WHAT DOES AN ENTREPRENEUR IN RESIDENCE DO?
Published: Feb 06, 2025 - The Entrepreneur In Residence designs and facilitates sessions based on the JA Company Program curriculum while adhering to JA USA Implementation Standards, mentoring student participants to launch innovative companies or social enterprises. This position collaborates with other Entrepreneurs in Residence and integrates technology tools into the curriculum, enhancing student engagement through tools like 3D printers and smart boards. This role provides additional coaching for competitions and assists students in identifying resources to further develop ideas beyond the program, while tracking participation and evaluating success.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Entrepreneur In Residence
1. Entrepreneur In Residence Duties
- Strategic Advisory: Advise startups on tactical and strategic growth strategies.
- Program Design: Design cohort-based programming where multiple startups can benefit from networks of mentors, large companies, and government agencies.
- Relationship Building: Build and own relationships across multiple ecosystems on behalf of deep-tech startups.
- Client & Sponsor Management: Interface with sponsors and clients.
- Metrics Development: Develop and share key metrics and narratives.
- Entrepreneur Success Leadership: Be the go-to person for all things entrepreneur success-related.
- Business Development Support: Support companies’ goals around business development, operations, marketing, partnerships, and more.
- Network Growth: Develop, nurture, and grow relationships within the network organically.
- Resource Management: Assist with general resource needs such as content creation and curation.
- Vertical Initiative Ownership: Take full ownership of key initiatives within a specific vertical of Pepper.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with internal stakeholders to drive projects to closure.
- Problem Solving: Solve problems through structured thinking, research, project planning, and on-ground execution.
- Domain Management: Own responsibilities across strategy, marketing, operations, and partnerships to unlock opportunities for Pepper.
2. Entrepreneur In Residence Details
- Strategic Planning: Work with the CEO and the leadership team in establishing annual, quarterly, and monthly strategic priorities.
- Project Leadership: Lead new strategic projects and initiatives.
- OKR Implementation: Implement and lead OKRs in the organization.
- Alignment Management: Ensure alignment across the company.
- Leadership Efficiency: Drive efforts to improve leadership’s efficiency and effectiveness and determine KPIs for team performance.
- Industry Analysis: Stay up-to-date on news and trends in the digital health industry and prepare a quarterly update for the Board.
- Meeting Preparation: Assist the CEO in preparing for important internal and external meetings (Board) and events (off-site).
- Business Analysis: Develop a deep understanding of the business (internally and externally) to provide in-depth analyses as a basis for the CEO.
- Decision Enablement: Enable the CEO and other C-level team members to make better and faster decisions.
- Strategic Execution: Drive personal projects and work on a variety of strategic and critical items - individually and collaboratively.
- Operational Agility: Navigate complex situations, driving multiple responsibilities simultaneously while balancing progress on long-term projects with immediate demands.
- Presentation Development: Create comprehensive and crisp presentations for important communication with board members.
- Growth Strategy: Work hand in hand to develop and implement strategies to accelerate growth from seed start-up to Series A, B, or C.
3. Entrepreneur In Residence Responsibilities
- Curriculum Facilitation: Design and facilitate sessions using the JA Company Program curriculum, adhering to JA USA Implementation Standards.
- Student Mentorship: Regularly convene, mentor, and monitor student participants, focusing on launching innovative companies/social enterprises.
- Co-Facilitation: Co-facilitate sessions with the current Entrepreneur in Residence.
- Mentor Recruitment: Identify and secure additional entrepreneurs/mentors to provide start-up techniques and tactics.
- Technology Integration: Identify and incorporate technology tools into the curriculum (e.g., 3D printer, poster printers, smart boards).
- Program Coordination: Build in and teach/coordinate other JA programs to enhance the student experience (e.g., JA Titan Simulation, JA Launch Lessons).
- Event Support: Provide input on special events/activities and work with JA staff for implementation.
- Competition Coaching: Provide additional coaching for students interested in competitions like JA Company of the Year and MN Cup Youth Division.
- Resource Guidance: Assist students in identifying additional resources and next steps for launching concepts beyond the JA Program.
- Program Advocacy: Advocate for JA programs in activities, venues, and social media to build awareness.
- Participation Tracking: Track student participation and evaluate program success, including conducting pre- and post-surveys.
4. Entrepreneur In Residence Job Summary
- Strategic Collaboration: Work directly with the founders on high-priority strategic issues.
- Multifunctional Project Management: Handle diverse tasks and work on projects across different business areas.
- Product and Business Evaluation: Evaluate new product and business ideas as well as potential growth channels.
- Process Optimization: Examine existing processes and analyze optimization opportunities across all company divisions.
- Market Analysis: Prepare market and competition analyses and management/investor reports.
- KPI System Development: Support the development of a KPI/data-driven management system and create regular and ad-hoc reports.
- Operational Management: Take day-to-day responsibility for management tasks, including business analysis, planning, and cross-functional alignment.
- Growth Planning: Drive business growth and productivity improvement by identifying and executing opportunities.
- Cross-Functional Support: Support teams on key initiatives and processes across product, marketing, sales, and operations.
- Roadmap Optimization: Help optimize the roadmap and business case for scale-up.
- Customer Journey Design: Participate in developing and implementing an optimal customer journey from acquisition to retention and upsell.
5. Entrepreneur In Residence Accountabilities
- Care Plan Development: Develop Chronic Disease Care Plans.
- Stakeholder Communication: Communicate with stakeholders effectively.
- Process Optimization: Gather insights and build scalable processes/SOPs.
- Strategic Project Implementation: Conceptualize and implement strategic projects during market expansion.
- Business Development: Develop and implement innovative strategies and processes in Business Development, Partner Management, and Sales.
- Infrastructure Improvement: Support professionalization of the value chain through automation, KPI redefinition, and infrastructure optimization.
- Industry Analysis: Perform quantitative and qualitative analysis to develop a deep understanding of the business and industry.
- Partnership Management: Work with the founding team on strategic projects, focusing on partnerships and product adoption.
- Customer Onboarding: Manage large customer/partner onboarding projects and feature rollouts.
- Process Definition: Optimize existing processes and define new ones.
- Growth Initiative Development: Collaborate with sales and marketing to develop new growth initiatives.
- Business Building: Get hands-on with various aspects of building and growing a business from scratch.