❓What work would I be doing?

A majority of an early analyst’s work involves sourcing potential investments. This means talking to startups, learning about their business model, asking great questions, and selling your firm as an investor in the meantime. This is why firms look for analysts who are excited about startups and can lead conversations about a specific investment well. Once you source a deal, you will be involved in the due diligence of that investment which involves some financial modeling and a lot of data cutting (looking at application/business metrics of the potential investment) and making a decision from there.

<aside> 💡 One underrated aspect of the role is the ownership. After a call/meeting with a founder you are often the sole person who decides whether to pass or to have them continue in the firm’s process.

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💻 Companies Recruiting for VC/PE

Firms that have analyst programs

Introduction to Venture

Learn

  1. Reading/Listening: Podcasts: All in, 8VC, Newsletters/blogs: Axios Pro Rata, The Information, Stratechery, Term Sheet, Accelerated, Venture Deals, Zero to One, Lean Startup, Elad Gil the boi, Techcrunch, Term Sheet
  2. Join Organizations like: UpRound, PEVC, V1, Ross funds
  3. Start reaching out to people in your network to find out more about what venture looks like in the real world, or attend talks hosted by people like Turner Novak at our very own V1 talks

Resume

Things that will catch a VC/recruiters eyes

  1. A history of venture experiences, whether that be the clubs mentioned above or (better) venture fellowships like Contrary, Dorm Room Fund, Rough Draft Ventures or lesser known but great ones like 406 ventures, battery externship etc.
  2. Blog: If you can put your thoughts about venture on your own blog or twitter you will differentiate yourself a LOT in getting the interview. Examples: Gabby Goldberg’s article that made her huge, Aashay Sanghavi’s thoughts
  3. If you’re coming from a tech background or don’t have any of the above or aren’t interested, work for a great venture backed start up. Talent fellowships like the Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer Venture Partners, 8VC fellowship will all connect you to fantastic start ups. I personally worked for a B2B management software company, Pathlight, which Insight had invested in and gave me a great leg in.
    1. If Insight didn’t invest, putting Company Name ([VC name] backed) goes a long way
  4. Build a start up. If you know what it means to build something (huge plus if it’s venture backed, mine wasn’t) that will really stand out. It needs a good amount of users, traction, and/or revenue to stand out.

There are a bunch of minor things that I didn’t mention too, look at the resume I used to get interviews at JMI Equity, Bessemer Venture Partners, Stripes, Lead Edge Capital, and Insight Partners (where I’ll be working).