VC Associate @ Long Journey Ventures in San Francisco, CA

Job Title:

Gardener (no, not that kind — but kind of)

Hours:

Full Time

Reports to:

GP, Arielle Zuckerberg

Salary: TBD | Exempt

Location:

Bay Area

Travel: 5%

At Long Journey, we are the second believers in the magically weird. We are a nimble team of seasoned operators investing in early‑stage startups. We are not by‑the‑book, buttoned‑up investors. In fact, we can be a little weird, sometimes even a lot weird, and maybe even occasionally funny or embarrassing too. We take our work seriously, but not ourselves, too seriously.

We believe that technology can create a brighter future, and we are constantly on the lookout for the most innovative and bold ideas. We’ve been there, done that, and still love the whole long, entrepreneurial ride and are tirelessly dedicated to being our founders’ second believers in their life’s work.

We know — “Gardener” isn’t a job title you typically see at a venture capital firm. But hear us out.

At Long Journey, we write a lot of small, early checks — through our Wayfinder program, scout network, and personal angel investments. These are seeds. Some sprout fast. Some need time. And some grow into the kind of trees you name parks after — generational companies that change everything. But if no one’s paying attention, even the best ones can wither.

That’s where you come in. We’re looking for a Gardener — someone who notices. Who tracks what’s growing. Who helps us stay close to our weird, wonderful, early‑stage portfolio and makes sure we never miss the chance to double down on something magical.

This is an investment role, but the focus isn’t on sourcing new deals. Instead, you’ll be the connective tissue across our earliest‑stage bets — spotting traction, surfacing follow‑on opportunities, and making sure our best seedlings get the sunlight (and capital) they need.

You’ll work closely with the investment and operations teams to keep our tracking systems sharp, our breakout radar tuned, and our GPs focused on what matters most.

In short: you’ll help us grow what we’ve already planted — and make sure nothing exceptional dies from neglect. Watering can optional. Overalls encouraged.

• Monitor and analyze Wayfinder, scout, and angel portfolio companies to identify breakout signals
• Responsible for building internal systems to track performance, founder updates, and follow‑on readiness
• Work with the investment team to flag potential follow‑on investments early and propose next steps
• Build financial models and perform analysis to support follow‑on investment decisions
• Partner with the Head of Platform and Head of Operations to provide hospitality to the portfolio and manage internal fund tracking tools
• Support early‑stage diligence and prepare investment memos and related write‑ups
• Attend industry events and network with entrepreneurs, investors, and other key stakeholders in the startup ecosystem
• Optionally: support in one or more “bonus” areas based on your skill set — content generation, coding/data tools, or sourcing

You start your day by reviewing the latest Wayfinder company updates we’ve received over the last week. You add any relevant data from the updates to the tracker you’ve built, and in reading the updates, you read that a founder just closed a big partnership deal — you flag it as a potential breakout in the tracker and drop a note to the venture partner who wrote the original $100K check to get their take.

Mid‑morning, you join the weekly Deal Flow Sync with the investment team. The team is debating investing in an early‑stage round, and you share a piece of research you read a few days ago, and how that may impact the company’s market. The team is also deep in diligence on a potential follow‑on investment, and you provide a status update on the diligence process, which you’ve been helping quarterback.

You also share what’s bubbling up across the early‑stage portfolio. You highlight a company that is growing quickly — they hit $750K in ARR last month and may be ready to consider for a core check. The partners ask you to pull together a one‑pager summarizing its progress, cap table status, and what a core check could look…