Job Drop 016

Week of 10/15/23 // Platform & Venture Ops, Weekly Jobs Roundup

INTERNSHIP // Platform Operations Intern @ Brookfield Asset Managemetn // NYC // $20-$30/hr

INTERNSHIP // Summer 2024 Research Internship, Crypto @ a16z // NYC // $4,500/week // May-Aug 2024

Network Associate - Expert & Partner Network Program @ Redpoint Ventures // 1-3 yrs exp // SF // $80-$100K

Chief of Staff @ Halcyon Futures // 2-8 yrs exp // US-based, SF/LA/NYC/DC preferred // $100K+

Lead Operations Associate (November Term) @ Techstars // NYC

Business Development Associate, Enterprise @ a16z // 3-5 yrs exp // NYC // $163-$190K

HR Operations Manager @ Playground Global // 5+ yrs exp // SF // $150-$180K

Senior Manager of Business Development, Investor Relations // 5+ yrs exp // NYC // $130-$150K

Operations Director, Talent Operations @ Elevation Capital // 5+ yrs exp // Remote

Platform Talent & Operations Manager @ Atento Capital // 5-8 yrs exp // Tulsa, OK // $85-$95K

Head of Operations and Finance @ Share Ventures // 5-10 yrs exp // LA

Operating Parnter, Technology @ Playground // 10+ yrs exp // SF // $300-$400K

Head of Venture Studio @ Takeda // 10+ yrs exp // San Diego

PLATFORM-ADJACENT

Head of Community @ Let’s Talk Ops // 3+ yrs exp // Remote

Startups Ambassador @ Brex // 4+ yrs exp // SF

VC / PE Partner Manager @ Klaviyo // 5+ yrs exp // Boston // $94-$142K

Mid Market Account Executive, Venture Capital @ Carta // 8+ yrs exp // NYC/SF/Seattle // $225-$275K

Managing Director, Venture Capital Relationship Management Life Sciences @ SVB // 10-12+ yrs exp // SF // $222-$334K

GLOBAL

CANADA + INTERNSHIP // Venture Capital Internship (Summer 2024) @ Rhino Ventures // Vancouver

ASIA // General Manager @ Plug & Play Tech Center // 5+ yrs exp // Singapore

ASIA // Ecosystem Manager - Southeast Asia @ CV VC // Bangkok

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

Platform Spotlight 🔎✨

⚡ FAST FACTS

# Years in Platform: 4
Size of Platform Team (including you): 4
# Years in VC prior to current Platform role: 0

1 // How do you define Platform?

Any of the pre-and post-investment support the Investment team or our portfolio companies need.

2 // What was your Path to Platform?

My path to Platform is not traditional, having spent 20+ years in high-tech, B2B marketing roles at Google, Facebook, and Cisco before running marketing at Sapphire Ventures in their expansion from $2 to $8B in AUM. Having experience in both startups and hyper-growth companies was a great training ground for the high-profile, but ultimately resource-constrained world of VCs.

3 // Favorite part of the Platform role?

My favorite part is helping founders and their teams unlock their growth, or discover new skills/channels that they need to grow. On the marketing side, I've seen and done a lot and I enjoy helping founders set the foundation for what they need 2-3 steps further down their journey than today.

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

I worked around the VC ecosystem a lot before I joined. What still surprised me is how differently a partnership thinks and acts compared to a company. I wrote an article (below) for other folks wanting to get into Platform that highlights those differences.

5 // Break down your Platform role by function.

• 40% Portfolio Support

• 30% Operations

• 20% Marketing

• 10% Random stuff that someone needs to do

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

Cervin Ventures's team is made up of operators who have built and scaled successful teams and companies. Our Platform is here to help and guide you in the earliest days on a similarly successful journey.

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

Have a POV on how the firm will truly add value to: 1) portfolio companies 2) prospective investments 3) LPs and 4) the investment team. As you're interviewing, you have to get a clear picture of how the partners will measure the success of your efforts. Make sure you understand the qualitative and quantitative KPIs you're going to need to demonstrate.

Reading & Learning 🗞️

Written by Scott Brown, Partner, Head of Platform at Cervin Ventures in 2022

Since leaving #venturemarketing, I’ve been approached by a steady stream of marketers (and VC firms) asking what marketing a venture firm is really like.

Since it was one of my career goals to run marketing for a top-tier firm, I wanted to pass along some of what I observed for any marketer looking to join a VC firm as an operator:

There are generally 2 types of marketing roles:

1. Marketing the firm and the partners

2. Supporting the portfolio companies and their go-to-market efforts

If you’re looking at a marketing role in venture, make sure you have an agreement with the partners on where the role will focus. If the focus isn’t what you want to do, don’t assume that you’ll be able to convince the partnership to spend time on the other -- this will only lead to frustration on both sides.

And trying to do both roles at the same time is a recipe for burnout unless you have a large staff -- which most firms don’t because in my experience…

…working as a marketer in a venture firm is like working for…

1. A “mom and pop” shop in terms of process and infrastructure. You should expect to be running very lean and doing a lot of hands-on work. There’s a good chance you’re going to have to build your martech stack, execute your own events, clean CRM data and come up with some marketing ROI/attribution.

2. Multiple CEOs with equal voting power. This can create a lot of flexibility but it can also be tough to get the entire organization to rally behind your efforts and investments.

3. A bootstrapped organization where every marketing dollar you spend is a dollar out of the fund’s management fees. VC firms don’t generate revenue the same way companies do. Successful #venturecapital marketing does not mean growing “revenue” in the same way. Identifying your budget and how success will be measured are two elements you want to get sorted before taking a job marketing a venture firm.

If you want to be an investor, I wouldn’t suggest trying to come through as a marketing hire -- unless you’re very senior and joining the partnership as a GP. They’re usually very different mindsets and workstreams.

I’ve found that after sharing perspectives like these most VC firms that reach out wanting to hire a #CMO reset their focus to hiring a junior PR professional. At the core, most VCs are interested in media placements, article and award submissions, and occasionally helping portfolio companies with things like funding announcements and other company news. There are exceptions, but generally, most firms don’t need sophisticated digital marketing, demand generation, or multi/omnichannel engagement strategies that can take place in corporate marketing.

On a positive note, working in venture as a marketer is exciting and educational -- it will be essentially a masterclass in everything you've learned in marketing. And, as a marketer, you should be aware of the different operating models and make sure the role meets your career aspirations.

Are you hiring? 💼

Submit a job to be included in the next #SoYouWantToBeInPlatform newsletter.

_{Have ideas or feedback about this newsletter? Hit reply!6}