Lend Us Your Expertise, and We'll Give You An Awesome (Paid) Experience

University of Houston’s RED Labs and Rice University’s OwlSpark are looking for some awesome people to help our startups with graphic design this summer. This is a paid opportunity because we know good design matters, and we know compliments don’t pay the bills.

This summer, OwlSpark and RED Labs have over 40 founders in more than 13 startups operating out of the brand new DesignHive in downtown Houston. Over the summer, we expose our startups to curriculum, mentorship, resources and connections that will help them develop their business.

Each startup will pitch at Bayou Startup Showcase, our end of summer demo day, on August 1, 2017.

Bayou Startup Showcase is traditionally attended by over 500 members of the startup community — including investors, entrepreneurs, and community members. We want our founders to put their best foot forward at Bayou Startup Showcase, and that means a well-designed slide deck that clearly translates their company, goals, and brand.

That's where you come in.

What we're looking for

  • Someone with a unique eye for design
  • Passion for working with startups
  • Willingness to work alongside the RED Labs and OwlSpark startup teams part-time in-person for the month preceding Bayou Startup Showcase (August 1)
  • Ability to host weekly office hours to work with teams on the vision for their slide deck

What you'll get

  • Payment for each slide deck designed
  • Access to the DesignHive space for one month
  • The opportunity to work with early-stage startups that could need future business
  • Exposure to the startup community
  • Access to guest talks on topics like funding, building a team, and sales
  • Hear experienced entrepreneurs share their stories and best practices
  • Additions to your portfolio

[Note: we expect slide decks to be approximately 8-10 slides, startups will have a prepared pitch and they will work with the designer to storyboard the pitch]

How to apply

Send an email to Kelly McCormick [[email protected]] and Jessica Fleenor [[email protected]] with a resume, a short explanation of your interest in this opportunity, and a Dropbox, Google Drive or website link to your work or portfolio. Please apply by June 21, 2017.

If you have questions about this opportunity, feel free to reach out.

We can't wait to hear from you.