Greylock hires a growth advisor in residence to help goose its portfolio companies

Greylock Partners, the Silicon Valley venture firm, has hired a “growth advisor in residence” to help goose growth at its portfolio companies. Casey Winters — who spent nearly three years at Pinterest, and nearly three years at GrubHub before that — will be working with Greylock exclusively for the next six to 12 months.

The idea, he explains, is to join a company in Greylock’s portfolio eventually. “The impetus for the role is: there’s a lot of work involved with helping portfolio companies, starting with recruiting. In this growth function, I’ll help them figure out their grow strategies and how to scale. I’ll also understand over time which is a good fit for me to eventually join full time.”

Winters first met Greylock while an employee of Grubhub and thinking about moving West. A friend at the company pointed Winters to partner Josh Elman, who tried “finding a bunch of opportunities for me.” Pinterest, where Winters eventually landed, “isn’t in Greylock’s portfolio, but they were never pushy,” which made an impression on Winters, so he stayed in touch.

Winters says he will not be investing alongside the partners, incidentally. He’ll be looking exclusively at helping its portfolio companies that are ready to hit the accelerator.

Elman has a bit more about the decision to bring aboard Winters here.