Conductive Ventures
Conductive Ventures Investor (Associate-level)
Title: Investment Associate
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA preferred
Start Date: Summer 2023
Comp: Competitive base and bonus (paired with a rewarding learning curve)
Experience-level: 2-4 years of experience, ideally a person with a Technology Investment Banking, Consulting or Startup background. Pre-MBA position
Conductive Ventures invests in software, hardware and tech-enabled services startups to grow efficiently in industries primed to innovate. We have $450M in AUM from three funds to achieve this mission, and we are deploying it into post-product companies with early revenue traction. Over the past few years startups have been “building war chests” to expand without positive unit economics. These were the first to struggle in the current economic conditions. From day one, we invested in capital efficient, non-traditional entrepreneurs who are scrappy, understand the importance of a fast customer payback period, and stronger unit economics to build sustainable businesses.
Our portfolio companies’ success is paramount, and we help accelerate growth by sharing our networks and guiding strategy. More importantly we support entrepreneurs when the path ahead looks particularly challenging. A true test of character is seen in the face of adversity – which stems from our DNA as 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. In both good and tough times, we support our entrepreneurs as a top priority – our CEOs are our references.
The team is led by institutional venture investors and operators with prior experience from IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Intel Capital and a range of startups. We live in awe of the entrepreneurs we meet, and believe in being humble in both success and failure. We have almost 30 portfolio companies that include Self Financial, CSC Generation, Jackpocket and many more including 7 companies that have exited through a combination of IPOs and M&As.
What will you be doing?
The venture capitalist’s job can be simplified into 4 F’s: Find, Finance, Fix, and Firm. As a valuable member of the team, you will be working on all four:
FIND: Sourcing the next generation of smart and scalable entrepreneurs. You will go deep into emerging industries and build investment theses. Then, using our collective network, we will reach out to entrepreneurs and other investors together to set up meetings to learn more about their team, technologies, products, and company. In addition, you will be on the frontlines to identify and filter opportunities. To do this, you will need to always expand your network. Meet and catch up with entrepreneurs, co-investors, and company executives frequently and build long-term relationships.
FINANCE: Leading diligence efforts and proposing deal terms. As you build investment theses around certain industries and companies, you will undoubtedly become an expert for those fields through researching industry dynamics, and analyzing complex data sets to identify crucial financial and business information. You will draft investment memos with data and your analysis to support prospective investment decisions.
FIX: Ensuring our CEOs’ success. You will work with portfolio companies on key strategic and operational projects – this will be critical to the success of the company during growth periods as well as challenging periods. Think organizational structure, employee compensation, financial reporting, sales execution, product road mapping, among others.
FIRM: Helping us scale our own business – remember we are a startup. You will create key external pieces of thought leadership, such as blog posts and whitepapers. You will help with hosting events and marketing our firm. You will own our internal CRM for deal tracking and intelligence building, and manage LP reporting.
What is in it for you?
We will trust and empower you as we do with our CEOs: Our entire team gets involved in all parts of the investment process, and we run on communal trust. You will be encouraged to speak up, attend external meetings and own a workstream the way we trust our CEOs to run their businesses. We are a lean team, and you will work with every person and not be siloed. Because we are lean, we do not have the time nor the desire to micro-manage. You are expected to be proactive.
You will get more exposure to ALL parts of venture capital: This is not a role where you will be working in a windowless basement simply crunching numbers. We provide autonomy and will give you every opportunity to learn all parts of the venture capital business.
Our network is your network, and you will build your own: We don’t hide our network, and believe it is our communal asset. The firm’s networks will become yours. As you build and strengthen that network, all we ask is for you to leverage it to find new investments. Remember, this network will be yours forever.
Our ideal candidate is someone who is:
Genuine, likable and with high EQ: Venture capital is a services job. You have to have the ability to put yourself in the entrepreneurs’ shoes to understand their challenges so that you can better service them. You can build meaningful relationships with entrepreneurs, investors, limited partners, corporate executives, and others. Most of all it means that you should be a pleasure to work and travel alongside.
Analytical, detailed-oriented with high IQ: You can build financial models, create pertinent due diligence questions, and go deep into emerging sectors as we evaluate investments. You can create impactful slide decks for external audiences such as corporate and limited partners. You will likely have built this skill at an investment bank, consulting firm, or other operating roles.
Always treating the firm as if it were your own: We are a scrappy startup VC fund with a highly leveraged nimble investment team. You should treat the firm as if it were your own business and be a self-starter, not wait for instructions. You will work smart and hard, be proactive, and not be afraid to ask questions.
How can you apply?
We are always delighted to speak to applicants, but ask that we make it a productive conversation. Think hard about an industry (relevant to us and exciting to you), and write a paragraph on 2-3 companies and why they could be investable. Please also attach your resume and a link to your LinkedIn profile. Send to recruiting@conductive.vc. We don’t use recruiters, and our CEOs and investments are our first priority, so be patient with us. Thanks!