
- Experience and familiarity with auction laws
- Experience or passion for buying and selling in online marketplaces communities
Benefits
- Competitive base salary and stock options
- Unlimited Vacation Policy and No Meeting Holidays
- Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short term disability & Long term Disability
- Whatnot covers 99% of employee premium costs, and 75% of dependent care premiums for Medical
- Dental and Vision sponsored 100% by Whatnot for employees and dependents
- Work From Home Support
- Laptop provided by Whatnot and home office setup allowance
- $450 work-from-anywhere quarterly allowance for cell phone, internet, or co-working space
- Up to $500 monthly to spend within Whatnot App
- Care benefits
- $1,350 quarterly allowance on food
- $1,500 quarterly allowance for wellness
- Paid Parental Leave
- $20,000 for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
