The Investment Analyst is a critical member of the Deal Prospecting Team and will help drive the firm’s outbound deal sourcing efforts. Working with the 5 Partners and 2-3 other investment team members, the BD Associate will perform key activities like research on startups & venture capital firms, deal pipeline management, and network development.
This is not only a “hands-on” position but will also require a high level of independent work, and creative thinking to ensure effective interaction with the Sierra Team and targeted early-stage venture capital firms. The successful candidate will be well-rounded with the ability to develop a repeatable deal prospecting process while networking effectively within the firm ecosystem.
Reporting: The position is based remote (firm HQ is in San Mateo, CA) and reports directly to the Vice President while also working with the Operating Partner, Head of Marketing & Platform, and the other members of the Investment Team. The firm has 15 employees, all based in the Bay Area.
The Firm: Founded in 1982, Sierra Ventures is a leading venture capital firm. Sierra is known for its experienced investment team, deep network and proven ‘hands on’ entrepreneurial approach. The firm seeks out, invests in, and evolves promising early stage start-ups to meet enterprise market demands by leveraging the team’s unique skillsets, differentiated approach and proprietary capabilities.
Sierra has raised over $2B in investment capital since inception and closed its 12th investment fund ($217 million) in 2019. The Managing Directors (Mark Fernandes, Tim Guleri and Ben Yu) have worked together for over 15 years and are joined by Vignesh Ravikumar, Partner and Jim Doehrman, the Operating Partner who runs all firm operations.
The Firm focuses on early-stage investments in 1) core B2B enterprise sectors like Data/AI, Infrastructure (IoT, Cloud), Vertical SaaS (Enterprise Apps, Fintech, Security) and 2) next gen technologies including Digital Healthcare, eCommerce Tech, EdTech, Industrial Automation (ML, Robotics), New Consumer and Web3. The Firm has invested globally, and manages existing investments globally, but is currently focused on companies primarily in North America, LATAM and Israel.
In addition to the deep industry knowledge and network of the Firm’s partners, Sierra manages the industry’s first CXO Advisory Board comprised of 75+ Global 1000 CIO’s, CTO’s and CDO’s that advise Sierra on technology challenges they are facing, hear from Sierra on new disruptive technologies and get introduced to portfolio companies that could become customers, partners, or acquisition targets for the CXO group. We host an annual conference/Summit for the CXO Group and the 15th annual Summit was just completed virtually in September 2021.
For more information visit Sierra Ventures at http://www.sierraventures.com.
Key Responsibilities/Objectives
- Research – Perform primary and secondary research; evaluating top companies in investors’ portfolios in specific geographic regions to identify startups that meet Sierra’s investment criteria.
- Deal Flow – as a research follow-up, make initial contact with early-stage venture capital firms, as directed, to learn more about the firm, target investment criteria and top portfolio companies. Facilitate deal leads to an investment partner and/or presentation to full investment team. In tandem, consistently manage a deal pipeline & meeting notes within a CRM.
- Networking – develop personal network to include associates at other collaborative venture capital firms, accelerators/incubators, angel investors, and others to enhance deal flow and broaden firm’s footprint. Attend mixers and applicable events to grow network.
- CXO Board – when needed, provide support to the Vice President and Partners on key responsibilities for the CXO group like CXO Summit, Innovation Briefings, enterprise technology research, and diligence support.
Candidate Background and Key Personal Attributes
- 2-3 years of experience in venture capital, private equity, investment banking or a BD/Sales/Partnerships role focused on interacting with VCs/PEs/Investment Banks
- Undergraduate degree
- Strong communication skills and analytical. Ability to interact socially at all levels.
- Strong English speaking/writing skills or equivalent
- Enthusiastic and hardworking with a passion for learning.
- Foreign language skills a plus but not required.
What constitutes Success in this Role?
- Be a self-starter with a high level of curiosity and persistence — not afraid to ‘cold call’ or adapt to new social environments.
- Excels when working in an environment with high performers who provide high-level direction but expect the candidate to “fill in the blanks”
- Perform well in a “multi-supervisor” scenario — while the position reports to the Vice President & Operating Partner, there is interaction with all other team members.
If interested, please apply here.
