As our new Principal, you’ll help us support unstoppable founders working on building the next generation of pillar companies.
Apply Here
When you join Pillar as our new Principal, you’ll help us connect with first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs building the next generation of pillar companies in Boston. Whether you’re passionate about synthetic biology, enterprise SaaS, consumer, blockchain, FinTech or another emerging space, you’ll bring a fresh perspective, sharing your ideas and expertise with our team and our portfolio companies.
This is a full-time role in our Boston office beginning in 2019.
Who We Are
Pillar is the first capital in for founders building the next-generation of pillar companies in Boston. We’re proud investors in companies like PillPack, Desktop Metal, Algorand, Hometap, Kuebix, Asimov, and Soofa.
We started Pillar with the belief that there has to be a better way for founders and investors to align. We began with a simple hypothesis — that if we treat founders the way we would want to be treated, that good things will happen. That if we align every incentive, every action and decision to realize mutual benefit, we will engender trust, and from that, achieve profound results. It’s that simple.
Our firm was co-founded by Jamie Goldstein, who spent 18 years at North Bridge Venture Partners, and 17 world-class CEOs and executives from top Boston companies like Wayfair, TripAdvisor, DraftKings and Rapid7. All are investors in our firm, but are also owners, bringing their insight and experience to our portfolio companies as advisors, mentors, board members and customers. Jamie is joined by Russ Wilcox (E Ink, Transatomic Power, Piper Therapeutics) and Sarah Hodges (Pluralsight, RunKeeper, Intelligent.ly) in managing the fund, and by team members, Parker McKee and Katie Mulligan. Collectively, we have over 50 years’ experience building and scaling companies.
Who You Are
- You’re relentlessly curious. Your favorite word is “Why?” You aren’t intimidated by tough topics that others are shy to tackle. You’re a sponge for information, and are constantly exploring new industries, ideas, technologies and tools. You seek out experts, surround yourself with books and articles, and learn from founders as you come up to speed on a new space.
- You have a great read on people. You’re able to tap into real customer pain and understand new market opportunities, but you’re even better at identifying promising founders and senior leaders who have the capacity to blow through walls and create momentum, sweeping people into their mission along the way.
- You have a diverse and complementary network. Each person on our team brings a unique set of relationships to our firm and our portfolio; together we’re stronger than we could ever be alone. You have a complementary network that helps us access, connect with and learn from an interesting new group of people.
- You’re a connector. You enjoy meeting new people and building a community, but more importantly, like to connect the dots, putting people together who mutually benefit from shared skills, ideas, and perspectives.
- You have “T” skills––depth and breadth. You have depth, perhaps and area in which you’ve helped to build a company as a product leader or former founder, or maybe because you’ve spent time as an investor digging into a space about which you’re passionate. You also have breadth; you thrive on learning about emerging technologies, and can easily come up to speed on new concepts.
- You advocate for founders. You have empathy for entrepreneurs, perhaps because you’ve spent time building companies yourself.
- You have 3 years of experience. You have spent some time building companies or investing (or both!).
Your Responsibilities
- Source and evaluate new investment opportunities, leveraging your network and Pillar’s relationships to connect with founders bringing innovative new ideas to life. Support the investing team in reviewing deals, doing diligence, making investments and monitoring the portfolio.
- Research new people, technologies and applications related to your own areas of interest, sharing what you learn with our team and our portfolio.
- Build relationships with CEOs and senior leaders across Boston, connecting our founders with access to strategic advisors, mentors, from your network and the Pillar community.
- Manage data collection and reporting for a selection of investments in Pillar’s portfolio with which you are involved.
How to Apply
Our process starts with having candidates answer two questions by recording videos, as well as submitting two short written pieces. Apply here.
Here are the questions:
- Video 1: Why are you interested in the Investor role? [30 seconds]
- Video 2: What is something you are an expert in and how did you become an expert? [60 seconds]
- Written 1: An email asking for a meeting with the founder of a startup you admire.
- Written 2: An argument for a space or a changing market dynamic that will create a unique opportunity for innovation. [750 words max]
