Welcome to another edition of Meet Team VFA! This week we’re checking in with the data-loving, bike-worshipping, low-key Instagram-famous Will Geary, our Company Partnerships Associate. Will hails from the Boston area, and spent a few years cutting his teeth at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Food52 before joining the #VFAmily, where he builds relationships with amazing Company Partners and uses data for good. Beyond his serious professional chops, Will brings a certain spirit of adventure to the team—ex: last summer, while the rest of the team headed to Training Camp in rented minivans, Will made the 183 mile trek to Providence on his trusty bicycle—and we’ve never felt more inspired to hit the road, Geary-style.
Name: Will Geary
Position at VFA: Company Partnerships Associate
Department Name: Company Partnerships, aka CoPa
College or University: Duke University
Job before VFA: Finance & Strategy Lead at Food52
What does your team do and why is it awesome?
The Company Partnerships team has one goal—to help VFA Fellows get great jobs! We find and partner with amazing entrepreneurs across the country so that Fellows have access to a robust pipeline of opportunities. We build strong relationships with startup founders throughout the year and get to see the impacts that our Fellows make first-hand.
What do you do?
My team takes a divide-and-conquer approach. I manage company partnerships in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Birmingham, though we all chip in to make sure we have adequate coverage in our 15 (and growing) cities. When I’m not on the road to meet with a new prospective company, I’m knee deep in data. Lately, I’ve been digging into our wealth of Fellow and company data to build predictive statistical models that will (hopefully) help us identify what attributes and environments make for a great startup employee.
What are you known for at VFA?
My unrelenting love for spreadsheets and charts. Actually, probably for riding my bike to work every day (rain or shine, thanks to Cleverhood out of Providence, RI)! [Ed. note: this is a Cleverhood in action, modeled by our own Will Geary.]
How did you come to work at VFA?
After leaving a would-be career as an investment banker to join Food52, I quickly learned that the startup life was for me! I’m inspired by those who take the path less traveled and was drawn to VFA’s community of conscious entrepreneurs.
Favorite part about your role at VFA:
Teaching Tommy Griffin how to excel in Excel.
One thing you do every day at VFA that you probably couldn’t do at another job:
Meeting awe-inspiring entrepreneurs across the country.
Favorite annual VFA event:
Other than Training Camp? I’m pumped to attend my first City as a Startup in Detroit with the rest of the team next week.
Favorite Training Camp memory:
Night strolls through India Point Park with the team.
Coolest thing you’ve done outside of work with VFA team members in the last year:
Last weekend Victor Bartash and I rode bikes down to Rockaway beach for some sun, surf and fish tacos <3
What newspapers, websites or blogs do you kick off your day with?
I usually start my day with a healthy dose of the New York Times and Instagram. [Ed. note: no seriously, check out Will’s insta.] Also, I love citylab.com.
What are you reading and/or watching right now?
Right now I’m reading The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler. It’s a hilarious/depressing look into how automobile-dependent suburbia supplanted humanistic urban design principles.
Best tip or life hack for increasing productivity during the work day:
Ride your bike to work!