Primary is NYC’s largest seed-stage venture capital firm dedicated to delivering exceptional support to the founders of transformational businesses. By pairing meaningful investment resources with the largest portfolio impact team of any seed investor, our portfolio companies have reached an industry-best seed-to-A graduation rate.
The firm’s Incubation arm, Primary Labs, launched in 2019 to support the ideation, research and launch of new startups. Primary’s first three incubated companies will return its first fund many times over, and Primary is now primed for substantial growth in its incubation efforts. Check out our blog post, “AI Accelerates Incubation Velocity” to learn more about Primary’s incubation philosophy.
About the Role
Primary Labs is looking for a full-time Associate to join the team, with a focus on Fintech incubation opportunities. This role is open to NY-based candidates who are willing to work in person in NoMad 3+ days per week.
AI is radically transforming knowledge work across every major industry and transforming it into code and autonomous systems that can act. Entire industries are being reshaped overnight -- particularly those that historically were locked in manual processes and spreadsheets. Financial services is no exception at 25% of world GDP that spends 10%+ of revenue on technology.
We're looking to build the next transformational systems across financial services, legal, business operations and more. Truly transforming the guts of our most critical financial systems that are still running on ancient systems leveraging and unlocking new economic models and markets.
This role is designed for a highly motivated operator who enjoys unpacking complex systems, engaging deeply with customers, and rapidly testing new ideas. You will work closely with the Primary Labs team to research, model, pressure-test, and prototype new business concepts across multiple enterprise domains.
What You'll Do
Lead deep, exploratory research into emerging and often esoteric problem spaces, developing original points of view on markets, customers, and underlying technologies
Translate research into early company theses, including business models, product concepts, and initial go-to-market hypotheses
Validate and refine research through primary discovery, including customer interviews, sourcing design partners, and running early pilot engagements
Use rapid prototyping as a learning mechanism, building lightweight MVPs, prototypes, or AI-enabled proofs of concept to test core assumptions
Synthesize learnings into clear narratives, creating pitch decks, internal memos, and research artifacts that inform incubation and investment decisions
About You
Analytical foundation: You have 3-6 years of experience in management consulting, equity research, investment roles, or similarly rigorous analytical environments. Startup experience is a plus
Strong researcher: You are excellent at conducting deep primary and secondary research — synthesizing customer conversations, market data, and competitive dynamics into actionable insights
AI-savvy: You’re familiar with the generative AI ecosystem (LLMs, agents, embeddings, RAG, etc.) and excited about applying these technologies in specific industries
Exceptional communicator: You write clearly and persuasively, can translate complex ideas into crisp narratives, and are comfortable producing memos, decks, and thoughtful analyses for senior audiences
Commercially minded: You are fluent in business models, unit economics, and market sizing, and can quickly assess feasibility and scalability of new venture ideas
Self-starter: You thrive in ambiguous environments, take ownership without being asked, and are comfortable driving workstreams independently