Sorenson Ventures
Sorenson Ventures is seeking to hire an Associate.
This is a full-time role based at 537 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto. To learn more about our team at Sorenson, please visit our latest blog post.
Our mission at Sorenson Ventures is to help build the next generation of security and enterprise software companies. The partners at Sorenson Ventures have invested in companies such as Bridgecrew (Palo Alto Networks), CloudKnox (Microsoft), DocuSign (IPO), AlienVault (AT&T), Carbon Black (IPO), Forescout (IPO), Prolexic (Akamai), Openpath (Motorola Solutions), Gigya (SAP), Fastly (IPO), Couchbase, Amplitude, Socure, Harness, CyCognito, MX, and many others.
Sorenson Ventures announced the closing of its inaugural fund above its $100M target in 2019 and the closing of its second fund at the $150M hard cap in 2022. The firm typically initially invests $2M to $6M in early-stage enterprise software and security startups and reserves up to $15M for follow-on rounds. Sorenson Ventures typically leads or co-leads its investments.
The firm is headed by Ken Elefant and Rob Rueckert who have both operating experience and venture experience at Battery Ventures, Lightspeed, and Intel Capital. They are augmented by an all-star team, including Vidya Raman (Partner), and Eric Hilton (Principal), Michelle Moon (Principal) and Tony Spinelli (Venture Partner). The firm is especially well-known for making value-add connections to Global 2000 customers and as such, has partnered with outstanding entrepreneurs and companies.
We are looking to hire an Associate. As an integral member of our Investment Team, you will have the unique opportunity to work closely with our partners, driving our sourcing process and the development of new investment themes. It is expected that the Associate will assist partners in the due diligence process of potential investments and be involved as a guest at board meetings for portfolio companies.
Sorenson Ventures leverages the analytic and operational capabilities of Sorenson Capital, a growth equity firm founded in 2002 with more than $1 billion in capital under management. Sorenson Capital has a long history of placing associates into top-tier MBA programs – 80% of all Associates that applied were accepted into a top 3 MBA program, and 93% were accepted into a top 10 MBA program. Sorenson Capital regularly promotes Associates or rehires them after an MBA program – 25% of all Associates were rehired or promoted to a career-track role.
Sorenson offers a competitive compensation package including salary, bonus, health, dental, life, and set compensation for relocation expenses. Candidates should anticipate commencing employment at Sorenson in fall 2022 (subject to change).
Responsibilities include:
- Initiate proactive outreach and conversations with CEOs of leading software and security businesses
- Manage firm-wide sourcing efforts and independently source new investments by building deep relationships with entrepreneurs and identifying new areas of investment
- Triage deal flow to spend time on the most important investment prospects
- Research various sectors to identify leading venture opportunities
- Help execute due diligence process for partners’ investment opportunities. Execute analysis, identify which are the key areas necessary for deal success, develop a framework, and consistently arrive at accurate conclusions based on the results
- Lead weekly partner meetings and document follow-up; drive quarterly meetings and help build annual meeting presentation
- Proactively monitor cohorts of leading accelerators and incubators (e.g. YC, Alchemist, Techstars) for potential investment opportunities and trend analysis
- Participate in fundraising process by preparing investment presentation, building data room and PPM; assist in quarterly LP communication
- Lead market analyses to assist with the development of new investment themes
- Contribute to building the Sorenson Ventures brand and portfolio; participate on panels, create and manage a Sorenson Ventures newsletter; write blog posts
- Drive firm-wide projects including people prospecting, open-source metrics tracking, and Angel/Seed Firm prospecting among other projects
The ideal candidate would ideally have the following experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant technical or business discipline (e.g. Engineering, Computer Science, Business; MBA not required)
- 2-6 years of work experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Product management, operations, or other relevant experience at a fast-growing enterprise software or security startup
- Product management, operations, or other relevant experience in Big Tech
- Investment industry (e.g. venture capital, growth equity, private equity)
- Structured training environment, such as investment banking / management consulting
We believe the strength of our team comes from diverse backgrounds and experiences. You might be a good fit if:
- You have a strong process orientation with an affinity for designing and executing systems involving multiple stakeholders. You are deeply organized and reliable above all else
- You thrive in an environment with minimal supervision. You are comfortable with prioritizing competing projects and allocating your time wisely to deliver maximum impact to the team.
- You hustle hard. You have a strong track record of scrappiness. You learn quickly about new ideas, people, and technologies and find ways to bring them into the firm
- You are fascinated by technology and how today’s entrepreneurs are collaborating to shape the future
- You are a phenomenal teammate with a low ego, equally up for data entry as you are for meeting with CEOs
- You have the polish and presence to represent our firm and our values while interacting with founders and other C-level executives
If the above descriptions sound like you, we would love to hear from you. After applying, the best route in, like much of VC, is through a shared contact who can speak to your excellence.
Please note that this will be a two-year program, which could be extended with mutual agreement.
If you have any questions about our firm or process, you can reach us by email. This mailbox is monitored by Michelle Moon, Ken Elefant and Burke Davis. Please note that there is no need to email your resume after submitting it via our application form.
At Sorenson Ventures, we value resourcefulness, diversity, team play, excellence, and hustle. We believe in the importance of an inclusive and diverse team. We welcome people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, orientations, and backgrounds to apply.