Iterative is an accelerator that invests exclusively in startups in Southeast Asia. Founded in March 2020 by Hsu Ken Ooi and Brian Ma, Iterative has raised $65M across 2 funds, invested in 150+ companies, 350+ founders and the total value of Iterative companies is now worth $1.2 billion.
Our investors include Cendana, K5 Global, Village Global, Goodwater Capital with participation from a large network of Silicon Valley founders and execs including Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox), Achmad Zaky (Bukalapak), Andrew Chen (General Partner a16z, Uber), Qasar Younis (Former COO YC, Applied Intuition), David Shim (Foursquare), Kum Hong Siew (Head of Airbnb Asia), Moses Lo (Founder, Xendit), and many more.
Iterative, as an organization, has 4 distinct functions and as a result, a team for each function.
Recruiting – Find startups for Iterative to invest in
Investments – Decide whether Iterative should invest in a startup
Iterative Founders – Help the founders Iterative has invested in
Support – Make Iterative a first-class organization
Iterative is currently a team of 13 and growing quickly across each of these teams.
The RoleWe’ve funded nearly 350+ founders and deployed tens of millions in venture capital. Our most important product to support founders is the Accelerator Program. The program runs twice a year, with each batch including ~20 companies. We are looking for a Batch Operations Manager to own our flagship accelerator program with high standards of excellence and operational rigor, ensuring that founders get the most value out of their 12 weeks with Iterative. This role is critical to helping us execute our mission of boosting Southeast Asia’s GDP through entrepreneurship.
Your success will be measured by how well the program runs, including in-person orientation, % of office hours attended, on-time completion of batch milestones, and overall founder experience.
What You’ll DoThe primary responsibility of this role is to manage the Accelerator program.
Large-scale event planning and execution. Plan and run all major batch events on time and with high NPS. This includes organising and executing the in-person orientation with 50+ attendees, coordinating Demo Day with 400+ investors, and hosting the in-person graduation drinks. You will manage the logistics and communications from planning all the way to on-the-day execution.
Batch coordination and management. Ensure founders complete program milestones according to due dates. Coordinate office hours and group office hours, including matching visiting partners with the right founders. Drive high attendance for all program events like expert sessions and pitch practices, leading up to demo day. You will keep multiple calendars and workflows running smoothly at all times.
Recruit visiting partners, experts and speakers. A large part of what makes Iterative’s program successful is our ability to identify and recruit Visiting Partners, experts, and speakers to work with our companies. It will be your responsibility to find, recruit, and onboard them to work with Iterative.
Primary point of contact for founders. You will be the primary point of contact for founders during the program. Manage their experience from onboarding to graduation, making sure they get the support they need during the program. You will spot and resolve logistical issues early, and maintain clear communication with founders, visiting partners, vendors, and team members. You should also be able to diagnose, draw insights, and triage common startup issues to point founders to the right partner, investor, resource, or expert.
Highly organized. You are the go-to project and task manager in your previous teams, with a high degree of executional discipline. You keep to deadlines and can move large groups towards dates without letting things slip through the cracks.
Detail oriented. You manage multiple calendars and stakeholders at once, making sure everyone knows what to do early and with clear, high-quality instructions.
Strong verbal and written communicator. In a remote environment with many founders across different time zones, you convey instructions succinctly and galvanize people into action without unnecessary back-and-forth. Your writing is clear, concise, and easy to understand.
High degree of self-agency. You are resourceful in unblocking yourself, and you know when and who to go to for support early so that deadlines stay on track. You don’t shy away from problems. In fact, you look for them and solve them.
Startup-curious. You have been a founder or have worked in an early-stage startup. You are genuinely curious about the startup ecosystem, connect easily with founders, and can anticipate their needs.
These are the Iterative values. They’re not for everyone, but if they speak to you, you might be just what we’re looking for.
Iterate or Die – We take this literally. Ship early, get continuous feedback, and boldly experiment. If not, the organization will die.
Empathy is Our Competitive Advantage – Our success depends on our ability to empathize with other people in the organization and the community.
Be Realistically Ambitious – The best strategy for making a big impact is to be realistic, have a plan, and be ambitious.
Responsibility is a Privilege, Not a Right – Being part of Iterative means being given responsibility for a part of our business. Be a good steward of that responsibility by being accountable, diligent, and open-minded.
