Senior Venture Attorney – Emerging Companies & Venture Capital (ECVC)

We are looking for a Senior Venture Attorney with 5–8 years of experience to join Vela Wood's growing team in Dallas or Austin. This is a full-ownership role where you'll lead venture transactions and serve as trusted counsel to founders, emerging companies, and venture investors — working directly alongside our equity partners, with a refreshingly low billable hours target (1,350/year) and an aggressive bonus structure that rewards you for going beyond it. If you're a seasoned venture lawyer at a large firm craving better balance, deeper client relationships, and real upside, this is the move.

What will you be doing?

• Leading venture capital transactions — SAFE, convertible note, and equity financings from seed through Series A and beyond

• Advising on and drafting documentation for both company-side and investor-side deals

• Drafting entity formation, governance, and organizational documents

• Owning client relationships and building long-term partnerships with founders and investors

• Mentoring and coaching junior attorneys and working closely with paralegals

• Driving business development and bringing in new client work (originations)

• 5–8 years of venture law experience at a law firm, ideally a recognized venture practice (e.g., Perkins Coie, Cooley, Gunderson Dettmer, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Fenwick & West, Nelson Mullins)

• A track record of leading SAFE, convertible note, Series Seed, and NVCA-based financings — not just supporting them

• Experience building pro forma cap tables and financing models (anti-dilution, SAFE/note conversions, post-money ownership)

• Active bar license — Texas strongly preferred

• Comfortable working independently, well-spoken, and a low-ego team player