Job Description

About Cowboy Ventures

Cowboy Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm investing in exceptional founders who are building customer-loved tech companies that scale to sustained success. We work closely with our portfolio founders and companies to help them succeed. We are a small but mighty team based in Palo Alto and New York.

About the Role

This awesome addition to our team will work across several functions including sourcing, diligence of new venture investments, portfolio company support, community building, firm operations, strategic planning, and selective support for LP relationships.

Candidates should be fast learners with a unique blend of situational judgment, detail and service orientation, networking abilities, financial analysis skills, communication skills, hustle, and emotional intelligence.

This is an incredible opportunity to be part of a fast-paced, close-knit, and fun-loving team, while gaining extraordinary exposure to all facets of venture capital, working closely with a curated group of early-stage startups, building your network, and playing a valued role in the growth and success of a world-class seed fund.

This role has three main areas of focus:

1. Help our team source and evaluate new technologies & venture opportunities

2. Help our team provide world-class support to our portfolio companies

3. Help with other venture firm-building activities

Responsibilities

1. Help our team source and evaluate new technologies & venture opportunities

Cowboy Ventures is fortunate to receive a high volume of inbound opportunities to evaluate, but we also spend time proactively sourcing and identifying new technologies and venture opportunities. In this role, you will: 

• Help source new investment opportunities 

• Help build and maintain key relationships, including expanding Cowboy's referral network

• Help build Cowboy’s reputation through content, events, and other related activities

• Compare notes with peers at other VC firms

• For inbound opportunities, you will:  

• Evaluate a broad array of technology-driven startups and trends

• Escalate promising companies and trends to dive deeper on

• Perform strategic due diligence 

• Financial analysis

• Financial modeling

• Market research

• Customer interviews

• Work with members of our team to make and execute investment decisions

• Work on term sheets

• Help oversee financial and legal processes for new investments

2. Help our team provide world-class support to our portfolio companies

Cowboy Ventures aims to deliver best-in-class strategic and operational support to accelerate portfolio company success. In this role, you will: 

• Partner with our team to work closely with portfolio companies

• Contribute to achieving strategic priorities, including: 

• Recruiting

• Financial planning

• Customer and advisor introductions

• Product roadmap planning 

• Gathering competitive intelligence

• Helping with successful follow-on financings

3. Help with other venture firm-building activities

In this role, you'll collaborate cross-functionally with other team members to drive projects to completion, with a "no task too big or too small" demeanor. Projects and ongoing responsibilities might include: 

• Modeling our investment portfolio

• Helping plan and prepare for a strategy offsite

• LP communications

• Research and writing support 

• Preparing for regular investment team meetings

• Following up on action items deemed important by colleagues

Qualifications, Skills & Characteristics 

Cowboy Ventures values a mix of incisive thinking, hustle, humility, humor, creative thinking, proactivity, emotional intelligence, and results. These values must shine through in all the Investment Associate or Senior Associate at Cowboy Ventures does.

We are looking for: 

• 3+ years prior full-time work experience, either in tech-focused venture capital, growth equity, management consulting, investment banking, startups, or a blend of prior work experiences. Additional experience will be required for a Senior Associate. 

• A track record supporting and partnering successfully with executive-level operators

• Financial literacy and the ability to analyze investment and market related data 

• Digital fluency, a passion for technology, and prior exposure to tech and/or the tech investing ecosystem

• A track record of being a standout colleague, with a high sense of urgency balanced with strong attention to detail, quality orientation, and organizational skills

• A proven track record to thrive in an unstructured environment through resourcefulness, high efficiency, and work ethic

• Outstanding and concise written and verbal communication skills

• Someone who is comfortable executing with little direction and/or structure, and who will pro-actively ask for clarification or direction when needed

• Outstanding EQ (emotional intelligence) and the ability to anticipate needs and expectations

• A sense of humor, empathy for others, and confidence with humility

• The ability to communicate and collaborate with the utmost integrity, and to maintain trusted confidence, with all internal and external partners

Other position specifications

• This role is a hybrid role based in the Bay Area or New York City  

• This is a full-time role with salary, medical benefits, and 401k 

We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.