Realistically, this person may not exist… but a man can dream!

Twenty five years ago, when I entered business school and majored in finance, I didn’t think I would be an entrepreneur. I thought I’d parlay my finance degree to pursue investment banking and do M&A advisory or become an analyst covering media stocks. Life had different plans, and the allure of entrepreneurship pulled me into another direction.

After ten years at the helm of WatchMojo, I reinvested into a wide array of initiatives and one stark lesson was that sometimes, innovation can’t come from within. I saw friends launch companies and instead of investing in them, I hired new staff and gave them resources to incubate new projects, programming, products and venture into new platforms. Some of it was successful, most wasn’t (as with all new ventures).

I saw some of those friends build huge businesses, while people I entrusted and supported went sideways. It happens. But, I got burned, and decided that I would really hesitate before launching new projects internally, partly because the DNA of an entrepreneur and intrapreneur are very different than that of an employee. Once we stabilized things and streamlined operations by end of 2019, I turned my attention outside, and began to invest in startups in 2020 (more on the origins of Granicus and its raison d’etre).

In parallel, I also finally got serious about investing in stocks I’d been following instead of merely recommending stocks to others as I’d done for two decades. As I close the chapter on 2021, Granicus Group is one-part family office, one-part investment vehicle that has

  • one foot in early stage (seed, angel, Series A/B) startup investments. I love working with entrepreneurs to help them find product/market fit, but the illiquid and long time horizon of private investing pushes me to my other passion, stock picking, and as such:
  • another foot in the public equity side of things.

As such, ideally, I am looking for an analyst to join me and help me with both sides of the equation, analyzing the startups that come across my desk, as well as helping me stay on top of the stocks I invest in. Realistically, I acknowledge these may be different profiles – but a man can dream! If this fits your profile, hit me up!

Over the past year, we have invested in nearly 20 startups, a handful of funds as well as some late stage / pre-IPO companies via SPVs. As we enter a new chapter, I am looking for someone who

– has extremely solid organizational skills who can ensure all administrative (financial, legal etc) paperwork is tidy, up-to-date and I don’t have to chase things after the fact.

– loves working with startups and is passionate about entrepreneurship, could very well one day launch a startup or join one, but is really more interested in a career in investments.

– can wear an operational partner hat and work with our portfolio companies to find opportunities with WatchMojo or companies/people in my network.

– is good at storytelling (or at least wants to pursue that) by helping me craft the narrative with these founders and builders.

– has a background in law and/or financial analysis, 

– experience in investing/fundraising (possibly). I didn’t inherit wealth: WatchMojo has been profitable for a few years and as such, I am very fortunate to (right now) not have any LPs or outside investors, but as our footprint and ambitions grow, we may one day want to raise a larger war chest – maybe.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Organize and schedule meetings with founders of companies looking for funding
  • Prepare investment memos for decision makers
  • Conduct due diligence on potential investments including: 
  • Company analysis
  • Industry analysis
  • Competitor analysis
  • Monthly calls to track updates of portfolio companies KPIs.
  • Assist with deal sourcing and organizing the deal pipeline

If this sounds like you, let me know. 

For more on the through line from WatchMojo to Granicus, read Your Company’s Beacon.