-Back to the Roots -

October, 2009

Job Title: BTTR Ventures Sales Associate (Internship)

The Company:

BTTR Ventures (pronounced “better”) stands for “Back To

The Roots,” a phrase that encompasses the idea of creating
a company that stands for sustainability, progress, and
social responsibility. BTTR Ventures, formed by two
innovative and passionate business majors from the Haas
School of Business at UC Berkeley, aims to turn one of the
largest waste streams in America – the tons of coffee ground
waste generated daily – into a highly-demanded, nutritious,
and valuable food product: specialty mushrooms. Beyond
the unique approach of using trash to produce a valuable
product, the group is focused on using this idea to change
the way business is done. Not only will this initiative create a
healthy food source, but it will also provide urban jobs,
prevent thousands of tons of valuable substrate from being
dumped into landfills, and donate a substantial portion of its
profit back into the communities from which the coffee
ground waste originated. This idea can lift up the images of
all parties involved and will contribute to revolutionizing the
standard way of doing business, directly impacting our
economy and changing the world.

We have recently secured distribution into all 26 Whole

Foods in the Bay Area – creating a closed-loop system in
their stores by collecting their Allegro coffee and selling the
mushrooms grown on their “waste” a few yards away from
their specialty coffee store. Furthermore, we have partnered
with Peet’s at the national level which allows us to collect
coffee from all of their stores. Selected as finalists in the
BBC/Newsweek World Challenge 2009 and recognized in
BusinessWeek’s annual entrepreneurship competition, the
venture is already getting noticed for its innovation and
focus on revolutionizing the standard way of doing business.

Our Goal:
Our goal is to offer an excellent opportunity for job-seekers
interested in gaining hands-on start-up, management, and
social entrepreneurship experience in the field of urban
agriculture, and environment sciences/agriculture. We are
offering the chance to work in a unique, challenging, and
creative setting amongst other motivated and passionate
individuals. Our company offers an exciting and challenging
environment committed to the success of an individual
interested in becoming a strategic and creative thinker who
is willing to push the bounds of traditional business. Our
company is aiming to revolutionize the way we think about
business – turning trash into cash, in order to provide people
food and employment.

The Team:
BTTR Ventures founding and management team is
comprised of two highly qualified Cal alums who are part
equity stake owners of the company:
• Alejandro Velez. In addition to founding a 350+
member non-profit organization, The Sage Mentorship
Project, Inc. (www.sagementors.org), and being
awarded the Chancellor’s 2009 Public Service Award,
Mather Good Citizen Award, and being named the 2009
Cal Alumni Association Undergraduate of the Year, Alex
Velez has worked as a summer financial analyst at
various financial services institutions and telecom
company including Citigroup, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and
Qualcomm, Inc. During the summer of 2008, Alex
worked for Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking
Division – Media & Telecom in New York and has
 deferred a full-time analyst offer until July 2010 with
Credit Suisse’s LatAm Coverage Group in New York.
Alex is a May 2009 summa cum laude graduate of UC
Berkeley’s Haas School of Business with a degree in
business administration and a minor in education. He
has been recognized with various awards and
scholarships, including the Financial Executives
International (FEI) Merit Scholarship, and is on a full-
scholarship by the CFA Institute to complete the
Certified Financial Analyst curriculum of which he is
currently a CFA Level II candidate. In addition, he
taught a finance course attended by 50+ people
(Comprehensive Introduction to Investment
Management) at the Haas School of Business. Alex is
also a proud cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) survivor.
 Nikhil Arora. Nikhil Arora, a Phi Beta Kappa scholar, is a
May 2009 summa cum laude graduate of the University
of California, Berkeley, from the Haas School of
Business and Department of Political Science.
Additionally, from 2008-2009, he served as President of
Alpha Epsilon Zeta (www.aezinc.org), a growing
professional fraternity on campus. Nikhil has spent time
involved in business development with Raymond James
Financial, sales and finances with InfoTechnik
Consulting, operations advisory with
PricewaterhouseCoopers, and deal flow analysis for the
Social Capital Index. He also spent nearly six months in
2007 at the University of Ghana, Legon working to
design a profitable recycling program for the 30,000
person campus. In his spare time, Nikhil is an avid US
Soccer and LA Galaxy fan, a travel enthusiast, and
someone always on the look-out for quality, new music.

Through the guidance of these two individuals as well as our

various faculty and executive-level advisors, we will provide
the resources to create the best opportunity to learn how to
execute strategic business initiatives, manage team
members, and successfully create valuable partnerships.
Furthermore, as a growing start-up, if you prove to be an
exceptional addition to the team, you will have the
possibility of attaining options in this company.

Job Description:

As an intern in BTTR Ventures’ sales department, you will be

responsible for coordinating tasks with other sales interns in
established territories. You will also help generate and
analyze reports with sales statistics to determine the sales
potential of established and new markets. And most
importantly, monitor the preferences and behavior of
customers to meet the team’s quotas and goals.

Qualifications:
Candidates must have strong writing and speaking skills, a
positive attitude and an eagerness to learn. Candidates must
be outgoing, personable, creative, independent thinkers with
an open mind for new business related experiences. The
ability to see projects through from creation to
implementation is a key component to internship
responsibilities. We do not require prior experience or
training in sales, agriculture, financial services, VC firms or
start-up’s.

Requirements:
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to work well
with others
• Desire to work in a fast-paced start-up company
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong drive for perfection and attention to detail
• Keen analytic thinking
• Valid driver’s license
• Management skills recommended (but not required)
• Ability to assist and encourage others to buy products
recommended (but not required)

The advantages you will gain:

If you have passion for changing the world and believe you
can do so through business, then joining BTTR Ventures is
the perfect launching pad for your career. Through this
program you will gain the experience of working on a fast
growing company with lots of future opportunities, and
according to your performance, might the opportunity to
earn commission on sales. Moreover, besides acquiring great
sales knowledge, we will help you in areas of
communication, negotiation, market research, and
relationship management. Meanwhile, working alongside a
hardworking, devoted group will give you the opportunity to
create new connections for the future.

Some of the responsibilities include:

• Meet sales quota;

• Generate sales reports;
• Generate market research reports;
• Create detailed performance sheet that will be
submitted to the founders;
• Utilizing creative ways to enhance brand awareness of
the company amongst customers;

Please email your resumes with a cover letter to:

Careers@BTTRVentures.com