Pt. 26: The empire expands: chief cowboys wanted
2024. A year that would go down in cowboy history as a landmark of building, expanding and the dawn of the future of cheese.
Because in that year, our Margaret made history: the first stainless steel cow produced real casein with micro-organisms instead of an udder. Her first cheeses lay a-ripenin’, huge stable building plans were blueprinted, and Those Vegan Cowboys had become news yet again with a collab that doubles their lab prowess to the most powerful R&D team in precision fermentation world wide.
Everything was about growth now. Big stables. Big team. Big plans to become reality in months, not years, which would turn this bunch of science-y renegades into a full blown commercial, mass-producin’ cheese factory. It would make Those Vegan Cowboys an entirely different animal.
It seemed a normal, even quiet morning at the ranch. But bees were a-buzzin’ under three straw Stetson hats. Being a bunch of self-made cowboys, chief ‘The Indian’ Hille, Sheriff Will and ‘Two Faced’ Belinda were used to just rollin’ up their plaid shirtsleeves and get goin’. But another thing they have in common, is a healthy sense of reality. Hille downed the last dregs of her morning coffee and broke the silence, stating what each of them was already thinkin’. ‘For the adventures ahead, we need to get a darn great couple of chiefs on board. I’m thinking ‘three musketeers’ here. But with the pioneering spirit of the vegan cowboy.’
Exactly 23 minutes later, the sharp tack of Belinda’s 38 caliber staple gun could be heard all over the ranch. Wanted posters were put up, and nosy passers-by stretched their necks to get a glimpse.
This is what they read:
WANTED | FINANCIAL CHIEF | COMMERCIAL CHIEF | OPERATIONAL CHIEF
For the imminent expansion & commercialization of our rapidly growing stainless steel cow enterprise, Those Vegan Cowboys are now hiring 3 razor sharp individuals to take animal-free cheese to the next level. The three of you will be at the forefront, building an entirely new part of our company. And doing that, you will make dairy history.
In all 3 roles;
We are looking for experienced individuals who feel our mission and will harness it as a drive to propel Those Vegan Cowboys forward. Each role is a wild opportunity to be part of something bigger than your job description, as we are building the next step in dairy that will radically make things better for our environment, future generation’s food availability, for farmers and of course for farm animals.
They’re not necessarily full-time jobs (probably part-time to start with) and there is room to discuss your starting date. If you live anywhere near the Dutch/Belgian border, we can work things out: our ranch in Ghent hopes to see you often, but it’s fine if you work partly remote. And we’ll regularly meet for coffee at a 2nd Dutch ranch conveniently located close to the border.
You may find our job descriptions on the short side and we have our reasons for that: we think everyone benefits if we shape your role together. The job descriptions aren’t fixed – roles can be combined to suit the people involved. In the end, we hope to have 3 great new chiefs on board, happy in their independent role as fitting in a start-up/scale-up environment, all part of the same management team working alongside CTO ‘Sheriff’ Will and CEO ‘The Indian’ Hille.
Like all cowboys, you will earn a fitting salary and gain proud ownership of a share in the company through our personnel participation program. Shared with your colleagues, you will own 20% to be exact.
You will also get your own cowboy nickname and we’re not afraid to use it.
CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
Having the most senior financial role in Those Vegan Cowboys, you like (love) numbers. You are our rock in upcoming investment rounds, but this is not your only concern – you’re responsible for our entire financial realm, including all its risks & challenges. You’re a strong long-term strategic thinker and great communicator. You’re a sparring partner for the chiefs of other realms – as they will be for you.
Useful character traits would be:
– Experience (who knows, even a degree) in accounting, business, finance, economics
– Experience in an executive leadership role
– Understanding how to raise capital and to run the entire financial side of a company
– You’re a nice person to be around
CCO (Chief Commercial Officer)
Within months we hope to look back and say ‘how ever did we manage without our Commercial Chief?’ You have an honorable job to do: to bring Margarets casein and cheese to the market – better still, to bring it to every fridge out there. You will be doing this from the ground up, and through B2B and B2C channels (check out our Ghent Gazette for some more background). Ideally, you’ve been working in the cheese biz before, which will help you find the best partnerships with traditional (yet ambitious) cheese producers. The US will be your first focus, market wise. Daunting? Not for you – as you like a world class commercial challenge. A true bridge builder, you know a good relationship with everyone involved is your gold – you’re not just a stellar stainless steel cowhand, you’re a people person. And you know your fellow cowboys have your back: you will work closely together with our product development lab, sales, marketing, partnerships and of course the other chiefs.
COO (Chief Operational & Manufacturing Officer)
Here you are – the indispensable chief responsible for the actual production of Margaret’s cheese. You’re not only an experienced executive leader, you also really like to build things. Because you’ll be doing a lot of it: some huge stable building plans are awaiting your sharp intellect and carpenter’s eye.
Later this year, you will hit the ground running to help us aquire our factory first on a tolling (say, rental) basis, but eventually you’ll be building our own. Possibly in partnership with fellow cow-free cheese conjurers. You’re good with people and ideally have experience in the biotech scale-up scene.
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If you feel excitement over these roles or know the perfect individual, don’t hesitate to drop us a line at postoffice@thosevegancowboys.com so we can get talkin’.
A note to well-meaning agencies or intermediaries: please do not bother, we prefer the old fashioned personal approach. We will only proceed with direct messages from candidates themselves.
