---
title: 'Supply Growth Lead at Forum Ventures'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/supply-growth-lead-forum-ventures-toronto-a6435y5na16m'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# Supply Growth Lead at Forum Ventures

- **Company:** Forum Ventures
- **Location:** Toronto, Canada
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-09-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/forum-ventures/f519ed57-7842-452f-b022-28125c2e34c1

## Job description

Location Toronto (hybrid) with regular travel to sourcing hubs

## About Calico

[Calico](https://www.calicoai.com) is a product creation engine that deploys specialty AI to solve for the hardest parts of the creation process. Apparel and accessories brands use Calico to turn a design concept into a production-ready spec in seconds, keep costing and supply chain status visible in real time, and automate the coordination overhead that normally eats a product calendar. Teams at Everlane, Sønderhaus, Mission and beyond run on it. Everything Calico does for a brand depends on the other half of the market: the factories, mills, and suppliers who actually make the goods. Today that network spans 150+ vetted factories across 10+ countries. We know it needs to be far bigger, far deeper in its data, and far more impactful for the suppliers themselves. That's this job.

## The role

You will be the first dedicated hire on the supply side of the marketplace, and you will own it end to end for apparel and clothing: which suppliers we bring on, how we bring them on, what we learn from them will be owned by you. This is deliberately two jobs braided together. Half of it is business development: finding and closing factories, mills, and trim and fabric suppliers, mostly through outbound, referrals, trade shows, and sourcing agents who already have the relationships. The other half is discovery: figuring out what supply-side product-market fit actually looks like for Calico. What do factories need badly enough to change their workflow for? What data do we need from them to make brand-side matching and costing genuinely good? Which categories and countries should we go deep in first? You'll be operating well before the playbook exists. The right person treats that as the appeal, not the risk: you'll be writing the playbook, and the thesis you land on will shape a large part of what Calico becomes. We are looking for someone who excels at creative problem solving, high ownership environments and quick pivots/experimentation to get to a desired outcome.

## What you'll do

Recruit and close apparel suppliers

- Build the target map. Segment the apparel manufacturing landscape by category, country, tier, and capability, and decide where we build density first rather than spreading thin.
- Run outbound end to end. Source, pitch, negotiate, and close factories and mills, from cold contact through signed agreements, to first live order.
- Work the channels that scale. Sourcing agents, buying offices, industry associations, trade shows, and existing brand customers' vendor lists are all faster paths to supply than one-by-one outbound. Test them and double down on what works.
- Be on the ground. Visit factories, sit through capability audits, and build the kind of trust that a video call doesn't produce. Expect some travel to help us better get to know the factories and build relationships. Collect the data that makes the network valuable
- Define the supplier profile. Decide what we need to know about a factory — MOQs, lead times, machinery, certifications, compliance, price bands, category strengths — for our matching and costing to be trustworthy.
- Get that data in, reliably. Design an onboarding process suppliers will actually complete, and work with product and engineering to make the capture less manual over time.
- Keep it honest. Build the verification and refresh loop that stops the network from quietly rotting into stale listings.

Find supply-side product-market fit

- Run structured discovery. Interview suppliers systematically and turn what you hear into a clear, written point of view on where the value is.
- Test offers. Prototype what we give suppliers, order flow, faster spec clarity, fewer revision cycles, better forecasting, tooling of their own an d measure what actually changes their behaviour.
- Define the metrics. Establish what a healthy supply side looks like for us: activation, time-to-first-order, repeat rate, coverage by category, quote responsiveness. Then own the numbers.
- Close the loop with product. You'll be the clearest voice inside the company on what suppliers need, and you're expected to translate that into a roadmap, not just a report.

First 90 days

- Days 1–30: Learn the platform and the brand side deeply. Talk to suppliers already in the network and brand customers about how sourcing actually works for them. Come back with a written map of the apparel supply landscape and an initial target segments.
- Days 31–60: Run outbound against that segment. Land the first cohort of new suppliers and take them all the way through onboarding yourself, documenting every point of friction.
- Days 61–90: Present a supply-side thesis: which categories and geographies we win first, what the supplier offer is, what data model supports it, and what you need to scale it in the following two quarters.

## What we're looking for

We care much more about judgment and drive than about a specific résumé shape. That said, most people who succeed here will have some version of the following:

- 5+ years in marketplace supply growth, business development, sourcing, or apparel production, ideally with real time spent on the manufacturing side, not only the brand side.
- Genuine closing ability. You've personally opened and closed relationships with businesses that had no prior reason to trust you or your company.
- Comfort with ambiguity. You've worked somewhere without an established playbook and produced one. You can tell the difference between a real signal and a polite meeting.
- An analytical habit. You instrument what you do, argue from evidence, and are as comfortable in a spreadsheet as in a factory.
- Cross-cultural fluency. Apparel manufacturing is global. You work well across time zones, languages, and business norms, and you travel willingly.
- Clear writing. Much of your output here is a written argument that changes what the company does next.

## Nice to have

- Existing relationships with apparel factories, mills, or sourcing agents in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Turkey, Portugal, or Central America.
- Experience at an early-stage marketplace during its supply build-out.
- Working knowledge of tech packs, BOMs, grading, or costing.
- A second language relevant to a major sourcing region.

## Why this role

- Real ownership. You're the first supply hire. The strategy is yours to define, and the team that eventually builds out this function is likely yours to lead.
- An industry that hasn't been solved yet. Apparel sourcing still runs on spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and email chains. The gap between how it works and how it should work is enormous. You should want to operate with that uncertainty and thrive in a role that brings structure to the market.
- Demand already exists. Brands are on the platform and pulling for supply. You're not selling into a vacuum.
- Proximity to the decisions. Small team, direct line to the founders, short distance between what you learn and what gets built.

## Compensation and logistics

- Competitive base salary plus meaningful early-stage equity.
- Performance-linked upside tied to supply growth and activation.
- Toronto-based, hybrid. Partial time spent in office to collaborate with the team and some travel as the marketplace develops.
- A complete benefits package and resources dedicated to learning.

How to apply Apply through our posting and tell us about a time you built something from nothing, a supplier base, a market, a channel. A résumé is welcome; a thoughtful paragraph matters more. Calico is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of every background and are happy to provide accommodations at any stage of the hiring process — just let us know what you need.

## About Forum Ventures

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Forum Ventures is a founder-first venture studio, accelerator, and pre-seed fund dedicated to helping early-stage B2B software founders go from zero to one.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Venture Capital / Accelerator / Studio)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States (with offices in San Francisco and Toronto)
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Not publicly listed as a single founder; the firm was built by a team including Mike Cardamone (CEO & Managing Partner), Jonah Midanik (Managing Partner), James Murphy (Managing Partner), and others.

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Venture Capital & Private Equity Principals (B2B software startup ecosystem)
- **Target customers**: Pre-seed and seed-stage B2B software founders; also serves as a co-creator of new ventures through its studio arm.
- **Mission**: To make the startup journey easier, more accessible, and successful for early-stage founders.

## Products & Services
- **Accelerator**: A 12-week (or similar) program that acts as a fractional co-founder, providing hands-on go-to-market and fundraising support to help founders achieve customer traction and raise their first institutional round.
- **Pre-Seed Fund**: A dedicated fund that invests in early-stage B2B software companies, leveraging the accelerator’s team and resources to provide more hands-on support than a typical pre-seed fund.
- **Venture Studio**: An AI-first studio that co-creates new ventures from the concept stage, working with entrepreneurs to ideate, validate, launch, and scale B2B startups using a team of operators, product designers, and developers.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private entity)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue of $40M (LinkedIn estimate); total follow-on funding raised by portfolio companies exceeds $1B.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: The firm itself has raised a $20M venture studio fund (announced 2025). Portfolio companies have gone on to raise from top-tier funds including A16z, Bessemer, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, NEA, Emergence Capital, Menlo Ventures, Craft Ventures, and Founders Fund.
- **Growth Signals**: 430+ companies funded, 1,300+ founder community members, 10 years of operation, 25,541 LinkedIn followers (+43.9% YoY), and a recent acquisition of Vanse AI (Feb 2025).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Founder-first approach**: The team is composed entirely of former founders and operators who have built and scaled their own software companies, providing empathy and practical guidance.
- **Full-stack support**: Offers a continuum from studio (idea stage) → accelerator (early traction) → pre-seed fund (capital), making it a one-stop shop for early-stage B2B founders.
- **Massive community and network**: Over 1,300 founders in a deeply connected community, plus access to a wide network of mentors and experts.
- **Proven track record**: $1B+ in follow-on funding raised by portfolio companies from top-tier VCs.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI-first ventures**: The newly launched $20M venture studio fund is specifically focused on building AI-native B2B companies.
- **Expanding geographic reach**: While headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in San Francisco and Toronto, and portfolio companies are global.
- **Scaling the studio model**: Continuously looking for “studio founders” – individuals who have always wanted to start a company but need a co-creative partner to ideate, validate, and build.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: A team of “doers and connectors” that operates like a startup – fail fast, iterate quickly, and embrace ambiguity. The firm is built by founders for founders, so the environment is entrepreneurial and supportive.
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Not explicitly stated, but roles are likely hybrid or in-office given the hands-on studio and accelerator model. The team is distributed across New York, San Francisco, and Toronto.
- **Notable perks**: Opportunities to work directly with early-stage founders, participate in venture building, and be part of a small but mighty team that has outsized impact. The firm emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- **Open roles**: Current openings include positions on the Forum team, studio founder opportunities, and portfolio company roles (see careers page).

## Sources
1. [forumvc.com](https://www.forumvc.com/)
2. [forumvc.com/careers](https://www.forumvc.com/careers)
3. [forumvc.com/team](https://www.forumvc.com/team)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/forum-ventures](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/forum-ventures)
5. [linkedin.com/company/forumvc](https://www.linkedin.com/company/forumvc)

## Other roles at Forum Ventures

- [Market Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/market-development-representative-forum-ventures-toronto-9g4fbc18kyhf) — Toronto, Canada
- [Demand Generation Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/demand-generation-associate-forum-ventures-toronto-syp39ne2etch) — Toronto, Canada
- [Founder-To-Be, The Foundry](https://feeny.ai/job/founder-to-be-the-foundry-forum-ventures-united-states-xfrz7xhwsmce) — United States
- [Operations Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-associate-forum-ventures-cambridge-9pca9y7prdk0) — Cambridge, MA
- [Forward-Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-forum-ventures-chicago-3dq894cfdta0) — Chicago, IL
- [Senior Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-forum-ventures-ottawa-nneyj69z6nvw) — Ottawa, Canada
- [AI Founder, Physical Assets](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-founder-physical-assets-forum-ventures-united-states-j38vxk36bhgb) — United States
- [AI Founder, Edge Hardware](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-founder-edge-hardware-forum-ventures-united-states-qh2hzbj1q33q) — United States
- [AI Founder, Physical Cybersecurity](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-founder-physical-cybersecurity-forum-ventures-united-states-w0ryt2qkrctk) — United States
- [AI Founder, Real World Data](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-founder-real-world-data-forum-ventures-united-states-zy4ehphfj4xg) — United States