Investment Associate

About Blueline Ventures

Blueline Ventures is a lower middle market private equity firm that acquires and operates essential B2B service businesses. We currently buy companies with $1-3M in EBITDA at 3-5x entry multiples and hold them for the long term. We are not a flip shop. We are builders who invest in great businesses, install best-in-class operating systems, and compound value over years.

Fund 1 is on track to be fully deployed across 7-8 portfolio companies. We are actively building toward Fund 2 with plans to execute roll-up strategies within our existing verticals and acquire similar and larger businesses up-market.

The firm is led by a 5-person partnership with backgrounds spanning M&A, capital markets, portfolio operations, and executive leadership. We run on EOS, we use AI as a core part of how we work, and we operate by a simple principle: do awesome stuff with awesome people.

The Role

This is not a bullpen seat. There is no analyst program. There is no two-year track somewhere else.

The Investment Associate is the primary deal execution resource in the firm. You will own the full acquisition lifecycle from initial financial screening through closing. You will build the models, write the IC memos, manage the diligence workstreams, coordinate with legal counsel, lenders, and QoE providers, and communicate directly with sellers and brokers on behalf of the firm.

You will work most closely with the partner leading acquisitions, but this is a distributed partnership. Partners are managing portfolio companies, capital raise, and operations simultaneously. You will not get daily task lists. You will generate your own priorities, move deals forward without being prompted, and communicate proactively when something is stuck or at risk.

The expectation is 5 closed acquisitions in your first 12 months.

What You Will Do

•       Source (with off shore team) and close acquisitions from LOI through funding with fully coordinated diligence, clean IC memos, and on-time closings

•       Build and maintain a live deal tracker with real-time status visible to the partnership at all times

•       Produce partner-ready financial models and diligence summaries on first delivery

•       Manage all diligence workstreams across legal, QoE, lender, and insurance counterparties across simultaneous deals

•       Establish and own the operating cadence of the deal function, including weekly pipeline reviews, IC meeting preparation, and diligence status updates

•       Develop broker and intermediary relationships that generate repeat deal flow and proprietary access

•       Identify thesis-breaking risks during diligence that have not been previously surfaced and escalate with a recommendation

Who This Role Is For

You have 2-3 years of experience in private equity, M&A advisory, or investment banking. You have quarterbacked a deal, not just built the model while someone else ran the process. You can build an LBO from scratch, read a tax return and P&L statement, and interpret a quality of earnings report without being taught.

You chose deal work because you are wired for it, not because it was the next rung on a ladder someone else built. You see a firm deploying real capital into real businesses with a 5-person partnership as a better career path than grinding in a large fund for 3 more years before you get to own anything.

You are self-directed. When your boss is busy, traveling, or pulled in five directions, you don’t wait. You build structure for yourself and move the work forward. You communicate early when something is going wrong, not after the fact.

You want to be developed, not just deployed. You actively seek feedback, in-person time, and mentorship rather than withdrawing when things get busy. You treat the relationship with leadership as something you are responsible for maintaining, not something that happens to you.

You are excited about AI and using it in all parts of how you work.

Who This Role Is Not For

•       You need a structured daily task list to know what to do

•       You produce volume over quality and rely on someone else to catch your mistakes

•       You avoid conflict or default to compliance language when challenged

•       You operate best in a large team with clearly defined swim lanes

•       You are looking for a two-year line on your resume before your next move

What We Offer

•       Direct deal ownership from day one. There is no hierarchy between you and the partners. You sit at the table, not in the waiting room.

•       A long-term equity firm that thinks in beyond fund cycles.

•       A firm scaling toward Fund 2 with roll-up strategies and larger up-market acquisitions on the horizon. This seat grows with the firm.

•       A path to mentoring junior resources and potential equity participation as the firm matures toward Fund 3.

•       Quarterly in-person time with the partnership, with more frequent in-person requirements during the first 90-180 days.

•       Performance-based bonus tied to company results and individual scorecard outcomes.

• •       A team that means it when they say: do awesome stuff with awesome people.

Location: Hybrid, with in-person requirements in Atlanta or Austin during the first 90-180 days and ongoing quarterly

Compensation: $115,000 base salary with performance bonus. Total compensation up to $150,000.

Candidates, please email me at andrea@blueline-ventures.com