Entrepreneurship Initiative & Why This Role Now
The Computer History Museum (CHM) is uniquely positioned to become the world's leading institution for preserving, interpreting, and explaining the entrepreneurial ecosystem that transformed Silicon Valley into the global center of technology innovation.
For decades, CHM has documented the people, companies, and ideas that shaped the digital age through hundreds of oral histories, extensive corporate archives, landmark artifacts, and live conversations with founders, venture capitalists, and industry leaders. Now, CHM is launching its Entrepreneurship Initiative to build on these strengths and decode the "secret sauce" behind Silicon Valley's enduring success.
The Initiative will capture the living history of entrepreneurship while sharing practical lessons from founders, investors, and ecosystem builders through exhibitions, public programs, digital storytelling, and educational experiences. It will preserve not only the stories of iconic companies, but also the broader ecosystem - including venture capital, universities, law firms, incubators, marketers, engineers, and others whose collaboration makes innovation possible.
Like Silicon Valley itself, this initiative cannot be built from the outside looking in.
CHM provides institutional credibility, world-class collections, and unparalleled historical context. But realizing this vision requires a leader with a strong understanding of Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the ability to build meaningful relationships across its community. Reporting to the Chief Curatorial & Exhibition Officer, the Director of Entrepreneurship and Silicon Valley will lead the development of this initiative, connecting founders, investors, industry leaders, and other ecosystem partners with CHM's collections, programs, and audiences.
This is an entrepreneurial leadership role focused on building and growing a new initiative. Initially operating as a one-person team, the Director will serve as CHM's ambassador to Silicon Valley, cultivating trusted relationships throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem while developing the partnerships and philanthropic support necessary to grow the Initiative. As funding is secured, the Director will help expand programs, collecting activities, and staff.
Details
Classification: Exempt, Regular, Fulltime, Hybrid (Minimum 40% Onsite)
Location: Mountain View, CA
Department: Collections & Exhibits
Position Summary
The Director of Entrepreneurship & Silicon Valley serves as the strategic, programmatic, and community leader for CHM's Entrepreneurship Initiative.
The Director will establish CHM as the trusted institution for understanding Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial culture by cultivating relationships across the startup ecosystem, developing an influential advisory network, and working closely with Development to secure philanthropic investment that enables the Initiative to grow.
Drawing upon CHM's remarkable collections and newly established community relationships, the Director will lead efforts to both capture the history of entrepreneurship through oral histories and collecting, and share Silicon Valley's lessons through exhibitions, live programming, educational experiences, and digital content.
In the first 12 to 18 months, success will be defined by:
- Community: Established CHM as a recognized and trusted institution throughout Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ecosystem, including founders, venture capitalists, accelerators, universities, service providers, and startup organizations. Launched an active advisory council representing leaders across the innovation ecosystem.
- Funding: Worked in partnership with Development to secure lead philanthropic investments supporting the Entrepreneurship Initiative and establish a multi-year fundraising pipeline.
- Programs & Capture: Completed four major CHM Live entrepreneurship programs, twenty oral histories with founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders, and established collecting relationships with startups, venture firms, and entrepreneurial organizations.
- Operations: Delivered a comprehensive three-year implementation roadmap that phases exhibitions, programming, collecting, digital initiatives, and staffing.
Responsibilities
Community Embedding & Ecosystem Building (Primary)
- Serve as CHM's highly visible ambassador within Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Build trusted relationships with founders, venture capitalists, startup executives, accelerators, universities, incubators, corporate innovation leaders, and ecosystem partners.
- Convene and manage an influential Entrepreneurship Advisory Council.
- Represent CHM at major startup conferences, venture events, founder gatherings, university programs, and innovation forums.
- Position CHM as the trusted steward of Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial history and culture.
Relationship-Driven Fundraising & Business Development (Primary)
- Partner with CHM's Development team to identify, cultivate, and engage prospective donors and philanthropic partners for the Entrepreneurship Initiative.
- Leverage relationships with founders, investors, technology executives, and family foundations to introduce potential supporters and strategic partners to CHM.
- Contribute programmatic expertise and initiative-specific content to Development-led cases for support, fundraising proposals, and donor materials.
- Identify opportunities for philanthropic investment in exhibitions, collections, educational programs, and digital initiatives, and participate in donor cultivation and solicitation meetings in partnership with Development.
- Establish strategic partnerships with venture firms, accelerators, universities, startup organizations, media partners, and industry associations.
Capture: Entrepreneurship Collections & Oral Histories
- Identify significant opportunities to collect startup archives, founder papers, corporate records, pitch decks, prototypes, venture materials, and other entrepreneurial artifacts.
- Expand CHM's oral history program by securing interviews with founders, investors, executives, advisors, and ecosystem participants.
- Develop long-term preservation partnerships with venture firms, accelerators, startup communities, and entrepreneurial organizations.
- Collaborate with Collections and Curatorial staff to evaluate acquisitions and establish collecting priorities.
Share: Programs, Exhibitions & Public Engagement
- Work closely with the programming team to produce an annual slate of high-profile CHM Live conversations exploring entrepreneurship, innovation, and Silicon Valley.
- Provide expertise to help guide content for development of the Silicon Valley Experience exhibition and related visitor experiences.
- Help to shape docent tours and educational programs.
- Lead development and implementation of entrepreneurship workshops for college and adult groups.
- Assist in developing digital storytelling initiatives including podcasts, online exhibitions, blogs, videos, and educational content.
- Help build experiences that translate Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial culture into accessible lessons for founders, students, business leaders, and the public.
Strategy, Growth & Operations
- Translate the Entrepreneurship & Silicon Valley Initiative into a phased three-year implementation strategy.
- Initially operate as a lean founder-style organization while strategically utilizing contractors and cross-functional museum resources.
- Work across Curatorial, Collections, Development, Education, Marketing, and Digital teams to coordinate Initiative activities.
- Help define future staffing as funding and programming expand.
Competencies
The qualities and behaviors that will define the role’s effectiveness and impact.
- Builds authentic trust across Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Develops meaningful relationships that become partnerships, collections, programs, and philanthropic support.
- Serves as a compelling public ambassador who connects equally well with founders, investors, historians, and the general public.
- Thinks entrepreneurially while operating effectively within a museum environment.
- Recognizes historically significant people, companies, artifacts, and stories before they are lost.
- Connects history with contemporary innovation in engaging and accessible ways.
- Leads through influence and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.
- Thrives in ambiguity while building new initiatives from the ground up.
Qualifications And Skills
Background, Experience, Skills and Education
Required
- Advanced degree in business, history, technology, public history, or a related interdisciplinary field.
- Significant progressive experience in entrepreneurship, venture capital, innovation organizations, museums, higher education, or related fields, including demonstrated leadership experience.
- Strong knowledge of Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ecosystem and technology innovation.
- Demonstrated ability to cultivate senior-level relationships with founders, investors, executives, and ecosystem leaders.
- Demonstrated experience building partnerships that produce meaningful organizational outcomes.
- Strong communication, relationship-building, and public-speaking skills.
- Entrepreneurial mindset and demonstrated ability to build initiatives from the ground up.
- Ability to lead high-impact programs, initiatives, or community engagement efforts with limited resources.
- Appreciation for history, museums, and preserving cultural heritage.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship.
- Willingness to travel regularly throughout Silicon Valley and periodically domestically, with occasional evening and weekend availability.
Preferred
- Established relationships and credibility within Silicon Valley's startup and innovation community.
- Experience working with founders, investors, venture firms, accelerators, or entrepreneurial organizations.
- Experience supporting fundraising, securing philanthropic gifts or sponsorships, or working collaboratively with development teams.
- Experience in museums, cultural institutions, higher education, or mission-driven organizations.
Work Arrangement
- Hybrid position based in Silicon Valley, with a minimum of 40% on-site presence at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
- Occasional evening or weekend work may be required to support major programs, launches, or institutional deadlines.
- Limited local or professional travel may be required.
Benefits
- Fully sponsored Medical, dental, and vision benefits
- Partially sponsored Health dependent costs
- Health Savings Accounts (HSA) with employer contributions
- 403(b) retirement plan with 1:1 employer matching
- Generous PTO (Paid Time Off) benefits
- Fully sponsored Life and Disability Insurance
- Employee Discounts in museum store and onsite cafe
Compensation
$115,000-$125,000 Annually
About CHM
At the Computer History Museum our mission is to decode technology - its computing past, digital present, and future impact on humanity. From the heart of Silicon Valley, we share insights from our research, our events, and our incomparable collection of computing artifacts and oral histories to convene, inform, and empower people to shape a better future.
At CHM, we believe that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success. We provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, we will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
Our Values
At CHM, we are united in a common endeavor: to build a world-class institution that preserves the past to serve the future. We value each other’s work helping people make sense of our technological world - where it came from and where it may be headed. We commit to learning about, supporting, and celebrating everyone’s work and unique strengths. We strive to create a CHM culture that is collaborative, caring, and fun, where we hold ourselves accountable, look for the best in each other, and learn together.
How to Apply
Are you ready to become a part of our team? To be considered for this position, applicants must include a cover letter and resume describing your track record and three references to jobs@computerhistory.org. Please be sure to add the job title (exactly as it is spelled out on this site) that you are applying for in the subject line of your email.
