About this role
About Anthropic
Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.
About the role
As the VC Partnerships Lead at Anthropic, you will drive transformative growth and strategic alignment by forging and managing high-impact startup partnerships. You will drive the adoption of Anthropic's cutting-edge AI capabilities within the startup ecosystem. In this role, you will design and execute innovative programs that enable startups to easily access and utilize Anthropic's advanced AI models. Your goal will be to scale our reach and impact by engaging with startups directly and through the accelerator ecosystem.
This is an individual contributor role with broad ownership — you'll operate with high autonomy, partnering closely with sales, marketing, and product teams to build and run our startup partnerships motion.
Key responsibilities
• Develop and lead Anthropic's startup partnerships strategy, leveraging our AI technology and industry partnerships
• Build relationships with key VC firms, and entrepreneurial communities
• Create compelling startup-focused offerings, programs, and growth initiatives
• Cultivate strong relationships with current and new accelerator partnerships; build out relationship models, own touch points, and drive outcomes such that accelerator portfolio companies are choosing to build on Claude
• Plan and execute startup-focused events, campaigns, and promotions to drive awareness and adoption
• Gather product feedback and represent the needs of the startup community to inform Anthropic's product roadmap
• Track and report on key metrics to measure the success and ROI of startup initiatives
Minimum qualifications
• Have 7+ years of experience in partnerships, founder/operator roles, growth, or technical GTM roles—we're looking for builders
• Have a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem and AI/ML technology landscape—can speak credibly about technical products to technical audiences
• Have built relationships with VCs, worked at a VC firm, or successfully partnered with accelerators to drive portfolio engagement
• Excel at 0-to-1 program building—comfortable building from scratch, wearing multiple hats, and scaling based on data
• Proven ability to develop and execute complex, cross-functional go-to-market programs
• Possess exceptional communication skills—outstanding writer who crafts narratives for founders, developers, and VCs
• Thrive in fast-paced environments with bias to action and comfort with ambiguity
• BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience
Preferred qualifications
• Founded a company or led product at a high-growth startup
• Direct experience working for or with venture capital firms like Y Combinat