Core Values
Our Core Values reflect the heart and soul of our company. They embody how we think and how we operate:
We are humble.
We operate with intellectual honesty and check our egos at the door. We are receptive, adaptable, and we help each other succeed.
We are fast.
We optimize for speed of learning, execution, and growth. We do not get blocked easily.
We are data-driven.
We trust data over intuition. We don’t guess. We engineer.
We are overachievers.
We partner with CEOs as cofounders and go all in. We know start-up life is not 9-5, and that excites us. We drive our own accountability and take pride in doing great work. A win for a portfolio company is a win for Mechanism.
We play the long game.
We do the things today that will help us tomorrow. We optimize for the long-term enterprise value (EV) of Mechanism portfolio companies and know significant companies take years to build.
We are passionate.
We actively promote a positive, high-energy culture of high performance, connection, and trust. We believe life is short, so we enjoy it and do what we love.
Reasons to Work at Mechanism
If you join Mechanism, we want you to flourish. Our hope is that you shoot to the top of your field as you collaborate with our diverse, global team of overachievers. Rising to the top takes ambition, discipline, and hard work. To accomplish this, you need to be here for the right reasons:
1. You want to supercharge your learning.
The rate of learning and growth at an early-stage company is as high as it gets, and we live in the world of early-stage. At Mechanism, you will learn how to build successful companies in over a dozen different industries, how to mitigate risk, and how to engineer growth in a supportive, fast-paced, test-and-learn environment.
Gut check: Are you overwhelmed by high volumes of new information and context switching?
2. You want to be on a high-performance team.
We hire top performers, and we strive to maximize our talent density. Expectations increase quickly as we hire for slope, not y-intercept, and we are deeply committed to continuously identifying and cultivating team member potential.
Gut check: Do you feel excited or threatened when you are not the smartest person in the room?
3. You drive your own accountability.
We thrive on meritocracy, cultivating an environment where overachievers excel. Every leader’s job at Mechanism is to get you what you need and to get obstacles out of your way without excessive handholding. We value individuals who take initiative, drive change, and are relentless in their pursuits.
Gut check: When on a team, are you more of a driver or a passenger?
4. You love being hands-on.
We believe in doing things ourselves before we start delegating. We don’t outsource our thinking. We lead by example and aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves. In fact, every role at Mechanism maintains an individual contributor component. It keeps us sharp, and we love it.
Gut check: If code needs to be written, a model needs to be built, or feedback needs to be given, are you the kind of person to figure it out and make it happen, or would you prefer to stay high level?
5. You think like an engineer.
We trust data over intuition. We recognize that all models are wrong, but many are useful. We quantify and minimize opportunity costs. We figure out the underlying mechanisms for how things work and leverage them in our favor.
Gut check: Do you recognize patterns and think about probability and statistics when making decisions?
6. You want to maximize your impact.
We’re building dozens of mission-driven companies founded on commercial excellence to give us the leverage, scale, and sustainability to improve the lives of millions—or even billions—of people.
Gut check: Would you trade a cushy job for one that allows you to make a substantial impact?
7. You’re optimizing for long-term upside.
Mechanism exists to build ambitious companies. We relentlessly strive for a 100% success rate in getting companies profitable so we can take them through billion-dollar exits—without relying on external funding. Our model's value predominantly emerges in the final years and cycles, underscoring the need for a long-term view due to the nature of compound growth.
We want you to share in this success. Over the long term, we expect equity in our portfolio to dwarf every other form of compensation.
Gut check: Do you understand the value creation profile of our model, and are you excited to commit to a long-term vision?
8. You want to work at a growth-led company.
Some companies are product-led (Airbnb), sales-led (Salesforce) , or engineering-led (SpaceX). We are growth-led. We engineer company growth and profitability by leveraging data-driven research, data-driven product ingenuity, and data-driven performance marketing. We are fond of saying that growth is in our DNA, and if you join Mechanism, you’ll learn about performance marketing from some of the best people in the world.
Gut check: Do you see marketing as a powerful tool for connecting products and services with those who want them?
Reasons Not to Work at Mechanism
We believe in transparency, and we want you to have full context before deciding to join us. To that end, we've created an honest list of reasons why our team might not be right for you:
1. Moving quickly makes you uncomfortable.
If you pit a Grandmaster chess player against an amateur, the Grandmaster wins every time. But if you change the rules so the amateur can make multiple moves each time it's their turn, they'll win virtually every time.
That's how we think about entrepreneurship.
If your company can make 2, 3, 10... 100 moves in the same time it takes your competitors to make one, you will win. And the more moves you can make, the less often you need to be right.
If you're extremely fast at learning and executing, you can/will:
- Rapidly test and learn to figure out what works and what doesn't.
- Rapidly compound your learnings to accelerate your growth.
- Outcompete companies with more resources, funding, and market share.
Gut check: Can you operate with excellence and speed, or do you believe speed comes at the expense of excellence?
2. You want to work at a single company.
We are the backbone of many companies at the same time. We embrace the challenge, the context-switching, and the thrill. But it’s very different than working at a single company. It’s much harder and much more matrixed.
Gut check: Are you comfortable reporting to multiple CEOs across multiple different companies, in different industries, and at different company stages?
3. You're driven by quick financial returns.
We are long-term focused, so we don’t want to employ people solely focused on maximizing their short-term compensation.
Gut check: Do you have enough faith in your abilities and the long-term value we’re building to accept competitive (but not lavish) pay today to generate far greater value for yourself in future years?
4. You need structure and predictability in your day-to-day.
At Mechanism, no two days are the same. For most of us, no two days are even close. Building companies from scratch requires agility and fluidity.
Gut check: Can you manage new responsibilities or tasks at a moment's notice?
5. You want to stick to your job description.
When we had an office, our cofounder didn’t hesitate to take out the trash. There was a job to be done, so it was done. We’re not above grunt work, hard work, or new work. When you’re building a company from scratch, there are so many holes and fires that the phrase 'That's not my job' doesn't apply.
Gut check: Do you proactively take on new responsibilities?
6. You want a 9-5 job.
We believe in work-life integration rather than strict work-life balance. Our work often extends beyond a typical 40-hour week and requires flexibility due to different time zones and urgent tasks. We foster an entrepreneurial culture with flexible hours where we prioritize autonomy and results so you can build an extraordinary career and an extraordinary life.
Gut check: Do you prefer a structured, predictable work schedule with set business hours, or do you prefer a job where nobody cares if you step out mid-day for a haircut, but you also don’t hesitate to answer a Slack at 9 PM while you are relaxing at home?
7. You don’t value feedback.
Bi-directional constructive feedback is essential to our model. We see candid, timely feedback as a catalyst for fast and continuous growth. We promote a transparent culture that values the open exchange of ideas, risk-taking, and learning from mistakes.
Gut check: Do you view feedback as a gift or a threat?
8. You expect your company to support certain political/social beliefs.
We are dedicated to creating valuable goods and services that positively impact lives. Our primary focus is and will always be building exceptional companies and delivering outstanding products. We foster an environment where differing beliefs and opinions are valued, ensuring they never negatively impact our relationships with each other or our customers.
Gut check: Would you feel uncomfortable, disappointed, or angry if the company you worked for didn’t take public stances or support certain beliefs?
We hire for slope, not y-intercept.
We believe that brilliance and talent are evenly distributed across all demographics—including race, ethnicity, gender, location, and heritage. However, we recognize that throughout history and today, access to opportunity has not been equal across all demographics. Therefore, we believe in fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we hire for slope, not y-intercept with the commitment that we will continuously work to identify team member potential and to cultivate it.
“A company with a progressive & positive culture that practices what it preaches. Great camaraderie across teams, centred around enjoying fulfilling work & creating a great product.”
Vibhu Arul | Data Engineer
“Fast-paced growth, high impact, collaborating with brilliant minds...It’s all possible here. I love being able to collaborate on projects that unlock 10x growth, seeing it actualize and learning from it. We work across industries and can create industry leading best practices!”
Brian Cho | CEO of Realign
“Joining Mechanism Ventures as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence was the pivotal moment of my career; it was the catalyst that transformed me from an enthusiastic professional with no background in software to the CEO of a burgeoning AI-powered software company. Despite my inexperience in the tech realm, Mechanism Ventures saw potential in my vision and ambition.
Their unwavering belief in me, coupled with their robust support system, provided me with the tools and mentorship necessary to navigate the intricate world of software development. They fostered an environment where innovative ideas were not only encouraged but meticulously sculpted into tangible products that make a real difference.
As I transitioned into the role of CEO within their portfolio, Mechanism Ventures was there at every milestone, offering strategic insights that were crucial for our growth. Today, I lead a company that stands at the forefront of positive change, helping individuals discover and pursue their ideal careers with the help of advanced AI.
My journey is a testament to Mechanism Ventures' commitment to nurturing entrepreneurs and their ideas, regardless of their starting point. The confidence and sense of purpose I have gained in my role are direct reflections of the faith Mechanism Ventures instills in its partners. I am living proof that with the right support and guidance, radical career transformations are not just possible—they are inevitable.”
Haim Nigri | CEO of Live it Up
“Building a new venture alongside Mechanism has been an exciting journey full of learnings, opportunities, and growth. I learned here in a month what I did in a year at previous jobs. Having access to such a powerful network of experts who are the best at what they do and are so invested in your success is invaluable. This is a place for drivers, doers, and — above all -- those who want to create a massive impact!”
Dror Liebenthal | CEO of Bold.org
“Starting a company with Mechanism is like getting a PhD in how to engineer a profitable foundation from scratch. Their professional, expertise-driven, dream-big-start-small approach to every aspect of company-building leads to an extraordinarily high success rate that mitigates risk and allows entrepreneurs to aim big.”
Current Opportunities
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