Principal

Title: Operator + Head of Growth (Principal-level)

Location: Denver, CO  (Role must be based in the Colorado Front Range)

Type: Full-time, W-2 employee

About Wildwood Ventures

Wildwood Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that builds and invests in human-focused technology businesses that bring Life to the Full. Focused on the market for Healthy & Active Lifestyles, Wildwood spun out of  VF Corporation (The North Face, Vans, et. al. NYSE: VFC) as its anchor limited partner. Wildwood’s B2C and B2B investments help people improve their health, explore and move, train to win, connect with others, and focus their mind and spirit.  Wildwood believes that meeting human needs and delivering strong investor returns are deeply reinforcing ideas.

The Role

This is a senior role: a unique combination of investing in, but also working on startups. It’s much more ‘roll up my sleeves and drive actual business KPIs’ than most VC investor roles. And, it’s more ‘thoughtful, disciplined investor thinking’ than most in-house startup operator roles. Both and. The role requires start-up chops, deep marketing/growth results, an obsession with tech, AI + tools – with a secondary focus on the investment process.

The person who will thrive in this role will likely have at least 10-12+ years of experience starting companies, growing startups.

What You’ll Do

Primary Responsibilities

1. “Fractional” Cofounder

• Be a startup maven: an early stage startup operator, rolling up your sleeves to bring your operational chops and growth expertise as an embedded resource within our portfolio companies
• Embed in 2-3 portfolio investments concurrently to provide flexible, hands-on operational support across critical areas of need that may include: finance, product, customer research, founder coaching, marketing, fundraising, analytics, AI, hiring, firing, and all the other little and big tasks that drive early value at the scrappy pre-seed and seed stages
• Offer strategic support to help founders focus, prioritize against most critical hypotheses, and quickly test, learn, and build on repeat
• Coordinate support of Wildwood teammates as needed based on current priorities of the business
• Help these startups grow, raise their next round, and change the world. But a few at once.
• This is hard to do. You’re kind of like a co-founder in the startup, but not technically. You have to know how to influence well.

2. Early-stage Marketing / Growth Expert

• Be the go-to SME of all things growth for Wildwood: the resource on how to help each startup get to its next milestone of revenue/traction. Drive portco outcomes related to customer acquisition and retention. Drive revenue, drive growth. This person is obsessed with our portcos building commercial traction using whatever modern sales + marketing strategy needed.
• Bring GTM + growth expertise, with recent, hands-on experience growing early stage 0-1 B2C and B2B companies across channels, strategies, and content types.
• “Productize” GTM tips, tricks, tools, and resources to easily share this expertise across startups in an efficient way
• Collaborate with other fractional cofounders on the Wildwood team to provide ongoing feedback and strategic support

3. Tech-obsessed thought leader + AI power user

• Obsess with trying + mastering the latest tools (likely AI-based) to drive outcomes and efficiency
• Monitor trends in consumer, wellness, outdoor, and sports markets to inform investment theses.
• Stay at the forefront of AI tools and resources to improve internal and portco operations and products
• Contribute to Wildwood’s thought leadership and sourcing efforts through LinkedIn posts, industry events, and founder-facing resources.
• Leverage your network of founders, startup operators, and investors to support Wildwood and portfolio companies

Secondary responsibilities:

   4. Founder Selection & Diligence

• Wear the investor hat as an early stage venture capitalist. Participate in weekly Investment Committee meetings to evaluate founder pitches
• Lead diligence workstreams (aided by an associate) to deeply understand founders, their business models, products, market landscapes, legal structures, financial histories, use of funds and projections, and general viability of growth within the current venture landscape
• Collaborate with partners to shape deal terms and recommendations.
• For clarity: in order to do the “Fractional cofounder” role mentioned above well, we’ve found that it’s best for these Principals to be involved in the investment process enough to have context, relationship, and a ‘head start’ when we invest.

Qualifications that Will Make You Successful

1. Business chops  

• Startup Reps: Experience in multiple startup environments with wisdom and pattern recognition from building and growing at early stages
• Range: Proven ability to operate across the “elevator” of startup life, going to the roof to consider strategy and market trends, with a willingness to head to the basement to take out the trash, and an ability to align and organize efforts that sit between strategy and tactics
• GTM Growth: Proven track record designing and executing sales and marketing growth strategies that drive measurable user/customer acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue. Show us numbers.
• Nice to have- Business Model Flexibility: Comfort working across B2B or B2C funnels depending on the startup’s model
• Nice to have – Investor Hat: Ability to learn or apply an investor-mindset to shape selection decisions and priorities within startup building

2. People & Team Skills

• Collaborative Leadership: Demonstrated ability to work across stakeholders and teams, even in flat or fast-evolving startup structures, to problem solve, align on shared vision, and drive results
• Clear & Persuasive Communication including in conflict: Able to distill complex information into compelling narratives for both technical and non-technical audiences, including founders, investors, board members, and customers.
• Team Player: Experience supporting team members in a culture of feedback, learning, experimentation, and accountability.

3. Early-Stage Grit

• Versatility + Growth mindset: Comfort working in ambiguity and in a fast-paced, constantly changing startup environment. Ability to tolerate the emotional ups and downs of startup life.
• Operator Mindset: Willingness to roll up sleeves and personally execute campaigns, partnerships, and experiments—no “just managing” in the early days.

Don’t meet every single requirement? We still encourage you to apply, as great candidates can come from many pathways.

Compensation & Benefits

• $170,000 – $190,000 base salary with 15% target annual bonus
• Generous health benefits through Wildwood’s PEO
• Carry participation
• Flexible vacation and multiple company holidays
• Small support stipend for moving, if relevant
• Hybrid work environment: based in Denver with 2-3 days in office

How We Hire

• Apply HERE by submitting a resume, cover note, and answer a few more questions.
  • As part of your submission on that page, please score yourself 1-10 (1 – no experience, 10 – the expert) on the four core areas of responsibility, and include commentary:
    1. Startup chops (early stage)
    2. Growth whiz: marketing, sales, acquisition, retention, commercial momentum
    3. Tech-obsessed, tech power user, AI power user
    4. Investor (early stage VC)
• You interview with team members
• We do reference checks
• Quick collaborative project with 2-3 finalists with team-wide debrief
• We make an offer
• You accept, and we’re off to the races

We seek to fill this role immediately, so if you are interested, please don’t delay.

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