President

About the Company

43North is a Buffalo, New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting and retaining high-growth startups, creating jobs, and strengthening Western New York’s innovation economy. Founded in 2014 as part of New York State’s Buffalo Billion initiative, 43North has become a defining force in Buffalo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through its nationally recognized startup competition, the organization has invested $5 million annually in early-stage companies while bringing founders, investors, talent, and new businesses to Western New York.

Over its twelve-year history, 43North has built a portfolio that includes a unicorn and a publicly traded company, helped establish Buffalo as a destination for entrepreneurs, and created meaningful connections between the region and the national venture capital and startup communities. As 43North enters the final chapter of its current organizational structure, it has an opportunity to celebrate and amplify the impact of its twelve-year history while ensuring that the companies, relationships, talent, and economic momentum it has helped create remain deeply connected to Western New York.

The Opportunity

43North is seeking their next President to serve as the organization’s chief executive and lead it through an important and highly visible final phase. This is a unique executive leadership opportunity requiring equal parts strategic leadership, organizational stewardship, external relationship management, portfolio engagement, community leadership, and thoughtful change management.

The President will have overall responsibility for 43North’s strategy, operations, marketing and communications, portfolio management, financial health, partnerships, and broader impact across Western New York.

Working closely with the Board of Directors, New York State, Empire State Development, corporate partners, venture capital relationships, portfolio company founders, and the Western New York business community, the President will ensure that 43North’s final year of operations reflects the significance of the organization’s twelve-year contribution to Buffalo’s startup ecosystem.

A critical component of the mandate will be developing and executing a thoughtful wind-down of the organization, with operations concluding in January 2028. This includes supporting portfolio companies in building lasting roots in Western New York, preserving key relationships and institutional impact, supporting employees through the transition, and ensuring 43North’s accomplishments are appropriately celebrated and communicated.

The President will also serve as one of the organization’s most visible ambassadors, representing 43North and the Buffalo Niagara startup ecosystem locally, nationally, and globally.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Lead 43North through its final year of operations, translating strategic priorities into clear and actionable plans across the organization.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to celebrate 43North’s twelve-year history, its impact on Western New York, and the success of the companies built and grown in Buffalo.
• Establish clear goals, milestones, and success metrics for the one-year sunset of the annual 43North competition and broader organizational operations.
• Develop strategies that strengthen the long-term retention of portfolio companies and deepen their relationships within the Western New York Community.
• Work closely with the Board of Directors and key stakeholders to navigate structural, operational, and programmatic transitions.
• Preserve the relationships, knowledge, and ecosystem impact created by 43North so that its influence continues beyond the organization’s formal conclusion.

Program & Portfolio Oversight

• Ensure a high-quality experience for 43North portfolio companies, including access to workspace, mentorship, programming, capital, customers, talent, and community connections.
• Maintain strong relationships with portfolio company founders and alumni, with a particular focus on long-term retention and continued investment in Western New York.
• Serve as a trusted resource and connector for founders navigating growth, fundraising, talent, and regional opportunities.
• Leverage personal and professional networks to attract national venture capital firms, investors, entrepreneurs, and speakers to Buffalo.
• Develop relationships between portfolio companies and the Western New York business community that can endure beyond 43North’s formal operations.
• Support portfolio companies in identifying opportunities to create and retain jobs within the region.

External Relations, Fundraising & Partnerships

• Serve as 43North’s primary external spokesperson and senior relationship owner.
• Manage and strengthen relationships with New York State, Empire State Development, corporate sponsors, community partners, and other funders.
• Cultivate relationships with venture capital firms, strategic investors, and potential co-investment partners.
• Maintain and expand relationships within the national startup, venture capital, and innovation communities.
• Represent 43North at industry conferences, community events, in the media, and across national entrepreneurship networks.
• Ensure consistent, transparent, and thoughtful communication with key stakeholders throughout the organization’s transition.

Community & Ecosystem Engagement

• Serve as a highly visible and collaborative leader within Buffalo Niagara’s entrepreneurial, technology, business, and economic development communities.
• Build meaningful relationships with business leaders, civic organizations, academic institutions, investors, entrepreneurs, and regional economic development partners.
• Act as a connector between portfolio companies, local talent, employers, investors, and other Western New York initiatives.
• Champion programming that strengthens Buffalo’s startup ecosystem, including founder education, women-in-technology initiatives, community events, and opportunities for public engagement.
• Increase community awareness of 43North’s accomplishments and its broader economic impact on Western New York.
• Help ensure the relationships and momentum created through 43North remain embedded within the regional ecosystem.

Organizational Leadership & Operations

• Lead, develop, and support a high-performing, multi-functional team spanning portfolio management, talent, marketing, community engagement, programming, and operations.
• Provide clarity, transparency, and stability to employees as the organization progresses toward the conclusion of operations.
• Lead the organization through a thoughtful workforce transition, helping team members successfully navigate their next professional opportunities.
• Own organizational budgeting, financial planning, forecasting, and reporting to the Board of Directors.
• Ensure sound governance, compliance, and reporting consistent with state funding, sponsor commitments, and organizational requirements.
• Maintain strong operational discipline while balancing the unique needs of an organization approaching a planned sunset.
• Ensure employees receive appropriate support, communication, and financial resources throughout the transition.

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will be an experienced, highly credible leader capable of navigating an unusually complex executive mandate. This individual will combine strategic and operational leadership with strong relationship-building capabilities and a genuine understanding of startups, venture capital, economic development, and the Western New York Community.

The President must be equally comfortable working with founders and employees, engaging venture capital investors, collaborating with government and corporate stakeholders, presenting to a Board, speaking publicly, and making difficult organizational decisions with professionalism and empathy.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience, ideally within venture capital, startup accelerators or incubators, economic development, entrepreneurship, high-growth companies, or related environments.
• Demonstrated experience building and managing relationships with investors, founders, corporate sponsors, government or public-sector funders, and other senior stakeholders.
• Proven experience leading a multi-functional team and managing organizational budgets and resources.
• Strong strategic and operational leadership capabilities with the ability to translate broad objectives into executable plans.
• Exceptional public-facing communication skills, including public speaking, media relations, stakeholder communication, and organizational brand representation.
• Experience navigating organizational change, transformation, or other complex periods of transition.
• Deep familiarity with or strong ties to the Buffalo and Western New York business community, or a demonstrated ability to quickly establish credibility and meaningful relationships within a regional ecosystem.
• Ability and willingness to commit to the organization through its planned conclusion of operations in January 2028.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or related advanced degree preferred.
• Experience with venture studios, corporate innovation, accelerators, incubators, or AI and technology-driven business models.
• Established network within the national venture capital, startup, and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Experience working with state or government-funded economic development programs.
• Experience supporting founders and high-growth businesses through scaling, fundraising, talent acquisition, or market development.
• Experience leading an organization or significant business unit through transformation, restructuring, transition, or planned wind-down.

Leadership Profile

The ideal President will be a visible, connected, pragmatic, and highly relational executive who understands that this role is as much about stewardship as it is about traditional organizational leadership.

This individual should be energized by building relationships and bringing people together, while also possessing the judgment and discipline required to lead an organization through a defined conclusion.

The successful candidate will bring:

• Executive presence and credibility with senior business, government, investment, and community leaders.
• A founder-oriented mindset and genuine understanding of the challenges facing early-stage and high-growth companies.
• Strong networks and the ability to create meaningful connections between founders, investors, businesses, and community stakeholders.
• The emotional intelligence and communication skills necessary to lead employees through organizational change.
• Strong financial, operational, and governance discipline.
• A collaborative approach and willingness to remain highly visible and engaged throughout Western New York.
• The ability to balance celebrating 43North’s legacy with maintaining focus on the work that remains to be accomplished.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will ultimately be measured not simply by how 43North concludes operations, but by the strength of what remains in Western New York because of its work.

Key measures of success will include:

• Strengthening portfolio company retention in Western New York from its current approximately 60% level.
• Continued job creation in Western New York through 43North portfolio companies.
• Strong and consistent relationship management and communication with New York State, corporate sponsors, investors, founders, and other key stakeholders.
• Increased community awareness of 43North’s twelve-year history and its economic and entrepreneurial impact on Buffalo and Western New York.
• Stronger, lasting relationships between portfolio companies and Western New York’s business, talent, investment, academic, and civic communities.
• A well-managed and transparent conclusion of organizational operations in early 2028.
• Thoughtful support of 43North employees throughout the transition, including appropriate financial support and assistance in identifying future professional opportunities.
• A meaningful celebration and communication of the organization’s accomplishments, portfolio success stories, and twelve-year commitment to building Buffalo’s startup ecosystem.
• A lasting legacy in which 43North’s companies, relationships, talent, and economic impact continue contributing to Western New York after the organization itself concludes operations.

The Commitment

This is a defined-term executive leadership opportunity, with the President expected to lead 43North through the conclusion of organizational operations in January 2028.

The mandate is distinctive: protect what has been built, maximize the impact of the time remaining, strengthen the connection between portfolio companies and Western New York, support employees through the transition, and ensure that an organization that played a defining role in Buffalo’s startup evolution receives a thoughtful and impactful final chapter.