Ah-ha 2.0

Primary Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City.  We are seeking a Venture Fellow to work on one of our Incubator initiatives.   This program will be for a minimum of 3 months and you will be working primarily on a Pet food Ecommerce venture that we are incubating. The Venture Fellow will be working closely with our Entrepreneur-in-Residence (“EIR”) assisting in the the development of the business plan, sourcing early team members and conducting research and analyses of the market and competitors. This is an exciting opportunity for those interested in getting greater exposure to the operations of an early stage tech start up.  You will be working closely with EIR, Alex Douzet, who is a co-founder a former CEO of TheLadders and other members of an experienced ecommerce/tech founding team.  

Qualifications

1. You love networking and are able to get to people to get valuable business insights and connections.
2. Strong business acumen. A strong interest in Ecommerce helps.   This is beyond having shopped on Amazon!
3. Ideal candidates come from a investment banking or consulting background.
4. You work hard.  Hustle is your middle name.
5. You are not an A—hole.  You might be a superstar genius but if people don’t always refer to you as a “really nice person” then you definitely don’t belong here.
6. You figure sh*t out and can work independently.   We don’t need to hold your hand to figure out what you have to do next.

Timing and other details

1. Program is for a minimum of 3 months and 30-40 hours per week (flexible for the right person)
2. Venture Fellow will be working primarily at our offices in the Flatiron area.
3. You will receive a modest monthly stipend.

If you are interested, please email your resume or Linkedin Profile to Alex@primary.vc

About Primary Venture Partners

Primary is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City, run by Ben Sun and Brad Svrluga, who combined have a 30-year track record as investors and operators in the NYC Tech scene. We primarily invest in two sectors: Next Generation Commerce and SaaS. We focus on startups based in NYC and strive to be the most valuable and trusted partner to our portfolio companies.

Opportunity: Portfolio Support and Network Director

Since starting Primary Venture Partners, one of our core values has been to “Be the First Call” for the entrepreneurs that we serve. We want to be an incredibly supportive partner who is there to help them with the challenges of running their business. To do so, we have built an array of platform resources that we make available to our companies to help them address a broad range of operational challenges. The Network Director will help to expand and manage those resources.

This is an incredible role for someone looking to get their start in venture capital or gain experience that will help them in a leadership role at a start-up. You will work with a number of early stage start up companies on mission critical initiatives. Your focus is to make sure Primary is doing whatever we can to provide operational support across our portfolio. This is NOT an investment position where you are working new deal opportunities. This job is about really understanding the different problems and issues that our portfolio companies face and helping marshal resources from our networks to address those challenges.

What will you do as our Portfolio Support and Network Director?

1. Provide Support to our Portfolio Companies

How do you support them? You will work with our portfolio companies to help them identify their critical operating challenges and then leverage our Operating Partner Network of over 300 tactical experts from across the tech community. Whether it is better using Facebook for marketing acquisition, helping them launch a customer success team for a SaaS business or helping them source key hires, we have Operating Partner Network members who are operating experts and specialists that can help. And where we identify holes in our network, you will help to fill them. You will manage and moderate advisory sessions between our portfolio and these experts and ensure that it is a great experience for everyone involved.

2. Build and Manage our Operating Partner Network

Our Operating Partner Network is now made up of over 300 great operators and technologists in NYC. You will be constantly networking and sourcing talent to join our network. Once in the network, you will be frequently engaging members, whether it be connecting them with our portfolio companies to offer advice and insights, setting up events for them to network with each other or communicating to them updates on what is going on with Primary and the broader tech community.

Do you think you would be an awesome Portfolio Support and Network Director? If so, here’s how your mom should describe you:

1. You have worked at least 2-3 years at a startup, especially in a product, business development or marketing role at an Ecommerce or SaaS company. What would make you an even better fit is if you also spent some time in a job like investment banking or consulting, because that shows that you have done some broader strategic and industry work.
2. You love to network. “Connector” is your middle name.
3. You figure sh*t out and can work independently.   We don’t need to hold your hand to figure out what you have to do next.
4. You have a real interest in Next Generation Commerce and SaaS and that means more than just having an Amazon Prime account or knowing what SaaS stands for!
5. You are not an A-hole.  You might be a superstar genius, but if people don’t always refer to you as a “really great person” then you definitely don’t belong here. We need to like you, and so do all of your contacts.

How do you apply? You need to get someone that Ben or Brad knows to make an awesome introduction for you.   If “Connector” is your middle name, that shouldn’t be hard. Good luck.

UPDATE – POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED.  THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST!

About Primary Venture Partners

Primary is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City, run by Ben Sun and Brad Svrluga, who combined have a 30-year track record as investors and operators in the NYC Tech scene. We primarily invest in two sectors: ecommerce and SaaS. We focus on startups based in NYC and strive to be one of the most valuable and trusted partners to our portfolio companies.

Opportunity: Investment Associate – Ecommerce

The Investment Associate will be working with General Partner Ben Sun, who is responsible for our Ecommerce investments. For us, these are transaction monetization businesses and companies that help with that enablement. Ben’s previous notable investments include Coupang.com (Amazon of South Korea), Jet.com, MakeSpace (NY’s #1 storage services company), Maple, PSDept and Greats.

What will you do as our Investment Associate?

1. Lead New Deal Investment Opportunities  – We review hundreds of opportunities per year and ONLY invest in 6 to 8 new deals annually for the entire firm. As our associate, you will be leading our deal sourcing and vetting process. Many of our deals are inbound from entrepreneurs, referrals from other investors, operators and people in our network (lawyers, service providers, etc.).  However, being great at getting deal flow is a result of your own hustle. You need to network with other VCs and operators in order to hear about companies that we should be meeting with. Being active in social media and sharing your thoughts to generate attention from entrepreneurs is a key element of the role. You will also be actively attending industry events and meet ups. You will be working autonomously, and constantly figuring out how to find the next great opportunity for us to invest in.  Driving the top of the funnel is one thing. You also have to figure out if the investment opportunity is a great one.  You need to be constantly researching and learning in order to develop your own framework to determine what companies we should invest in. Much of that framework is learning the key factors and insights that have made companies in our sector successful and how that may apply to companies we see.  What was so special about that product market fit? What marketing dynamic allowed that company to acquire customers at scale with amazing efficiency? How did that company build a moat to ward off competition? How do you find this out? To get the real key insights, you need to network with people deep in the industry: investors, operators, and thought leaders. How do you get to them? You have to hustle. No one is going to hold your hand. You need to figure it out yourself.

2. Provide Support to our Portfolio Companies – Once you make some new investments, you’ll feel like you are awesome. And then you realize that to actually be awesome, your start-up companies need to be massively successful. Your job has just begun.  How do you support them? You will work with a handful of our portfolio companies in figuring out how to solve operational problems by leveraging our Operating Partner Network. Whether it is better using Facebook for marketing acquisition or developing the right way to predict LTV, we have people in our Operating Partner Network (and if they aren’t in our network, you need to find them) who are operating experts and specialists that can help.  Your job is to work with our portfolio companies and connect them with the best resources in our network. You also support them by helping them plan their next fundraise, getting competitive intel, lining up intros to other VCs, and bringing donuts every once in a while, because everyone loves donuts.

3. Fund Administration – The work is not all rainbows and unicorns. We do have administrative work like preparing reports and analysis for our Limited Partner/Investors. It’s not the most fun and sexy part of the job, but it has to get done and get done well. But don’t worry, someone else will be cleaning the bathrooms.

Do you think you would be an awesome associate? If so, here’s how your mom should describe you:

1. You figure sh*t out and can work independently. We don’t need to hold your hand to figure out what you have to do next.
2. Hustle is your middle name. Need to get to an answer or try to get something done? You will make that cold call.  You will ask for that favor.  You will bust down that door. You do what it takes!
3. You are a voracious learner, meaning that you love understanding how companies become successful. You enjoy mining for those insights and talking about them.  Learning about them gives you a rush. Every time other VCs and entrepreneurs meet you they always say, “Damn! [Insert your name here] knows their sh-t!”
4. You have a real interest in Ecommerce and that means more than just having an Amazon Prime account!
5. Ideally, you worked at a startup, especially in a product or marketing role at an Ecommerce company. What would make you an even better fit is if you also spent some time in a job like investment banking or consulting, because that shows that you have done some broader strategic and industry work.  An MBA at a great school is a good thing. You are a great mix of knowing the details of how a startup works because you worked at one, but you can also do the bigger picture work.
6. You are not an a—hole.  You might be a superstar genius, but if people don’t always refer to you as a “really nice person” then you definitely don’t belong here. We need to like you, and so do all of your contacts.

Email me your resume or LinkedIn Profile link at: ben@primary.vc

Primary Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City.  We are seeking a Venture Fellow Community Manager.   This program will be for 6 months and will be mainly responsible for the expansion of our Operating Partner Network (“OPN”) and Technical Advisor Network (“TAN”) in which we connect our portfolio companies with operating and technical experts to leverage their expertise. The Venture Fellow Community Manager will also assist our portfolio companies in accessing our OPN and TAN to solve operations problems and learn best practices. This is an exciting opportunity for those interested in getting greater exposure to the tech start up and venture capital community. You will have the opportunity to build an amazing network and get insights from top talent in NYC.

In the expansion of our Operating Partner Network or our Technical Advisor Network:

1. Identify leaders in the startup and tech community
2. Discuss opportunities to join Primary’s Operating Partner Network
3. Enter information in our CRM system
4. Assist portfolio companies in learning best practices, getting market intel, and hiring via the use of our Operating Partner Network
5. Networking is a huge part of what we do in Venture Capital and we think this is a great opportunity to start building a presence in the NYC tech scene

Qualifications

1. You love networking and have a genuine interest in helping people. You are a super connector. You need to be able to dig into people’s previous experience, motivations, and aspirations as well as develop an understanding of industry dynamics and can find the devil in the details.
2. Strong business acumen. A strong interest in Ecommerce and SaaS really helps.   This is beyond knowing what SaaS stands for and/or having shopped on Amazon!
3. You work hard.  Hustle is your middle name.
4. You are not an A—hole.  You might be a superstar genius but if people don’t always refer to you as a “really nice person” then you definitely don’t belong here.
5. You figure sh*t out and can work independently.   We don’t need to hold your hand to figure out what you have to do next.

Timing and other details

1. Program is from February 2015 through July 2015.
2. Venture Fellow Community Manager will be working primarily out of the office as you are expected to mostly be networking and gathering data from the field.
3. You will receive a modest monthly stipend.

When my partner, Brad Svrluga, approached me about three years ago to join him to run High Peaks Venture Partners I wasn’t interested at first.  I was personally investing and helping start startups and was seeing real success and feeling very proud of the work that I was doing.  However, Brad presented the opportunity as one in which we would be reinventing High Peaks and I would be a true partner in setting a new path for the firm.  As a former entrepreneur of a venture backed startup, I had always wished my VCs would have done more to have supported my business.  And I also knew I was not the only entrepreneur that had felt that way.  I was excited about taking on this new challenge of building a VC firm that provided really impactful operational support as the next journey of my career.  The last two years have been an incredible experience.  We have set a new strategy and built a new platform of resources that I think will have a real impact on the NYC tech community.  Many people have asked me if I like being a VC versus being an entrepreneur.  I have told them I am still an entrepreneur as we have really co-founded a new VC firm over the last two years.  Now, with an evolved team, a strategy that is more focused and robust than ever, and a future full of promise, we thought it the opportune time to formally complete the transition with a wholly new identity.  So, we are thrilled to announce that as of this moment, High Peaks Venture Partners is now Primary Venture Partners.

For a fuller explanation of the thinking and process behind this transformation, please read the blog post on Brad’s blog, and let us know what you think of the new brand and identity. You can find us going forward at www.primary.vc, and on Twitter @PrimaryVC. Please help us spread the word today by sharing the blog post, etc. via your various social media channels!

Last week, Maple officially announced its plans to launch a better food delivery service next year. The news was welcome with great fanfare (see a selection of stories below) and we couldn’t be more excited. A couple of our favorite entrepreneurs, CEO Caleb Merkl and COO Akshay Navle were working with High Peaks as an EIR and Venture Partner respectively when they founded the business, one of the most promising investments we made over the summer. We are excited to be part of Maple along with renowned chef and entrepreneur David Chang of Momofuku and other investors including Thrive Capital and Bessemer Ventures. Maple is will deliver delicious and healthy prepared meals to customers looking for more compelling food delivery options. We wanted to share this news with our friends at High Peaks as we look forward to supporting Caleb and Akshay in the development of this new culinary experience, and we hope you will also join us in enjoying their food! To find out when it launches in your neighborhood, sign up at www.trymaple.com. Bon appétit!

The New York Times

Momofuku’s David Chang Joins Food-Delivery Start-Up Maple

Business Insider

Ramen King David Chang Is Launching His Own Food Delivery App

Techcrunch

Momofuku Chef David Chang Backs Upcoming NYC Food Delivery Service Maple

Other

• Bon Appetit 
• Crain’s New York 
• Eater 
• First We Feast 
• Food & Wine 
• Gothamist
• NYMag.com – GrubStreet​
• The Daily Mail
• Thrillist
• Fox News

When people ask me how I invest in startups, I share the most important part of my strategy: bet on the jockey, and not the horse.

I first heard this analogy about 5 years ago from Michael Loeb, an incredibly successful entrepreneur, who shared this advice while graciously hosting a weekend trip for myself and other entrepreneurs. Nearly every seed investor says something similar – that the team matters more than the product – but this analogy stuck with me for several reasons:

• It captures how distinct the two entities can be, yet how powerful in the right combination.
• It makes it obvious who is driving success. A great horse will go nowhere without a passionate, savvy and motivated jockey racing against the competition.

When I made the transition from angel investor to institutional VC as a partner at High Peaks, I reflected on my years as an angel and realized that any mistakes I made were because I had not fully internalized this advice. My new partner Brad Svrluga had a similar experience over the dozen years as a VC; as he puts it: “I’ve always understood the jockey-horse lesson, yet every single year I feel like I learn it again and understand more and more how true it is.” The lesson really screamed out at us both, when we recounted our wins and losses. Our biggest mistakes came from when we compromised this value or thought there were enough compelling reasons to ignore it; our greatest successes came from embracing it.

Taking this strategy to the extreme, Brad and I made some bets on jockeys before they even had horses. Our first example is Akshay Navle. When I was first introduced by an angel investor, I had no idea what to expect. I took the meeting out of courtesy and scheduled just 30 minutes – which turned into 2 hours. Akshay told me amazing stories about his work and life and experiences, from building the ecommerce site for B&H to the long winding road between his start up and Quidsi (the parent company of Diapers.com). We got along well and I knew this guy was special – he had developed so many thriving and innovative businesses, yet he had a humility about him. He seemed like a young but talented jockey who expected his best race was still to come. We ended up working on a number of projects together, and last year, I brought him on at High Peaks as a Venture Partner.

Another favorite jockey is someone I met about a year ago when doing due diligence on a potential investment. I asked friends for contacts with experience in a specific industry, was introduced to Caleb Merkl, and was immediately blown away by how smart and insightful he is. We kept in touch and he later asked me for advice, since he wanted to be an entrepreneur but didn’t have a solid business idea yet. Like Akshay, Caleb seemed like a shooting star, so I convinced him to quit his job and become an Entrepreneur in Residence with us at High Peaks. That way he could learn from our approach and network, while developing his own business.

The plan worked well, and after about 6 months with us, Caleb teamed up with Akshay to develop a great idea and co-found a business together, with High Peaks as a seed investor. We may have lost an EIR and Venture Partner, but are more excited than ever because we get to be involved in this next journey. They are still in stealth, but we can’t wait to share more soon.

Brad and I love what we do because of this opportunity to work with great people.   We value great jockeys first and foremost (like Marc Lore of Jet.com or Rahul Gandhi at MakeSpace), and this is the foundation for how we invest in people, not just companies, at High Peaks.

High Peaks Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City.  We are seeking current MBA students in New York to participate in our MBA Associates program.   The MBA Associates will be specifically working on two main initiatives. The first is the expansion of our Operating Partner Network and and Technical Advisor Network in which we connect our portfolio companies with potential operating and technical experts to leverage their expertise. The second is to work with our investment team in conducting industry research to help refine and inform one of the investment theses that guide our investment and portfolio support strategy.

In the expansion of our Operating Partner Network or our Technical Advisor Network:

1. Identify leaders in the startup and tech community
2. Discuss opportunities to join High Peaks’ Operating Partner Network
3. Enter information in our CRM system
4. Assist portfolio companies in learning best practices, getting market intel, and hiring via the use of our Operating Partner Network
5. Networking is a huge part of what we do in Venture Capital and we think this is a great opportunity to start building a presence in the NYC tech scene

In the industry research project you will:

1. Work with our investment team in identifying the appropriate topic and thesis
2. Conduct interviews via our Operating Partner Network or Technical Advisor Network to gather data and insights
3. Get intelligence and point of views from other others in the Venture Capital community
4. Present your findings at the end of the program to the Partnership and all other participants in the program

Qualifications

1. Strong business acumen. Ideal candidates are currently enrolled in a top tier MBA program. A strong interest in Ecommerce and SaaS really helps.   This is beyond knowing what SaaS stands for and/or having shopped on Amazon!
2. You love networking and have a genuine interest in helping people, beyond just building a business. You need to be able to dig into people’s previous experience, motivations, and aspirations as well as develop an understanding of industry dynamics and can find the devil in the details.
3. You work hard.  Hustle is your middle name.
4. You are not an A—hole.  You might be a superstar genius but if people don’t always refer to you as a “really nice person” then you definitely don’t belong here.
5. You figure sh*t out and can work independently.   We don’t need to hold your hand to figure out what you have to do next.

Timing and other details

1. MBA Associate program is from Sept 2014 through early January 2015.
2. MBA Associates will be working primarily out of the office as you are expected to mostly be networking and gathering data from the field.

Email me your resume or LinkedIn Profile link at: ben@hpvp.com

CIA Director: What do you think of the girl?
Jeremy: I think she’s fucking smart.
CIA Director: We’re all smart, Jeremy.

It has been interesting to be on the other side of the table as the Venture Capitalist versus being an entrepreneur especially when it comes to evaluating the entrepreneur themselves.  I got a kick out of the fact that in our investment committee meetings that the most frequent response to the question “What do you think of the entrepreneur” would be “She/he is smart.”.  After seeing Zero Dark Thirty, I realized that it really is a crappy comment because it lacks any insights on the entrepreneur.  “We’re all f-cking smart” is now our immediate response when someone comments that the entrepreneur is smart.

So if everyone is smart, what else should we be looking for to determine if the entrepreneur will be successful?  As part of our evaluation process, we usually ask the following questions about the entrepreneur:

1. How much experience do they have that is relevant to the business?  Experience is a big deal.  Why?  Because you make less mistakes and mistakes equals cash burn.  Whether it is experience as a previous entrepreneur or in functional expertise or industry expertise, we consider that major pluses as we evaluate the potential success of that entrepreneur.

2. Is the entrepreneur coachable?  We don’t believe you should do whatever we say.  In fact, we don’t think you should do most things we suggest.  However, we think great entrepreneurs are always striving to be better and looking to solve problems.  Often when we bring up issues or questions, the entrepreneur may get very defensive or argue a counter position right away.  The best entrepreneurs are those that listen and take time to process the suggestion or question raised and are not afraid to say they were wrong or “I am going to look into that.”.  As investors, we want to help and if we feel like we are constantly being deflected instead of being treated as a partner, it usually doesn’t end up well.

3. Would you work for them?  This may be the most important trait of them all – the entrepreneur’s ability to hire.  There are three main responsibilities as CEO.  The first, you need to set the Company Vision.  Second, you need to make sure there is money in the bank.   Third, you need to Hire and Retain great talent.  When we evaluate the entrepreneur, we know that the Company is not a one man show.  Its success is based on the people that work there and being able to recruit A talent is a necessity.  Our test is to just ask ourselves “Would I work for them?”.  When you find great entrepreneurs, they have a level of magnetism that compels you to the point where you can envision working for them.  It’s based on charisma, sense of trust and a feeling that the person is a shooting star and you want to grab the tail of that comet and go along for the ride.  When you see that, you know that the person will be able to build great teams.