Working for a VC firm?

Tech for sure.

Thanks. Besides the work experience and undergrad what do VCs look for? Do they expect app building?

Fringe BB. Gotta love the innovative WSO kids..

Depends. Where was your consulting stint at? How much success have you had with your entrepreneurial venture? Breaking directly into VC out of an MBA is exceptionally difficult.

Lots of backgrounds go into VC. Consulting from M/B/B can typically cantilever you into a growth equity OR a select number of VC firms (typically not SV- based firms - think Boston, NYC, or other). Otherwise it might be a two-step process to get there. I know specifically about 2-3 firms that will hire right out of undergrad - those people are analysts who typically kicked serious ass at an IB summer internship in college at the best brand name firms.

Typically, VCs who hire associates without "specialized training" (eg, an MD or PhD for a biotech VC; having worked at Oracle/Intel/Google in some meaningful non-sales role for a tech VC) invest across a wider variety of sectors, have larger organizations, and those associates are doing a LOT of networking/deal generation/dialing for dollars. Meaning: you are calling 100 companies in a particular target sector, tracking them in Salesforce, and getting about 10 of those companies to return your call (if you're lucky), leading to maybe 1-3 site visits, leading to one ultimate investment (if you're lucky). Apart from having reasonably good business sense and doing good financial modeling, networking and being able to generate and keep leads warm are critical skills in VC.

I have interviewed for VC associate positions before, and I can tell you this - the most important skill in getting hired at a VC apart from those that employ the TA/Summit dialing for dollars method is "Can you meaningfully add to our dealflow?" VCs are typically top-heavy places, because frankly a 23 year old doesn't really know his own shit from the sky when it comes to what makes a business/sector interesting or not (let alone how to mentor and/or advise an experienced startup CEO) - so it's not typically about how good you are at modeling, how hard you can work, etc. You also need to meet/know a ton of people, and need to be able to use that network and your own acumen to find the most interesting investment prospects before everyone else does. You will not learn how to do that in IB or consulting - those skills are typically developed as you gain experience in an actual product-producing company (whether a startup or established firm), or trying to start your own company.

That is some great insight! I was wondering if you could comment on my following dilema. My end goal is to eventually work at a VC firm. I would like to join a startup, and am considering taking a boot camp type course to become a web dev at one of these firms (all these startups are looking for web devs). My question is how plausible would it be to enter as web dev at a startup and move towards a more business development/business strategy function? I ask this as I would like to follow up the startup experience with an MBA and from there focus on another start up (create my own) or work in finance before transitioning to VC.

Is this a plausible path? Do you know of anyone who has followed this? All advice is greatly appreciated.

I am currently doing an internship in a 100m$ VC fund (outside US) , graduating with masters in Info.Sys from a 2nd tier business school - what would you recommend for me in order to break in this field in US?Overall I have a very good profile.

never seen anyone do this in Canada.. probably really hard to do, but never say never, right?

Start it, sell it, tap it, repeat. Be unstoppable

Also curious. Is it a pigeon hole type move? Obviously you hope the business will be huge and you wont have to worry about getting back into finance but odds are against you.

From what you said, your only option remains networking like crazy! Any source you can use, go for it! Your background could be a plus in case you have built something significant and it is even better if it is on the VC menu, i.e. tech, biotech, health care, etc...it will be hard though, as always...Good luck!

Since you're an entrepreneur: start a few companies (hopefully at least one will be successful), become a venture partner at a VC, hopefully get promoted or rachet your way between firms until you land the position at a firm whose strategy you like. Profit.

Being an entrepreneur is a good thing, are you kidding? Serial investment bankers with HC/IT focus are only part of the pie...

I've seen a lot of

IB analyst --> Industry Experience (corp dev, etc) --> Start-Up --> VC

would you say that experience in a start-up firm or something similar is critical? or could you break into VC just from IB or b-school?

Very tough to get into venture capital directly from banking without startup or industry experience in between. Your best bet would be a pseudo-VC firm like Summit Partners, TA Associates, or Polaris Ventures. All of the above hire IB analysts for their growth equity practices, which basically entail you "dialing for dollars". You can find a ton more about those positions by searching the forum for "sourcing role". However, after a year or two in their growth equity practice, you might have a shot at transferring to their earlier stage teams.

I have a friend who is looking into this. He was healthcare IB then joined a health and wellness company that is PE backed and growing rapidly. He is on the corporate strategy team and is almost exclusively responsible for launching the company's international business.

He's thinking of going mba and hoping for VC when he gets out. Is this a viable background for post mba VC?

doesn't happen

How about an MBA (non-HBS, non-Stanford, think CBS, Stern, Booth etc.) -> IBD Associate in Technology Coverage group -> VC? Is that reasonable?

If you get a managerial role and work with technology/products, may be interesting..otherwise

Helps you a little, but not alot. At the junior (associate) level, VC firms typically look for people with startup/operational experience because they know these people have true "value add," or people with investment banking experience because they know these types can grind and/or have relevant experience working within a specific group that applies to the investment focus of the firm. You're not going off track, but you're starting to move off the track. Any business development/ops-type role you can take on at a healthcare company would make you more attractive to a VC firm. PM me if you have any further questions.

Agree. Startup would be optimal. You may not get paid much, but the experience can spin into VC.

I appreciate everyones input!

Unfortunately, I don't see the position carrying any development/ops type of work since the responsibilities stated seem to be focusing more on just financial analysis. Would management consulting analyst position be a better role for the long-term goal (vc)?

Yes but wouldn't the consulting position be harder to obtain than say working at a start-up (generally speaking)?