Blue Collective is a multi-strategy investment firm located in New York City. We have a simple, foundational investment thesis: we believe phenomenal people build phenomenal businesses. We have concocted and are continually improving a unique ‘recipe’ at Blue for seeking out, evaluating, and supporting phenomenal entrepreneurs and operators (or who have the potential to be so). Blue started in 2015 with a first fund of $15 million and is now deploying a second fund of $60 million. We have two core investment strategies: 1) early stage venture capital and 2) mid-market growth equity / buy-out. And we invest broadly across industry, business model, category, technology, and more. To date, we’ve built a portfolio of over 40 companies (including now 2 unicorns), investing in entrepreneurs building everything from automated application testing platforms to direct-to-consumer cowboy boots to 3d bio-printing platforms to next-gen fintech activation and fulfillment technologies (see http://www.bluecollective.com/entrepreneurs). We have the long-term vision to create a different kind of investment firm: one that is values-based, people-first, and never-boring.
We are rapidly expanding the Blue team and looking currently for an Associate Investor to join Blue as soon as possible. Importantly please note – prior venture capital or private equity experience is not a requirement for working at Blue. We are looking first and foremost for those who like what we’re building and who are excited about the prospect of building Blue together with us long-term. The ideal candidate will also be one who shares our core values: hard work and continual learning (even when…and especially when…things don’t go our way), following our own convictions (and never the crowd’s), investing in relationships over deals (because deals come and go), and letting results speak for themselves (…because talk is cheap). Blue is the ideal, long-term home for those who are intellectually adventurous and challenge-seeking; contrarian by nature but nurtured by facts; ever-curious and always-learning; sometimes snarky, but always polite; and propelled each day in part by a ‘chip on the shoulder’. If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you!
ROLE OVERVIEW:
As an Associate Investor, you will lead and support activities across the full spectrum of Blue operations from sourcing to diligence to deal-making to portfolio support to investor engagement and firm-building. You will work side-by-side with Blue Partners and team members and will receive active coaching and mentorship on your journey to becoming a great investor. You will play an integral role in helping us create and execute on Blue’s long-term strategy and build a premier investment business.
This role is a long-term track to Partner at Blue. As such, we are looking for someone not afraid to put everything on the line, join us for the long-term, and help us build something special and long-lasting. This is a role that promiseslong hours and little pay (at least in the near-term) in return for:
- World-class coaching, mentorship, and development;
- The experience of building a business (and businesses);
- Exposure across wide-ranging industries, technologies, and people that is rarely matched;
- A real career path in venture capital / private equity; and
- The prospects of fabulous riches in the future!
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Sourcing: Develop and cultivate a network of long-lasting relationships with entrepreneurs, operators, and others. Seek out and evaluate high-quality opportunities. Lead industry research into trends, categories and markets that fit our investment scope.
- iligence: Evaluate opportunities through the pipeline to identify the most interesting ones for Blue. Lead diligence process and activities for potential deals (e.g., founder interviews, market and competitive analysis, customer interviews, modeling, etc.). Communicate with founders and operators throughout the diligence process, setting expectations and gathering needed information, and communicating ‘no’s where needed
- Deals: Make recommendations to the Blue Investment Committee supported by your research and analysis. Engage in debate with Blue Partners regarding potential deals and guide Blue to a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ in a timely manner.
- Portfolio engagement: Contribute to our portfolio support strategy where needed (e.g., problem-solving, introductions, hiring support, etc.). Be a liaison between the portfolio, Blue and its broader network.
- Investor engagement. Support Blue where needed in engaging with Blue’s Limited Partners, e.g., reporting, communications, fundraising, Annual Meetings, etc.
- Firm-building: Lead special projects at Blue to build new capabilities (e.g., technology and process) and expand Blue’s brand and presence (e.g., content, events, etc.). Help craft the overall strategy and direction for the Firm
REQUIREMENTS:
- A builder and a ‘self-starter’. This is a ‘start-up’ and demands the requisite level of dedication and sacrifice. You need to be able to work independently, handle multiple tasks (investing is a business of details), and set and execute against your own deadlines
- Energized by new ideas and new people. A generalist at heart who can also go deep and become an expert in any topic in less than a day. Must love meeting new people and developing long-lasting, trust-based relationships
- Mindset of an operator. Can analyze quickly a new market or category and understand and analyze the primary levers by which a business makes money and scales
- Superb analytical skills. Expert at gathering facts, synthesizing insights, and thinking about an issue from all sides. Adept with quantitative and qualitative inputs. We can teach you modeling if that’s new to you, but you need to love numbers, math and Excel
- Smooth communicator. Need to have excellent verbal and written communication skills and be able to express ideas clearly and succinctly and be able to influence people
- Values-driven. Knows what it means to operate as a principled professional and adhere to the highest levels of integrity
- Willingness to travel. We are building our presence outside NYC (and outside SF) and we expect you to play a key role in helping us do so
- Prior work & educational experience. 2-5 years previous work experience required. Prior VC / PE experience not required. Previous work experience in mgmt consulting, i-banking, or other generalist professional services is valued (but not required). Undergraduate degree required; MBA or other advanced graduate degree valued (but also not required)
SALARY:
- Annual base salary with year-end cash performance bonus
- Equity in Blue funds and investments. Very few VCs offer this to Associates or as much as we do. We incentivize everyone at Blue with equity as we want everyone with us and building for the long-term
If interested, please apply here.
