Meet the Team
We are a strong and mighty team of three, based in San Francisco and the larger Bay Area. You can learn more about our core investment team members, as well as our Operations team members here:
What We Value for the Analyst Role
Here are some things that we value and hope to see in the candidates who apply for this role:
Intellectual Curiosity
We are a generalist firm that invests in a wide variety of industries and companies. We are looking for people who enjoy learning new things and are comfortable with the challenges that come with exploring new markets and industries from scratch.
Diverse Backgrounds and Previous Experiences
We are open to applicants who have a wide variety of previous experiences. We do not require previous experience with startups, venture capital, or finance to apply. We encourage people whose academic training, personal journey, or previous professional experience are outside of the status quo in venture to apply
Problem Solving Mentality
We are looking for someone who has a knack for identifying and solving problems. We also expect that the Analyst will identify and lead new projects that aren’t being done. The ideal candidate is someone that will take the initiative to solve new problems or improve our internal processes.
High Emotional Intelligence
Venture Capital is a surprisingly emotional business. Navigating the ins and outs of this industry requires a significant level of emotional intelligence (also known as EQ). With our team being small, each of us brings a level of self awareness to our work every day that allows us to collaborate effectively. We are looking for someone who can hit the ground running in this aspect and can contribute to the team by bringing a high level of empathy and integrity.
What We Can Offer
If you decide to join us in the Analyst role, here is what we believe that we can offer you:
Opportunity to Learn about the Venture Capital Industry
We are committed to teaching you the ins and outs of the venture capital industry and providing opportunities to meet other VCs, startup founders and others who are important players in the venture capital ecosystem.
Opportunity to Leave Your Mark on Our Startup VC Firm
We still have a lot of work to do to build Precursor into the firm that we want it to become. There is ample opportunity for you to make contributions to the firm’s operation and strategy.
Support in Your Personal and Professional Development
We are committed to supporting you in your personal and professional development. We will support you in learning how to become effective in this role, and we will work with you to think about what your future career plans may hold.
Key Responsibilities & Activities
We are hiring an Analyst to help us with our core day-to-day activities at the firm that fall under these themes.
Communication
On any given day, we have multiple touch-points with founders in and outside of our portfolio. It is our priority to respond to any inquiry from these founders, regardless of our connection to them, within a timely manner. To be successful in this role, you should have strong written and verbal communication skills. Here are some examples of where we will require your support:
Startup Submission form – We encourage founders that want to be considered for investment to reach out to us directly through our website form. In a given week, we will receive 40+ pitch decks to review, and we strive to provide timely feedback to the founders who take the time to apply for consideration. As our Analyst, it will be your job to review all of the submissions and provide constructive feedback to each founder in a timely fashion.
Intercom – Beyond submissions from our website form, we receive a variety of inquiries from founders and prospective investors about our investment scope and philosophy through our messaging platform, Intercom. As our Analyst, you will be the first point of contact for these individuals to understand how Precursor Ventures operates.
Social Media – We provide support to our portfolio companies in a myriad of ways. One way is by using our social media to share announcements that will help generate awareness for the products and solutions that our founders are building. We mainly post features our portfolio companies have in the press, company or product-specific launches, job openings, and fundraising announcements via Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and where relevant our blog. As our Analyst, you will lead all of our social media engagement efforts.
Internal Newsletter – Once a quarter, we produce a newsletter for our portfolio companies, packed with resources and company-specific announcements. If you decide to join the team, you will be in charge of producing the internal newsletter.
Operations
With a growing portfolio, we expect our Analyst to be able to work on a variety of projects and tasks that entail portfolio onboarding and support, creating relationships with service providers to offer benefits that support the development of our portfolio companies, planning all community-building efforts, among many other things. Being resourceful, organized, and creative are essential components to managing our operations. We expect our Analyst to identify new projects that aren’t being done and will take the initiative to lead these projects.
Portfolio Data Management
We have made over 200 investments to date, and we receive monthly and quarterly updates from our portfolio companies. We use Airtable to store, manage, and analyze our portfolio company data. While your primary focus will be on managing the queue of incoming submissions, there will be some opportunities to help us organize our portfolio company data, including information on KPIs, contact information for founders, and other internal projects focused on portfolio support.
Deal flow Management
We encourage founders to reach out to us directly through our website; we do not require a warm introduction in order for us to take a look at a deck or learn more about a company. On average, we receive 40 new submissions per week. It takes about 20 minutes to review each submission and determine whether it is a fit for Precursor. As our Analyst, we will look to you to determine which companies you pass along to the investment team for further consideration and which ones we should decline to pursue. We strive to provide timely feedback to the founders who take the time to apply for consideration through our website. We will work with you to make sure that all outbound communications to founders are in keeping with our style and approach.
Qualifications
The ideal applicant for this position will have some familiarity with venture capital or the startup ecosystem. We do not require previous work experience in venture or at a startup company, but enthusiasm for and familiarity with the industry will allow the candidate to maximize learnings and contributions.
- Positive Attitude – Optimism is one of our core values at Precursor. We are looking to bring on an Analyst who exhibits a positive attitude and is optimistic about the future
- Strong writing and communications skills – A significant portion of this role will involve communicating with founders, primarily in writing. Strong, clear writing is essential for this position.
- Willing to work independently – The team is currently working remotely, so we expect the incoming Analyst to perform the above-mentioned tasks independently.
- Resides or willing to relocate to the Bay Area – We value in-person collaboration among the team as much as we value the ability to work independently. In the latter portion of the year, we will transition back to an in-office team. We want our Analyst to be able to take advantage of all the serendipitous moments of being in the same environment as the rest of the Precursor team.
- Authorized to work in the United States – We welcome anyone that is over the age of 18 and is authorized to work in the United States without requiring a visa to apply. ****
Compensation and Benefits
The compensation for this role will be commensurate with the industry average. The role will come with healthcare coverage, including vision, dental, and mental health services. We are also providing a professional development stipend.
How to Apply
The application will remain open until midnight pacific time on April 8, 2021. We will review applications and send out interview invitations on the week of April 12, 2021. If you are interested in applying, please do so via this link!
