About Gravity Labs
Gravity Labs is a crypto-focused venture studio owned by defy.vc. Rather than traditional check-writing, we come up with initial ideas, pressure-test them, recruit the founding team, and write the first seed check ourselves. We currently have three active portfolio companies with a fourth launching soon, and a small, deliberate team.
The role
We're hiring a Principal, New Ventures to act as our internal venture-creation engine - identifying market gaps, developing business cases, pitching investment theses, and assembling founding teams. This is a builder-oriented role requiring product sensibilities, founder-level execution velocity, and the rigor to kill ideas when the evidence warrants.
Responsibilities
- Generate and evaluate "hatch" concepts through research, operator conversations, and network leverage
- Author business cases, investment memos, and founder pitches with clarity and strategic framing
- Present hatches to the investment committee with founder-level advocacy
- Build MVPs using AI coding tools before hiring founders to accelerate timelines
- Identify and recruit founding CEOs and CTOs through recruiter partnerships and personal networks
- Maintain advisory relationships with placed founders post-launch
- Terminate underperforming hatches when evidence contradicts the thesis
Requirements
- Early-stage startup experience as a founder, founding team member, or initial product lead
- Crypto sector exposure through product work, investments, or on-chain development
- Product management capabilities: MVP scoping, risk identification, technical spec writing
- Technical competency to review code, prompt AI tools, and build prototypes without an engineer
- Strong written communication and comfort navigating uncertainty and frequent concept failure
Compensation
Base salary $100,000-$130,000 based on experience, plus equity participation in every originated venture and cash bonuses tied to funded hatches, hired founders, and launches. NYC preferred (Dumbo office), with flexibility for exceptional SF or remote candidates.