BACKGROUND ON PETERSON VENTURES
- Peterson Ventures is the venture arm of leading alternative asset manager Peterson Partners. Peterson Partners was founded in 1995 and based in Salt Lake City, UT
- Peterson Partners was founded by Joel Peterson originally as solely a private equity group. Joel teaches a class on managing growing enterprises at Stanford GSB, and after years of his students going to him for help (both for advice and funding support) with their startups, with Joel occasionally writing angel checks, Peterson Ventures was formalized as a seed-stage venture firm in 2008. We are currently raising our 4th fund (3rd with outside capital).
- About 40% of our deals are in Utah, 40% in the Bay Area (largely due to our history and connection to the GSB campus through Joel, which continues today), and 20% everywhere else
- Most of our deals are in SaaS and digital commerce (including brands like Bonobos and Allbirds, marketplaces, and e-commerce software tools), but we are fairly industry-agnostic – we have several deals in fintech, healthcare tech, consumer, and other verticals
- We’re a 3-person team – two Partners (Ben Capell and Randall Lloyd) and an associate (Zhenni Liu)
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Deal diligence and execution
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- Perform financial, technical, market, and competitive landscape diligence including sensitivity and scenario analyses
- Communicate findings and conclusions to other members of the investment team via written and verbal reports
- Portfolio support
- Post-investment, you will be called upon to support our entrepreneurs and companies however is beneficial. (e.g., marketing and PR, product testing, introductions to potential sales opportunities or hiring, or any other function where we can help)
- Peterson Venture Fund administration
- Manage fund reporting and relationship databases
- Assist with PV newsletters, branding/PR building activities (e.g., Twitter), and any ad-hoc responsibilities as needed
QUALIFICATIONS
- Demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship or start-ups
- Deep intellectual curiosity and strong work ethic
- Exceptional interpersonal, analytical, and written and verbal communication skills
- Solid understanding of financial statements
- Ability to work independently and excel in an unstructured environment
- Bachelor’s Degree
- At least 2 year of relevant work experience, consulting, investment banking or experience at a tech startup is preferred
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
To learn more or apply, please send your resume to Zhenni Liu at zliu@petersonpartners.com, and include 2-3 sentences describing an investment area, thesis, or early stage startup that excites you.
