---
title: 'Sr. Research Associate at Expa'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-research-associate-expa-united-states-gt7swg57ebqt'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-14'
---

# Sr. Research Associate at Expa

- **Company:** Expa
- **Location:** United States
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/expa/40684f96-d70a-4361-ab15-6d0095283000

## Job description

## About Us

We are a private design studio that builds and supports a portfolio of companies and projects across software, hardware, hospitality, and more. Some of what we build stays in house; some spins out. We also run an early-stage investment fund and an accompanying cohort program for founders. This company is not Expa, but is an affiliate of Expa's.

## The Role

We're looking for a Senior Research Associate who can find out anything about anything. Leadership will come to you with questions — size this market, map the players in this category, who's funding what, what the landscape looks like for XYZ — and you'll come back with an answer that's clear, well-sourced, and actually useful. Some weeks that means building a competitive matrix across 40 companies. Some weeks it means a deep dive into a single obscure question nobody has written about yet. The projects change, the subject matter changes, and the volume varies week to week. You'll be exposed to a lot of different projects and ideas, and work directly with a highly accomplished leader and team. If you're the kind of person who reads everything, asks a lot of questions, and wants to be in the room with people operating at a very high level, this is built for you.

## What You'll Do

- Run open-ended research projects using the internet as your primary tool: markets, products, companies, funding activity, competitive landscapes, people, technologies, regulation — whatever the question requires.
- Turn messy findings into clean outputs: matrices, comparison tables, briefs, landscape maps, one-pagers.
- Go deep enough to have a point of view, not just a link dump — flag what matters, what's uncertain, and what you'd look at next.
- Use AI tools aggressively to move faster and go wider than a person could alone.
- Build lightweight tools, scrapers, or trackers when a project calls for it.
- Juggle several unrelated requests at once and reprioritize when things shift.

## What We're Looking For

- 2–5 years of experience and a bachelor's degree — you take a task and run with it, but you've got the reps to produce senior-level output: quick turnaround, sharp judgment calls, and less hand-holding needed along the way.
- Brain power: sharp, curious, and able to reason through a question you've never seen before.
- AI-native: You live in AI tools — Claude and Cowork, ChatGPT, Gemini, Hugging Face, whatever's newest. Ideally you can vibe code your way to a working script or prototype without waiting on an engineer. Bonus points if you've hit your usage limit more than once.
- Comfortable in ambiguity: Vague briefs don't paralyze you. You take a first pass, come back with questions, and iterate.
- Self-directed but coachable: You think independently, but you want to learn from people far ahead of you and take direction well.
- Startup-minded: You're not looking for a corporate ladder. You want interesting problems, smart people, and range.
- A strong writer: Your research is only as good as your ability to communicate it in a page or less.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Salary: The anticipated base salary range for this position is $100,000-$130,000. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, level, and location.
- Benefits: Generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision, 401(k) matching
- Location: Can be remote in the US, with significant travel to Los Angeles

## About Expa

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Expa is a startup studio that co-founds, invests in, and scales innovative technology companies, with a portfolio spanning fintech, developer tools, security, and consumer products.
- **Entity Type**: Private (startup studio / venture builder)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2013
- **Founders**: Garrett Camp (Founding Partner, co-founder of Uber)

## Core Business
- **Industry**: Startup studio / venture building; supporting early-stage technology companies.
- **Target customers**: Entrepreneurs and founders (B2B for portfolio companies, B2C for consumer brands like Current and First).
- **Mission/Purpose**: “We’re where the best startups find support and funding to scale.” — [expa.com](https://expa.com/)

## Products & Services
Expa itself acts as a platform that designs, builds, and launches companies. Its most notable portfolio companies and services include:

- **Metabase**: Open-source business intelligence and analytics tool. Originally built internally at Expa, now a widely-used independent product with over 20 language translations. [expa.com](https://expa.com/)
- **Current**: A mobile-first neobank offering early direct deposit, gas hold credits, and automated savings. Built within Expa and led by CEO Stuart Sopp. [expa.com](https://expa.com/)
- **Cmd**: A Linux security platform providing visibility and authorization for cloud infrastructure. Acquired by Elastic. [expa.com](https://expa.com/)
- **Other Studio Launches**: Include Iconic (recently launched, 2026), Layer (data infrastructure), Range (team collaboration, raised Series C), and First (prenup service, founded by Sheryl Sandberg’s former chief of staff). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/expa)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised is not disclosed; seed round in 2014 with two investors. Employee count ~29 (as of 2026, +4.3% YoY). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/expa)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founding partners include Garrett Camp (Uber), Naveen Selvadurai (Foursquare), Hooman Radfar, Milun Tesovic (founder of MetroLyrics), and others. Expa’s network includes leaders from Twitter, Virgin Galactic, and Current. [expa.com/team](https://www.expa.com/team)
- **Growth Signals**: New company launches (Iconic in 2026), portfolio companies raising significant rounds (Range’s Series C in 2025), and continued hiring (12 active job postings in mid‑2026, quarterly increase of 71%). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/expa)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven Studio Model**: A small, hands‑on team with a track record of spinning out successful companies (Metabase, Current, Cmd) and reaching hundreds of millions of users.
- **Founder‑Led Network**: Deep ties to experienced founders from Uber, Foursquare, Virgin Galactic, and Twitter, giving portfolio companies unparalleled mentorship and capital access.
- **Open‑Source Flagship**: Metabase’s popularity as a top‑starred GitHub project provides brand credibility and community leverage.
- **Flexible, Remote‑First Operation**: Operates across 5 countries with remote roles, allowing access to global talent.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue identifying and co‑building new startups in fintech, developer tools, security, and consumer health/wellness.
- Expand remote workforce and maintain a lean, high‑impact team.
- Support existing portfolio companies through subsequent funding rounds and scale‑ups.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Perks**: Offers generous parental leave, health insurance (dental, FSA), 401(k), disability insurance, unlimited PTO, and free snacks and drinks. Provides customized development tracks for career growth. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/expa)
- **Work Environment**: Remote‑friendly with physical offices in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, London, and Los Angeles. Many roles are fully remote (e.g., Full Stack Engineer, Fund Analyst). [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/expa) and [expa.com/jobs](https://www.expa.com/jobs/)
- **Impact**: Work alongside experienced founders and partners in a small team (≈29 employees) where contributions are highly visible and directly shape the next generation of technology companies.
- **Engineering Culture**: Tech stack includes TypeScript, React, Python, Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, and modern tooling. Emphasis on rapid prototyping and product development.

## Sources
1. [expa.com](https://expa.com/)
2. [expa.com/team](https://www.expa.com/team/)
3. [builtin.com/company/expa](https://builtin.com/company/expa)
4. [linkedin.com/company/expa](https://www.linkedin.com/company/expa)
5. [expa.com/jobs/](https://www.expa.com/jobs/)
6. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/expa](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/expa)

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