For those of you interested in working at an early-stage, technology oriented/innovative business on the North Coast, here are a few job sites that are worth visiting:
1) www.ventureloop.com – This is a site that lists jobs at venture capital backed companies around the country. JumpStart uses Venture Loop, so if you go to our web site, our portfolio company job postings you see are hosted by Venture Loop.
2) www.startuphire.com – This site is now supported by the National Venture Capital Association, and there are a number of postings at Northeast Ohio venture backed companies.
3) www.theladders.com – This site lists high paying jobs in a variety of sectors, including technology, by geography. The company is venture backed itself.
4) www.ohiomeansjobs.com – There are several Northeast Ohio startup company postings on this site. Neotechjobs merged its information into this site, and I think it’s pretty good.
5) www.careerboard.com – This has some good engineering and IT jobs at early-stage companies.
6) The Weatherhead 100 fastest growing companies is a great place to look. There aren’t any job postings, but find a company you like and check out their site for any openings. Similarly, The Venture Capital Report for the Cleveland Plus Region lists angel and venture-funded companies in Northeast Ohio. Find some companies that look interesting, and check their web sites for job openings.
As far as networking to get more involved with people who are at innovative, high growth companies throughout the Emerald Necklace territory, here are my picks:
1) Become a member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). This is a nationally respected organization that promotes entrepreneurship in general and whose roots are in celebrating Indian entrepreneurship.
2) Attend FoundersCafe events. Serial entrepreneur, Dan Moore, started this, and his general mantra is that it’s for people who hate their jobs and have always wanted to start a company.
3) Become a member of the Ohio Venture Association (OVA). It’s not cheap, but it’s a good place to learn more about early-stage, venture backed companies.
4) Attend a Gorilla Group meeting. The Gorilla Group crew are funny and fun, and you can drink at their “meetings”.
Stay tuned for the next post, which will be a totally uncomprehensive -- and yet useful (of course) -- post about crafting a resume that “speaks” to early-stage companies. Until then, enjoy some good clean fun with these April Fool’s Day office pranks as told by Entrepreneur Magazine. (Thought of the day: maybe the Rick Wagoner forced resignation is just a early April Fool's office prank Obama is playing on GM -- what a prankster...Obama to Wagoner: "Just kidding, buddy, you actually get a trillion dollar bailout, and a free Chevette, you big Teddy Bear, you!!!! They hug. It's all good.)
Becca Braun is a past president of JumpStart Ventures. She founded and led a number of early-stage companies and organizations, as well as worked as a private equity investor and management consultant. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA in Linguistics from Harvard University. She is keenly interested in the intersection of wealth creation and broad-based regional economic growth.