Founder in Residence

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

The Journey is a mission-driven Venture Studio based in Phoenix, Arizona that is transforming the founder journey. Our aim is to close the racial and gender opportunity gap in the venture world by enabling diverse founders to pursue entrepreneurship while providing the resources and support to ensure their success. Through our “Founder-in-Residence” program we offer culturally competent leadership development and venture building acumen to empower diverse entrepreneurs to build new ventures that sit at the forefront of healthcare innovation.

We endeavor to show the market that by betting on underrepresented founders you can build game-changing companies that address disparities in health outcomes all while delivering outsized returns.

 Our Core Values:

• Perseverance
• Ambition
• Inclusivity
• Justice

The Journey Venture Studio is a registered 501c3 Non-Profit organization.

POSITION OVERVIEW: FOUNDER-IN-RESIDENCE:

Are you a diverse entrepreneur looking for an opportunity to take a leading role in developing a new venture? If so, this is your chance to join The Journey Venture Studio. We’re looking for Founders-in-Residence to lead and build new venture opportunities within the healthcare space.

As a Founder-in-Residence at the Journey you will participate in our 8-month leadership development and venture validation program. You will be responsible for bringing an idea from concept to prototype - leveraging expertise, market research, customer interviews and The Journey’s resources to develop a sustainable and scalable business venture worthy of launch and pre-seed funding.

While going through the design thinking and venture building process you will also participate in a series of leadership workshops, speakers’ series, and mentor sessions designed to make you CEO-ready.

At The Journey, we understand that underrepresented individuals face unique challenges in the venture world. Our culturally competent programming and curriculum are designed to address the systemic and mindset barriers that prevent women and minority founders from excelling in the venture world. 

COHORT FOCUS AREAS:

We are seeking aspiring entrepreneurs excited to explore business opportunities in one of the following healthcare focus areas:

• Mental Health
• Sports Medicine
• Women’s Health
• Aging & Elder Care
• Chronic Disease Management
• Packaging & Supply Chain

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Founders-in-Residence are expected to:

• Research, prototype, and test venture concepts to establish a viable and scalable business model.
• Set a clear vision for the business (including both commercial and product direction)
• Ensure a structured and data-informed path towards product market fit
• Conduct experiments and tests to better inform and guide your venture building process.
• Manage the allocated budget for relevant business building and validation activities.
• Participate in all programmatic workshops and leadership seminars as part of the FIR experience.
• Engage in on going performance coaching.
• Encourage your fellow FIRs and contribute to a collaborative and supportive community.
• Serve as a steward and ambassador of The Journey in the broader ecosystem in accordance with our core values and conduct policies.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated leadership skills.
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Strong and demonstrated quantitative and qualitative analytical skills.
• Sound strategic and critical thinking skills.
• Record of academic excellence and intellectual curiosity.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Humble – We don’t expect anything to be handed to us, we have worked hard to earn what success we’ve had. Our humility builds self-assurance and resourcefulness.
• Hungry – We expect everyone to strive for greatness and achievement.
• Fierce – We exude strength and confidence.
• Resilient – We don’t let small setbacks or major adversity stop us from achieving our goals.
• Empowered – Self motivation is our secret sauce to success.
• Savvy – We’ve got the intellectual horsepower and emotional intelligence to succeed.

We are:

• Enthusiastic and personable leading with a positive attitude and high integrity
• Persistent, proactive, and self-motivated with the ability to work through ambiguity.
• Passionate about building something new with a willingness to go the extra mile to bring it into existence.
• Detail-oriented
• Able to learn quickly and to grasp financial / business terminology and concepts.
• Highly adaptable, coachable, and quick learners
• Eager to learn and grow.

COMPENSATION

The Founder-in-Residence program is structured as a fellowship with FIR’s receiving $110,000 of direct and in-kind contributions to provide a soft landing in Phoenix while also providing the capital necessary to explore and validate their venture concept.

The studio will provide housing for the entirety of the 8-month program as well as a living stipend to support day-to-day expenses. In addition, you will have access to state of the art co-working and studio space with budget for functional resources like design, legal, marketing, branding, and other venture building competencies.

The allocation of the $110,000 will depend in part on individual needs to remove barriers that might prevent you from pursuing a startup. For example, fellowship budget may be allocated to address student debt obligations or to provide childcare if you are a young parent. Our goal is to structure the fellowship budget to remove the systemic challenges that have traditionally prevented diverse entrepreneurs from achieving their full potential.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

At the end of the eight month “Founder-in-Residence” program, FIRs will pitch their validated business concepts to a group of distinguished investors and the Journey Board. Founders that have demonstrated leadership potential and coachability paired with venture concepts that appear to be sustainable and scalable with early signs of product / market fit will be formally incorporated and “launch” with the Founder-in-Residence being named as CEO and Co-founder with The Journey. The CEO will receive additional funding to build their product and go-to-market with continued access to The Journey’s resources.

There is no guarantee that a Founder-in-Residence will be selected to formally launch their company, and there is no set number of companies per cohort that will receive additional investment. While not all concepts will lead to a CEO role, The Journey is committed to providing all FIRs with a soft landing and will provide networking support to help any FIR land somewhere extraordinary. We are confident that our best-in-class leadership development and business acumen training will prepare our Founders for a wide variety of roles.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION AT THE JOURNEY

At The Journey, Diversity is in in our DNA – our very reason for existing. We are on a mission to close the racial and gender opportunity gap in venture which means recruiting diverse entrepreneurs. Inclusivity is one of our core values meaning we strive to create a culture where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. To inspire growth at our studio and throughout our portfolio, we strive to create an organization where every individual is celebrated, heard, valued, and empowered to reach their full potential. We expect all Founders-in-Residence to share and demonstrate our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and engagement for everyone in our community. We will continuously look for ways to improve and evolve in our ever-changing world and we are committed to ensuring The Journey is the best place to begin your entrepreneurial adventure.

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