Rev1 is an investor startup studio focused on seed and early stage opportunities and provides a unique combination of investment capital and strategic services to high growth companies. Rev1 manages a continuum of investment funds from corporate, community and innovation partners. Rev1 is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
The Opportunity
As the Director of New Ventures, you will directly collaborate with these institutions, further existing relationships and seek out new ways to engage principal investigators, physicians, clinicians, students and other innovators in cooperation with technology commercialization staff at each institution. In addition, you’ll guide and inform innovators about the startup and commercialization journey, often aligning them with entrepreneurs who can transform their innovations and vision into a commercially-viable enterprise. Reporting to the COO, you’re responsible for building and growing trusted relationships across multiple organizations, evaluating nascent technologies and quickly assessing what they need to succeed and who can help them the most. You’ll guide most spinout projects through Rev1’s initial customer/product/market validation process; and work within the Rev1 team, advancing several opportunities to investment per year, remaining deeply involved post-investment. This is a comprehensive technology and business development role in which the individual takes opportunities from scouting to delivery and implementation.
It’s likely you’ve had some failure or disappointments in your career. We hope so. We want you to bring those learnings with you. A successful candidate is passionate about startups and is a natural connector, drawing on capabilities honed through myriad experiences, which can include working as an early-stage investor, technology commercialization professional in other settings, entrepreneur or all the above. You also have experience building and guiding highly effective teams, creating consensus in dynamic, matrix organizations, and working cross-functionally with other colleagues and business units to support and foster success.
Required Qualifications:
• Must be a U.S. Citizen, or hold a valid work visa that does not require sponsorship in order to legally work full-time in the United States.
• Bachelor’s degree (preferably in a technical discipline) and a minimum of 7 years’ relevant experience in technology commercialization – either within a major research institution, research foundation, corporate development office or commercialization investor. Advanced degree is ideal.
• Experience working with and/or investing (preferably) at the seed or early stages as part of a venture fund, corporate strategic fund, family office, university fund or similar activities, including experience in licensing and deal structuring.
• Experience as a founder or early senior team member at a startup.
• Experience in technical or operational roles.
• Comfortable working within an established yet evolving system to identify, develop, mature and harvest portfolio investments.
• Able to develop opportunities and make decisions with limited data.
• Experience understanding where and how new products or new business models can address key challenges and present new opportunities for customers.
• Comfortable working within a diverse team: We believe that gender, racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity are key contributors to startup success, and we’re committed to fostering this within our own team as well.
• Comfortable navigating complex organizations such as major research universities.
• Collaborative, entrepreneurial spirit: (1) willingness to explore new ways to approach problems and opportunities in ways others haven’t explored; (2) optimistic; (3) always seeking how to improve any process; (4) understands risk mitigation; and (5) focused on outcomes.
• Excellent relationship management skills. Ability to tactfully engage internal and external stakeholders.
• Understands basic financial analyses (ability to interpret financial statements: balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements).
• Ability to advance opportunities with intellectual honesty about risks and potential associated with companies and teams.
• Professionally and actively engage internal and external stakeholders during the investment cycle. Have an ability to deploy multiple influencing styles to obtain engagement, collaboration and commitment.
