CSAA Insurance Group (CSAA IG), a AAA insurer, has a mission to innovate CSAA IG’s future by building new products, services and ventures that generate $1B in new revenue in the next decade. Towards this aim, the Strategy & Innovation Division (SI) is developing growth initiatives through a combination of strategic partnerships, innovation, incubation and venture investing.
Through venture investing, the Corporate Venture Capital & Labs (CVC & Labs) team’s mission is to deliver breakthrough impact to scale innovation and open new pathways to growth shifting CSAA IG from systems of records to systems of intelligence in areas such as insurtech, autonomous vehicle / connected car, analytics and artificial intelligence, and applications of blockchain.
The CVC & Labs team is seeking a highly motivated self-starter to help build intelligence on focus areas and themes, identify leading startups and entrepreneurs, perform due diligence on potential investment opportunities and assist in portfolio company management and reporting. The Associate will play a critical role in developing and advancing thought leadership and domain strategy to expand CSAA IG’s business, foster new idea generation, synthesize the market landscape, and translate new innovative ideas into successful commercial outcomes.
This position, located in Silicon Valley, CA, reports to the Managing Partner of CVC & Labs and leverages a broad business acumen and credibility to effectively build relationships in the start-up ecosystem, evaluate start-up product road maps, and manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including internal and external senior executives. Works collaboratively on investment opportunities. Assists with POCs, pilots, and commercialization opportunities. The Associate must be relentlessly curious, as well as passionate about championing change.
Job Description
- Maintain a pulse on market developments and the startup ecosystem.
- Improve upon and expand investment theses, and research focus areas to identify opportunities.
- Identify and source potential strategic investment opportunities in relevant and compelling startups.
- Assist in building a network and pipeline of leading startups that fit strategic investment themes.
- Develop market landscapes, points of views (POVs) on emerging trends and analyze value chains.
- Assists with portfolio company monitoring, reporting and feedback to Managing Partner.
- Work with existing portfolio companies to assist in aligning their roadmaps to address CSAA IG’s challenges.
- Evangelize CSAA IG externally and demonstrate thought leadership; participate meaningfully in CSAA IG startup ecosystem events.
- Attend external events, conferences, Silicon Valley meetups, forums, etc.
- Foster collaborative relationships within the CSAA IG ecosystem.
- Maintain pipeline and portfolio management processes, tools and deal tracking.
- Help monitor the investment portfolio against operational and financial metrics.
- Support due diligence plans, drive the due diligence process, write investment memos, presentations and help guide opportunities end-to-end through the investment process.
- Prepare and review investment presentations to Managing Partner.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Be relentlessly curious, as well as passionate about championing change.
- Understand emerging business models and new technologies.
- Strong relationship management, communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills at all levels within or outside of an organization.
- Exceptional presentation, writing (narrative prose and slides), oral presentation, persuasive communication, evangelism, influence skills and able to think quickly.
- Thorough understanding of the high-tech startup and venture capital environment with strong relationships across the ecosystem.
- Strong intellectual curiosity and fluency, with an open-mindedness in disruptive technology trends, products and business models, across multiple different domains and areas.
- Outstanding industry, segment and company assessment, strategy, and value chain analysis; business case development, business modeling and validation.
- Ability to develop value proposition, positioning and fit.
- Outstanding executive presence, maturity and discretion.
- Team player with an extraordinary collaborative working style, adaptable and flexible.
Experience & Qualifications
Required:
- MBA from competitive school
- 6+ years of relevant high-tech industry experience
- 3 – 4 years’ experience in venture capital with a leading venture capital firm, in a corporate venture setting, corporate strategy, strategy consulting, or investment banking with a focus on technology
- 2 – 3 years’ experience in a VC backed startup a strong plus
Preferred:
- BS in engineering/technical disciplines from competitive school
If interested, please apply here.
