Zetta’s Associate Program
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At Zetta we invest in AI-first startups with B2B business models. Inevitably, these companies and products are centered on learning loops — the constant infusion of fresh data, experimentation, and feedback, which create a virtuous spiral that delivers compounding value to the product and customers.
We embrace those principles in our practice as investors, as well — exposing ourselves to novel ideas, experimenting with new practices, and taking feedback to heart, so we can keep learning and growing as a firm and create compounding value for the founders we serve. We see our two year Associate program as one of our greatest successes in living those values.
We learn tremendously from our associates, who bring fresh ideas, fresh relationships, and fresh experiences working at great tech companies or other great investors. In return, we offer the opportunity to experience the A’s to Z’s of early stage venture capital in a small team environment. Zetta is a springboard into an investing career, or a launchpad as an entrepreneur.
As members of a close team of investors, our associates have great flexibility to make the role their own. Zetta’s associates have written articles and spoken at conferences to refine and share our AI playbooks. They perform the full stack investment job from formulating theses, to market research, networking, meeting with founders, writing investment memos, driving diligence, and advocating for investments. They present at our annual meeting to our LPs, and even observe board meetings when founders see value in it — as they often do! Our associates tell us that their two years at Zetta are far more educational than the same two years spent at business school.
We learn so much and grow so much from our associates that it’s always tempting to extend the program to more than two years. We don’t do that for two reasons, one selfish and one altruistic. The selfish reason is that we want to constantly evolve, learn, and grow, and one of the best ways to do that is to consistently bring new people and new ideas to the table. The altruistic reason is that, as a small firm, we don’t have enough rungs on our ladder to offer a career path to partner. We want our brilliant young associates to go on to roles where they can aggressively grow in their careers, not remain in a static position here.
With the turning of the year, we’ve recently graduated our second associate, Ivy Nguyen, who has joined a phenomenal firm in our space — Point72 Ventures — while our first associate, Kanu Gulati, went on to a Principal role at Khosla Ventures. We could not be more pleased for the success of our Zetta alums and consider them some of the most outstanding talent in the venture ecosystem. We look forward to co-investing with them and recommend them unreservedly to entrepreneurs as potential partners in your business!
With endings come new beginnings — and it’s now our pleasure to welcome Dylan Reid and James Alcorn, who are now embarking on their two year adventure with us. Each has brought tremendous insights, ideas, and energy already — we can’t wait to see where they take us!
