Our mission at Sorenson Ventures is to help build the next generation of security and software companies. The partners at Sorenson Ventures have invested in companies such as DocuSign (IPO), AlienVault (AT&T), Carbon Black (IPO), Forescout (IPO), Prolexic (Akamai), Gigya (SAP), Fastly, Couchbase and many others.
Sorenson Ventures announced the closing of its inaugural fund above its $100M target in Feb 2019. The firm typically initially invests $2M to $6M in early stage security and software startups and reserves up to $15M for follow-on rounds. Sorenson Ventures typically leads or co-leads their investments. The firm is managed by Ken Elefant and Rob Rueckert who have both operating experience and venture experience at Battery Ventures, Lightspeed and Intel Capital. The firm is especially known for making value-add connections to Global 2000 customers and as such, have partnered with outstanding entrepreneurs through the years. Due to our value-add capabilities, Sorenson Ventures has co-invested with firms such as Battery Ventures, Accel, Lightspeed and Emergence Capital among other leading venture firms. Sorenson Ventures leverages the analytic and operational capabilities of Sorenson Capital, a growth equity and middle-market buyout firm founded in 2002 with more than $1 billion in capital under management.
This is a full-time role based at 3000 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
We’re looking to hire a Principal, which is a partner track position. As part of our Investment Team, you’ll have the unique opportunity to work closely with our partners, driving our sourcing process and the development of new investment themes. It is expected that the Principal will invest in their own startups and sit on the Board of Directors.
Responsibilities include:
- Drive firm sourcing process and independently source new investments by building deep relationships with entrepreneurs and identifying new areas of investment.
- Triage deal flow so as to spend time on the most important investment prospects.
- Lead due diligence on personal deal pipeline and participate in partners’ due diligence processes. Execute analysis, identify which are the key areas necessary for deal success, develop a framework, and consistently arrive at accurate conclusions based on the results.
- Negotiate and win investment opportunities.
- Work with portfolio companies post investment. Build relationships of trust with company management, achieve expert status on important work streams, and accurately solve any tough business problem that is presented so that Sorenson is highly sought after by company management.
- Lead weekly partner meetings and followup. Drive quarterly meetings and help build annual meeting presentation.
- Participate in fundraising process by preparing investment presentation, building data room and PPM. Present to LPs.
- Lead market analyses to assist with the development of new investment themes.
- Contribute to building the Sorenson Ventures brand and portfolio. Participate on panels, create and manage a Sorenson Ventures newsletter, and network for high quality deal flow.
- Drive firm wide projects including people prospecting, Venture Advisor management, Angel/Seed Firm prospecting, and web site redesign, among other projects.
- Assist in the hire of an Associate or Sr. Associate.
The ideal candidate would have the following experience:
- Product management experience at fast growing software or security company.
- 4+ years proven track record in venture capital.
- Technical undergraduate degree. MBA preferred but not required.
We believe the strength of our team comes from diverse backgrounds and experiences. You might be a good fit if:
- You have a strong process orientation with an affinity for designing and executing systems involving multiple stakeholders. You’re deeply organized and reliable above all else.
- You hustle hard. You have a strong track record of scrappiness. You learn quickly about new ideas, people, and technologies and find ways to bring them into the firm.
- You’re fascinated by technology and how today’s entrepreneurs are collaborating to shape the future.
- You’re a phenomenal teammate with a low ego, equally up for data entry as you are for meeting with CEOs.
- You have the polish and presence to represent our firm and our values while interacting with founders and other C-level execs.
If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you. Please email Ken Elefant (kelefant@sorensoncap.com) After applying, the best route in, like much of VC, is through a shared contact who can speak to your excellence.
