About Sprout:
Companies face a myriad of management challenges for their most important asset: its people. With antiquated, burdensome tools and processes, teams need a better solution and it is time to take control.
Roots Technology is disrupting traditional management tools and solving universal pain points by launching Sprout, a comprehensive suite of stakeholder management software-as-a-service (SaaS). Sprout empowers founders, investors and advisors to efficiently manage critical equity and people information, creating a digital companion and a single source of truth. Our initial build enables companies to build and manage important stakeholder and investment information such as its cap table, stock option plans, investment models, digital registrar, board meetings and secure data rooms.
Roots was founded by an ex-Uber Asia business executive and a China product and engineering leader with a combined 35-years of global startup experience launching companies at scale and cultivating large teams. We were founded in 2019, accepted to the Cyberport incubation program and recently backed by an influential early stage investor group.
For What We Are Hiring:
Sprout is looking for a talented person to help us build out our partnership and customer ecosystem across the Asia Pacific region. This role will drive strategy, advocacy, channel partnerships and, ultimately, growth from our external partner constituents: that includes founders, lawyers, venture capital, accounting firms, corporate secretaries, private equity and limited partners. You will start from the ground up to build and launch the very rocket ship in which you will ride. Join us in our mission to help teams better manage their stakeholders.
Team You Are Joining:
You will be joining our founding team in Hong Kong and will work to strategize and build out all our future business development and go-to-market functions. This role will also closely work with our product and engineering teams to share marketplace insights and feedback.
Problem You Will Solve:
As our Head of Business Development, you will play a key role in building and nurturing Sprout’s relationships within investment, advisor and company secretarial community. In this role, you will create new champions for our partnerships and manage key relationships and grow our ecosystem. You will map, categorize and track the partner community that influences our prospects and customers. You will evangelize and deliver Sprout value proposition to partners.
You will internally “conduct BD” and collaborate with peers across Sprout to leverage contacts across all regions, and work cross-functionally with the rest of the team. You will operate in the field as a subject matter expert and as a consultative representative of Sprout, meeting with partner accounts and referrals. You will actively participate and build your network at industry events. You will uncover revenue generating opportunities within this community.
You will gather and share industry trends, competition, and market insights from the larger community to champion our partners and inform our strategic planning. You will collaborate with Product Management on future products and services we offer to our partner ecosystem.
About the Role
You have comparable partnership experience in business development or creating business referral programs. You have prior work experience with, and potentially existing contacts within, the private capital markets and startup community as well as within greater business communities across the region. You are a strong communicator (fluency in Mandarin with simplified Chinese reading and writing is a plus) and an exceptional networker with specifical experience finding and connecting and decision makers. You understand the SaaS business model, and may even have experience working in and/or are passionate about the venture capital and startup ecosystem.
At Sprout, and particularly within this role, a successful Head of Business will have the ability to operate and manage comfortably and effectively in a fast-paced, startup environment. You have authentic relationship building skills and are self-driven. You are detailed, organized, strategic and even creative with structuring and closing partnerships that align interests and motivate all parties to work together. Preferred, though not required, experience as an early stage investor, investment banker or portfolio or program management professional at a venture capital firm or an institutional investment firm / family office which has invested in the venture asset class.
We are building stakeholder management tools for teams so we will lead by example with a world class culture that promotes diversity and inclusion and enable our people to reach their maximum potential. Finally, but not least, you operate transparently and as a team player with strong ethical and moral beliefs.
Compensation and Benefits:
You will have a unique opportunity to join a startup and learn the best practices from Silicon Valley and China against the backdrop of a traditionally financial hub as Hong Kong. This is a startup in which you will learn and be compensated with a combination of cash and an equity stake that will also grow as we hit operational and strategic milestones. We will be expanding our perks to include a full range of benefits, including MPF, full health insurance and other reimbursement programs. Other perks will be related to created a fun, comfortable working environment that seeks to balance and award outright sprinting, pure hustle and a sustainable work-life balance.