Preparing the next chapter for our Portfolio Impact Team
When we launched Primary Venture Partners five years ago, we sought to set a new standard for how early-stage investors engaged with and supported their portfolio companies. Impact was our mantra. Beyond writing a check, we wanted to meaningfully partner with founders to tackle their most pressing issues and concerns on the journey to Series A and beyond. To do this effectively, we set out to hire a top-notch operator who had extensive experience in NYC tech. While the standard approach had been to hire a catch-all platform position to assist with recruiting and marketing efforts, we wanted a seasoned specialist in an area that Seed stage founders couldn’t yet afford to hire in house. Talking to dozens of founders, it was clear that one answer was always at the top of their wish list — talent. And so with that clear guidance, we brought Cat Hernandez on board as our first Operating Partner, with a mandate to develop deeper relationships with our founders, offer strategic guidance on organizational design and strategy, and to support them in making critical hires. In the years since, we have developed the most impactful Talent Program in Seed stage venture. And with that success as our guide, we have more recently expanded and built the most robust Portfolio Impact Team in the market.
In addition to setting a gold standard for how we support our founders, Cat has built out an experienced talent team and has instituted systems and processes that will sustain our record of driving outsized impact in our portfolio via recruiting and organizational strategy support. She has also partnered with us to help expand our Portfolio Impact efforts to include strategic finance and go-to-market support. Fellow Operating Partners Bob Perruzzi and Cassie Young have embraced a similar “dive deep” mentality with our founders, and are working closely with our companies across many dimensions. Our Portfolio Impact program is today, by far the strongest it has ever been.
Given Cat’s outsized impact building this program, it is bittersweet that we share the news that after nearly five years at Primary, she will be moving on to a new challenge in mid-June. While we are sorry to see her go, we are excited about the new opportunities that await her and look forward to watching her continue her positive mark on the New York tech community. We will miss her dearly, but look forward to partnering in new ways. And we’re excited to think about the opportunity that is created by bringing a fresh face and a fresh point of view into our partnership.
Portfolio Impact is at the core of our DNA, and that will never change. It’s a differentiator that resonates with the promising founders we back, and our portfolio has benefitted, reaffirmed by our first fund’s 92% Seed to Series A graduation rate. To that end, we are committed to finding an outstanding People leader to fill Cat’s big shoes and would welcome introductions to standout professionals in your networks.
We are looking for a new People-focused operating partner who has passion and appreciation for:
- Scaling organizations — ideal candidates have scaled multiple NYC tech companies and built 200+ person teams
- Talent acquisition — candidates should have demonstrable success building recruiting engines
- Startup dynamics — candidates should have an intuitive sense for organizational and cultural nuances, and have an ability to build trust and confidence with our CEOs and their senior teams
- Partnering with CEOs — candidates should be accustomed to being the first person a founder turns to for advice and wisdom about the trickiest organizational and foundational issues
We are continuing to build and expand the team and our vision here at Primary. With a third fund coming soon and ambitions to deepen our Portfolio Impact efforts, we will be excited to invite a true People star to join our team ASAP. Cassie Young will be managing our talent team on an interim basis and is playing point on our People Operating Partner search; interested candidates should reach out to her directly at cassie@primary.vc.
— Brad Svrluga, Primary General Partner and Co-Founder
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