Job Drop 006

Week of 8/6/23 // Platform & Venture Ops, Weekly Jobs Roundup

Fund Operations Analyst @ Techstars // 1-2 yrs exp // CT/CO/NJ/NY // $65-$85K

PART TIME // Operations Associate @ Techstars Economic Mobility (Powered by Samvid Ventures) // 1-3 yrs exp // NYC // $3-$4K/mo // Aug-Dec 2023

Market Development Associate @ Primary Labs // 1-4 yrs exp // NYC // $70-$90K

Investor Relations Specialist @ BuiltUp Ventures // 2+ yrs exp // NYC // must speak Hebrew

Operations Associate @ MiddleGround Capital // 2+ yrs exp // Lexington, KY

(Senior) Associate, Investor Relations @ Anthos // 2-3 yrs exp // LA // $125-$200K

(Senior) Associate, Portfolio Growth @ Anthos // LA/Seattle // $125-$200K

Operations Manager @ [undisclosed VC firm] // SF // $150-$180K

Business Analyst, Platform Operations @ Brookfield Asset Management // NYC // $100-$130K

Marketing Manager @ Sydecar // 4+ yrs eco // NYC/SF/Seattle

Business Development, Enterprise @ a16z // 5+ yrs exp // NYC // $192-$224K

Market Development Manager @ Primary Venture Partners // 5+ yrs exp // NYC // $120-$150K

Growth Ventures Lead @ BNY Mellon Ventures // NYC

Head of Growth @ VC Lab // 5-7 yrs exp // Remote // $90-$175K

Head of People @ [undisclosed VC fund] // NYC // $175-$225K

PART TIME // Operator-in-Residence (OIR): Supply Chain / SMB Tech / GTM SaaS @ Primary Venture Partners // 6+ yrs exp // NYC // $140-$180K

Operations Human Capital Vice President @ MiddleGround Capital // 7-10 yrs exp // Lexington, KY

PE // Head of Investor Relations @ [undsiclosed PE firm] // 8+ yrs exp // Remote // $200-$400K

Chief Operating Officer @ Elevation Capital // 8-20+ yrs exp // Remote

Managing Director @ Techstars Columbus Accelerator Powered by The Ohio State University // 10+ yrs exp // Columbus, OH // $175-$185K

PLATFORM-ADJACENT // Head of Technology, Healthcare Venture Studio @ Healthworx Studio // 7+ yrs exp // DC

PLATFORM-ADJACENT // Manager, Community Operations @ AllRaise // 2+ yrs exp // Remote // $112-$140K

ASIA // Fund Operations Director @ Makers Fund // 8+ yrs exp // Singapore

AUSTRALIA // Investor Relations Analyst @ Blackbird // Sydney // $85K AUD

EUROPE // Head of Adoption @ NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) // Amsterdam/London

EUROPE // Head of People @ NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) // Amsterdam/London

👉 Missed last week’s Job Drop? Read it here

Platform Spotlight 🔎✨ 

⚡ FAST FACTS

# Years in Platform: 2
Size of Platform Team (including you): 2
# Years in VC prior to current Platform role: 0

1 // How do you define Platform?

If investing in early-stage startups is making calculated gambles, Platform is a VC's special sauce that offsets the risk and increases the likelihood that an investment will yield returns.

Founders who are focused on growing their business are often building the rocket ship as they're flying it, and so Platform teams can be instrumental in covering their blind spots and offering resources along the way. From making strategic introductions to potential investors and enterprise customers to offering business advice and getting startup exposure – Platform does all of it! Many Platform leaders have experience founding or operating companies, so when they say "Let me know how I can be helpful," they get their hands dirty and actually deliver on it.

2 // What was your Path to Platform?

I started my career at VICE Media where I worked as a creative director for five years on their branded partnerships side. I worked on branded content and events that we would pitch to brands and then go and execute them. It was a really fun and creative time to be in media, and I learned how to think strategically about business partnerships and execute quickly with a scrappy team. I then joined the creative team at Live Nation, where I worked on branded activations for music festivals. In 2018, I launched a startup called CIRKEL that was inspired by my parents' experience with ageism in the workforce. CIRKEL connects older and younger professionals for two-way career support and networking via a paid community model and events. After side-hustling it for a few years went full-time during the pandemic. I went out to fundraise, and although we didn't take outside investment, I started growing a network of VC friends and getting curious about working in venture. My friend Catherine Diffley (now Head of Platform at Alley Corp) made a similar journey from branded partnerships to co-founder life to VC Platform, and she inspired me to take the plunge! It turned out that my background in marketing, community building, and events aligned really well with ffVC's approach to Platform.

3 // Favorite part of the Platform role?

I love how Platform is both strategic and executional. It allows me to plan 12 months in advance and then execute those plans. For example, in a single day I may be thinking high level about ffVC's event strategy and then also be reaching out to potential sponsors or speakers to bring an upcoming conference to life. And in that sense, Platform delivers a lot of gratifying and rewarding feelings for people who like to get sh*t done. My peers and I are constantly hustling to help our portfolio companies, and then we actually get to see the impact of that work when they close a funding round or work with a new enterprise customer we introduced them to. As a big sister and former founder, Platform really speaks to my obsession with solving problems. I wonder what my therapist would say about that!

4 // What part of the Platform role surprised you?

When I started in this role, I expected that I would be interfacing mostly with portfolio companies, but there's actually a lot of managing up, down, and sideways within the firm. Since so much of my work sits at the intersection of ffVC and the rest of the tech ecosystem, I often work with teammates across the fund to ensure that our communications, event planning, and public speaking engagements are consistent with a holistic brand. In that sense, the role requires a lot of self-confidence (and career experience) to collaborate comfortably with executive leadership.

5 // Break down your Platform role by function.

• Portfolio Support: 35%

• Marketing: 37%

• Community: 15%

• Operations: 10%

• HR: 3%

6 // Pitch a founder on the value of your firm’s Platform in 280 characters or less.

ffVC is one of the OG NYC VCs and despite being a small team, we are incredibly networked across the globe with offices in New York and Warsaw, Poland. We stay close to our founders from pre-seed to pre-IPO and support our portfolio companies with fundraising, customer intros, mentoring, and more.

7 // What is your advice to Platform job seekers?

Before I landed the role at ffVC, I actually got to the final round at another VC but lost the job to the other candidate. At the moment, I was devastated, but I ended up using the questions I was asked (especially the ones I flopped) to prepare for the next Platform role opening, which ended up being ffVC. I wrote out all the questions I could remember along with improved responses so that I would be prepared for the next interviews. In fact, I turned the hardest questions on my interviewers, and it made me sound really smart! Moral of the story: you'll learn a lot about what VCs are looking for in the Platform role by applying to jobs and doing a ton of interviews. Even if you don't land a job right away, you'll be all the more prepared when the right role comes around.

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