With that surge of results and momentum, we closed our new 2016 fund and opened our new SF HQ. But let’s pick up the story a little earlier and introduce ourselves.
Bain Capital started in 1984 as a VC and growth equity fund (early investments included a seed check in Staples). Our results and growth through the 80s and 90s enabled us to build world class private equity, hedge fund, and credit businesses. Bain Capital Ventures was born in 2001 out of a desire to double down on our early stage roots.
Over the past fifteen years, BCV has stayed true to our mission – leverage deep sector expertise, unparalleled Fortune 5000 access and a passionate team of investors to empower talented entrepreneurs, especially in B2B startups. That mission led us to some amazing companies: LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), Survey Monkey, Taleo (Nasdaq: TLEO), Kiva Systems, Rapid7 (Nasdaq: RPD), Ability Networks and TellApart, to name a few favorite alumni.
In 2011, we launched our west coast office. Five years later, 50% of our partners and dollars deployed are here. Our Bay Area team is fired up to help founders harness the full power of the Bain Capital ecosystem. It’s why we host Pulse sessions (bespoke demo days) for CXOs from Staples, Neiman Marcus, RBC, Citigroup and many others. It’s why Jeff Williams joined our team. In short, we love what we do and are excited to write another chapter of our own.
That’s where you come in. Investing in startups is fundamentally about recognizing exceptional talent. The same is true for our own team.
We are looking for 2 exceptional people to join our investment team as associates. One associate will work with our infrastructure software team (Enrique, Salil, Jeff) and the other will work with our application software team (Ajay and Indy). Your mission will be to help us connect with and build another wave of #backedbyBCV companies at the Series A stage. And support those founders on everything from hiring to product strategy. It’s an amazingly dynamic and impactful role.
How do we define exceptional talent?
People from a wide range of backgrounds have become successful venture capitalists and there is no formula. But we do gravitate towards these attributes:
Analytical experience in a biz ops / finance role, strategy consulting role, etc. You have a foundation in understanding business models and levers for growth.
Startup experience. You can’t be an empathetic guide if you’ve never been on a similar journey.
Tireless intellectual curiosity. Young companies operate in a world of unknowns around product, business model and market fit. Being thoughtful and creative about getting to the right answers matters.
Connectivity. Tech is a deep and wonderful community. You want to embrace and contribute to that community via product deep dives / workshops / dinners / meetups / blog posts / etc.
Passion. Founders rightfully expect a lot from the VC firms they partner with. Delivering to those standards can require long hours. Your passion for enabling founders will be directly proportional to your impact.
What should you do to connect?
If you’re excited about joining our team, we’d love to hear from you. But instead of using a search firm or an application page on our website, we’d like to take a different approach.
Step 1 – get a warm intro to our west coast team. No cold emails please. Your ability to develop and activate a network is a big part of this role. We’d love to see you showcase that skill.
Step 2 – share an investment idea with us in that intro email. It should cover:
An investment sector / theme you like and why
A specific company you’d want to back within that theme (caveat: total funding in that company should be less than $20 million) and what makes it the right bet.
The long term exit potential for that company.
Step 3 – (for candidates who stand-out in step 1 and 2) in-person meetings with our team.
This is your invitation. We couldn’t be more excited to kick off this search and add 2 great people to our team over the next few months.
