The Ops Collective is a professional association, which operates under a Community of Practice (CoP) framework.
We are an open and inclusive community of Australian-based fund operations professionals who come together to share best practices, knowledge, and experience. Our focus is the venture capital sector, but not exclusively so.
With members from all over Australia, our main forum for coming together as a community is virtual. We also run additional ad hoc events for in-person networking & guest speakers.
Venture capital is a relatively new industry in Australia. There are not many VC firms, and, as such, a limited communal body of knowledge exists. Running a VC firm efficiently and practically while meeting compliance requirements and making investments is hard work. As a result, operations within VC firms tend to be considered a niche, somewhat 'black art'.
Being part of a community of practice means connecting with others going through the same challenges. It presents an opportunity for networking, shared learning, gaining insights into the inner workings of other funds, getting actionable advice and best practice tips. It means having a community to turn to, whether that's because you need to find answers to pressing questions or want a sounding board to talk through an operational process improvement.
We are an open and inclusive community, adhering to the following operating principles:
The primary criteria for being part of the community is that a member is working in a professional capacity in a role related to fund operation: compliance, investment operations, investor relations, legal operations, business operations, fund admin, etc.
The Ops Collective was started by Vela Georgiev (Tenacious Ventures) & Sunday Berry (Rampersand), who have been the primary organisers to date. However, we hope that over the next 12 months, others will be keen to step up and take an active role in the community's organisation so that we have a 4-5 person organising team.
As a no-fee community of practice, we operate on a shoestring budget, with all members volunteering their time and resources.
If you are currently Australian-based and working in a role where some or all of your responsibilities relate to fund operations, we'd love to have you be a part of The Ops Collective. We know that smaller funds, in particular, have blended roles with people working across fund operations and investment, so if you think you would benefit from the support of a community like ours, please reach out.
In 2021, Vela Georgiev and Sunday Berry joined forces to launch The Ops Collective, a fund operations community of practice. After a successful trial phase, now, in 2022, we are ready to take the next step. If you are keen to join our community or want to be kept up to date with what comes next, we'd love to hear from you.
“VC Operations and Finance teams have very few, sometimes only one, person in them. The Ops Collective gives people in this role a sense of team, and the ability to share ideas and solve common problems. To share our experience and to support others in the same/similar role. By establishing this community of practice we are able to improve our own funds, whilst also improving the entire ecosystem.”
Sunday Berry - Head of Operations, Rampersand
“In 2020, I took a leap of faith and made the career pivot from engineering and hardware to venture capital operations. I've absolutely loved learning about this industry and sharing my knowledge with others. As I look to the future and what it will take to not only succeed but thrive and excel in a VC fund ops role, I've come to realise it's about community.”
Vela Georgiev - COO & Operating Partner, Tenacious Ventures
