Backblaze External Website - Startup Ecosystem Associate

• Program Operations (Day-to-Day Core) • Own the Flamethrower application pipeline: review, triage, and process inbound applications against ICP and eligibility criteria • Manage credit allocation, track usage, and maintain accurate program records in HubSpot, SalesForce and supporting tools • Coordinate founder onboarding — ensuring accepted startups get oriented, activated, and connected to the right resources quickly • Handle program correspondence and serve as a responsive point of contact for founders navigating the application and onboarding process • Maintain the health of program data: conversion tracking, activation rates, usage signals, and cohort reporting • Build and refine the operational playbooks that will scale this program as volume grows • Ecosystem & Founder Engagement • Support the Director in managing and expanding relationships with VCs, accelerators, and startup community organizations • Represent Backblaze and the Flamethrower program at select events, meetups, and ecosystem touchpoints when the Director needs coverage or a second presence • Identify high-quality applicant sources and help develop referral relationships with seed funds, accelerators, and community programs • Collect structured feedback from founders — on the program, the product, and the experience — and synthesize it into actionable input for the team • Help spot breakout startups in the cohort early: usage signals, growth traction, referral potential • Cross-Functional Collaboration • Coordinate handoffs with Sales for high-potential startups approaching graduation from the credits tier • Work with Marketing on ecosystem-facing content, founder spotlights, and program announcements • Surface product friction and developer experience gaps to DevRel and Product through founder feedback loops • The Right Fit: • 2–4 years of experience in startup ecosystems, accelerator operations, VC-adjacent roles, community management, or startup program management • Demonstrated comfort with operational and administrative work — you don’t see “getting into the details” as beneath you; you see it as how you earn the right to operate at higher levels • Strong written communication skills: you can write a clear, warm founder email and a tight internal summary with equal ease • Organized and self-directed — you manage your own workload, don’t need to be chased, and proactively flag issues before they become problems • Genuine curiosity about startups, infrastructure, and the developer ecosystem