VC Associate @ Version One Ventures in San Francisco, CA

VC is an apprenticeship industry. When I joined Version One five years ago, I would have never guessed that I would be where I am today. So much of who I am today has to do with the fact that Boris spent a ton of time teaching and mentoring me, despite our different locations. From Day 1, he was dedicated to my personal and professional development. And I am so grateful for this. I often joke that I have gone through the Wertz School of Venture Capital 🙂

As a result, we are now a strong partnership of two… and while we have the capacity to do more deals with two partners, we also recognize that we could use some support. Since 2012, we have made over 40 investments and have been busy building our fund, expanding and deepening our network, and most gratifyingly, working with our portfolio companies in their pursuit to transform their industries and the world.

So, we are excited to announce that we’re looking to augment our team. We’re hiring an associate for a two- to three-year role where he/she will learn about the business of venture capital and get the opportunity to work with some really interesting startups.

These qualities are still important, but this time around we’re optimizing for four C’s:

  • Curiosity: This goes without saying, but we’re looking for hyper curiosity: someone who questions everything around them (i.e. what can be better?) and also has the imagination to picture what the world *could* be with technology.
  • Competitiveness: As VCs, we often work on our own and have full autonomy of how we spend our time. Thus, it is important that our new teammate be self-motivated and disciplined. In fact, some of our favourite candidates were (semi-)professional athletes. We love meeting people who have shown that they can channel their passions into work that is meaningful and impactful to them.
  • Compassion: VC is relationship-driven so being empathetic is the most important. As one small example of this, I wrote about how critical it is to be in tune with people and make connections beyond professional transactions.
  • Conviction: In VC, it takes years to know whether we took the right investment decision. With that said, one has to be comfortable taking a position with limited information available today.

As you can see, we’re not looking for a specific background or educational pedigree. In fact, I came into VC with little experience beyond academia but had a love for tech.

So in that spirit, we’re hoping to connect with under-the-radar individuals who *might* be interested in an analyst/associate role in this industry. In other words, we’re looking for raw superstar talent with no investing experience necessary. These individuals can be entrepreneurs, engineers, PMs, data scientists, designers, creatives, writers, students, etc. – as long as s/he has a passion for technology and is aligned with our core beliefs and values.

Right now, this is a two- to three-year role where our new team member will learn about the business of venture capital and get the opportunity to work with some really interesting startups. The primary responsibility will be to help manage the day-to-day activities of the fund, including:

  • Identifying new and interesting entrepreneurs and companies that align with our investment thesis on network effects
  • Performing market research and due diligence for potential investments
  • Reporting for our investors, including writing quarterly updates and preparing LP advisory board meetings
  • Working with existing portfolio companies, including helping out with hiring, financial modeling, and research
  • Executing projects of your own direction that help Version One and/or our portfolio companies

The primary responsibility will be to help manage the day-to-day activities of the fund, including:

  • Identifying new and interesting entrepreneurs and companies that align with our investment thesis on network effects
  • Performing market research and due diligence for potential investments
  • Reporting for our investors, including writing quarterly updates and preparing LP advisory board meetings
  • Working with existing portfolio companies, including helping out with hiring, financial modeling, and research
  • Executing projects of your own direction that help Version One and/or our portfolio companies

What are we looking for? Our future teammate is someone who demonstrates:

  • Native understanding of the startup ecosystem, and what network effects are
  • Strong written and oral communication skills
  • Good product instincts – you get what a great product is made of
  • Strong interpersonal skills – you’ll often be talking to entrepreneurs and other investors
  • Data-driven thinking with good Excel modeling skills
  • Ideally, prior design or programming experience or work in an investment or Internet-related position
  • Bonus: knowledge of crypto/blockchain and/or genomics/biosciences/healthcare

Because Version One has portfolio companies from SF to New York, Vancouver to Toronto, you should also be excited about hitting the road.

We are a very close partnership and are passionate about finding startups that will transform the world. We are serious about our work, but never take ourselves too seriously (we have been told we are a lot of fun…). You will be working closely with both Boris and myself on a daily basis, and we are both strong believers in the need to pay it forward and develop others.

If you’re interested in the position, please email angela@versionone.vc to be alerted

 

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