Associate

WHO WE ARE

GSV Ventures

GSV Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm investing in the most important founders and leaders across the global “Pre-K to Gray” digital learning and workforce skills landscape. Investments include ClassDojo, Clever (exited), Coursera (exited), Degreed, Gradescope (exited), Guild, Learneo (formerly Course Hero), MagicSchool, Nearpod (exited), Photomath (exited), Physicswallah, and QuillBot (exited) among other notable investments in education technology leaders positioned to achieve disproportionate gains. GSV Ventures manages over $1.0bn in assets across three funds and several SPVs.

The ASU+GSV Summit and AI Show

Critical platforms for GSV Ventures’ investing activity also include the AI Show and the world-renowned ASU+GSV Summit, drawing some of the globe’s most prominent speakers including Bill Gates, Sam Altman, Andrew Ng, Sheryl Sandberg, Sal Khan, Luis von Ahn, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Jared Polis, Glenn Youngkin, Bari Weiss, Emily Oster, Michael Lewis, every Secretary of Education for last 10 administrations, amongst many, many others.

Now in its 17th year, the ASU+GSV Summit is the world’s most important and impactful gathering of leaders across “pre-K to gray” education and workforce learning. The annual event is held in April in San Diego, where over 7,000 registrants gather to address the transformation of learning and skills delivery leveraging key developments in technology.

In 2024, we held our inaugural AI Show, an open-attendance event for education practitioners in K12 and Higher Education to experience first-hand the most exciting innovations in edtech. The AI Show is attended by over 10,000 people from around the world.

WHAT WE ARE SEEKING

At GSV, our north star is that “all people deserve an equal opportunity to participate in the future.” We have long focused on investing in the companies with the greatest measurable impact on outcomes (Return On Education) as we believe they will have the greatest return on investment (ROI).

We are seeking an Associate to join the GSV investment team. In this role, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education and workforce skills through strategic investments in innovative tech platforms. Your responsibilities will encompass several key domains. You will conduct thorough research and due diligence to identify promising investment opportunities, assessing growth potential, business models, market trends, and financial performance. Proactive deal sourcing and origination will be central to your role, requiring extensive networking and relationship-building to uncover new investment prospects. Portfolio management involves providing strategic guidance to portfolio companies, fostering growth and operational efficiency. Your leadership extends to managing cross-functional projects contributing to our mission, cultivating vital partnerships within the education innovation ecosystem, and sharing valuable insights as a thought leader in the edtech sector through industry events and engagements.

WHO YOU ARE

EXPERIENCE

• 2-5 years of related professional experience
• Prior experience in investing, investment banking, consulting, or early-stage startups
• Strong preference for familiarity with edtech / workforce learning landscape

SKILLS:

• Fluency with AI tools and desire to utilize fronteir tech to improve processes and outcomes
• Operates with “Hair-on-Fire” urgency and high-energy approach that reflects passion for the work
• Commitment to our mission to invest in transformative tech across the "Pre-K to Gray" spectrum to give all people access to the future
• Proactive relationship builder with founders/CEOs, purchasing decision-makers, industry experts, peer investors, and experts who would be beneficial to GSV’s network
• Strong financial modeling and analytical acumen
• Highly inquisitive and relentless in identifying and learning about emerging trends, new companies, and new technologies
• Consistently, proactively seeks ways to assist GSV portfolio companies
• Ability to sell the advantages of alignment with the GSV platform
• Natural optimist, seeks to maintain positive attitude even in challenging/stressful situations, and brings a sense of humor to the workplace

WHAT YOU WILL DO

An Associate at GSV might be responsible for the following:

• Deal Sourcing and Origination: Proactively identify and source early-stage investment opportunities through primary and secondary research, extensive industry networking, and building relationships with entrepreneurs, industry experts, and other VC firms.
• Investment Analysis: Conduct in-depth research and due diligence on potential investment opportunities in the education and workforce skills sectors. Evaluate companies' growth potential, business models, market trends, and financial performance to identify compelling investment prospects.
• Portfolio Management: Provide strategic guidance and support to portfolio companies, collaborating with their leadership teams to drive growth, operational efficiency, and long-term success.
• Project Leadership: Lead and manage projects that contribute to the overall mission and strategic goals of GSV Ventures. These projects may include research initiatives, market assessments, impact measurement, and other cross-functional efforts.
• Contribute to ASU+GSV Summit: Help build the community of startups and industry experts attending the ASU+GSV Summit, which can be leveraged for sourcing and selling the full GSV platform to founders we’re interested in working with. This will not be a primary focus, but all members of the investment team contribute to their respective vertical(s).
• Partnership Development: Cultivate and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders in the education and skills innovation ecosystem, including academic institutions, corporations, governments, and non-profit organizations.
• Thought Leadership: Contribute to thought leadership activities, representing GSV Ventures at industry events, speaking engagements, and conferences, and sharing insights on emerging trends in education and workforce skills technologies.

This role is based out of our New York, Chicago, or Bay Area offices.

Interested in joining our team? Please fill out this form.

GSV is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity in our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

GSV Ventures is an equal opportunity employer.

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