How to Find Corporate Finance Jobs at Startups?
(Senior Monkey, 92
Points)
on 9/1/12 at 3:30am
Hi,
I'm a recent college grad looking to work in corporate finance or VC and was wondering how I can find corporate finance jobs at startups or what the best way to going about this process is? Since I graduated from a non-target, I've not really been searching for VC stuff as I know it is very competitive to get into and I might not be qualified at the moment, but I feel like working in corporate finance at a startup could lend itself to making a transition to VC later on, but I was wondering how to find such positions since they're smaller and are typically less structured in when they recruit (at least from what I've seen). If anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks for the help!
From what I've noticed
From what I've noticed startups tend to hire more experienced people to run their finances. I believe its because their finance teams tend to be way smaller (1 or 2 people) than a large corporation and thus the person needs to be very versatile in the functions they serve for the company. Not saying you can't break in right out of undergrad but it will be very hard.
Edit: Look at craigslist in an area known for startups. ie SF, Silicon Valley. Cheapest and easiest way for them to advertise positions.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
escapethecity.com
escapethecity.com
Check out my Blog
Seems like those with tech
Seems like those with tech and business backgrounds usually have the edge.
Most startups don't have
Most startups don't have corporate finance people, depending on how you define that term.
Corp Finance could include any of the following and more:
-Corp Dev
-Corp Strategy
-FP&A
-Treasury
-General Finance
True startups have limited need for finance people. They typically have a controller/CTO and maybe one or two support people. Startups (at least in tech) don't usually have much, if any debt, so they have fairly straight forward capital structures. They can also outsource some of the strategic analysis to their VCs, assuming they are backed. It's also unlikely that they are looking for acquisitions so they probably don't need corp dev.
The places that finance people do tend to get involved with a startup are in either business development/partnerships, supporting the CFO/controller, or some type of product management role. Sometimes startups will have a jack-of-all trades type person to support the C-level and do research and analysis...this can be a cool role, but not all startups have it and locating these opportunities is difficult.
As TechBanking said, most
As TechBanking said, most startups have very very little use for corporate finance people. And even in the few cases where they need finance people involved, that work will typically be handled by their investors - their investors/VCs will refer accountants/corporate financiers to them, and their investors will also have in-house finance employees available.
The cases where you might be able to find a position are at larger, well-established startups.
In my experience, early-stage startups are rather unusual in the kind of experience they hire. Startups often don't hire entry-level/no-experience employees, because startups need you to be able to hit the ground running. At the same time, early-stage startups often can't afford to hire employees with extensive experience (except as founders, of course).
In that case, your best bet is to get a corporate finance position at a large company, and then go to a startup after a few years.
To follow up with what others
To follow up with what others have said, this largely depends on the stage the company is at. And how you are actually defining "startup".
A true startup, and to use many of the recent Y-Combinator funded companies as an example, are teams ranging anywhere from 1-3 people (obviously varying). Within the company's co-founders, there is usually a "hustler" (business guy), someone who handles sales/marketing/finances, and the "hacker" who handles much of the technical ascpects of the job (for web-companies). There is no real need for additional employees until the company starts operations, starts gaining users, or starts generating revenue.
Additional employees are usually added after the Series A financing when a company starts its attempt to scale. (crunchbase.com, techcrunch.com, and venturebeat.com will usually report the majoity of theses financings). A lot of venutre capital firms will post employment positions for their portfolio companies on their websites. Check out Seqouia Capital, Founders Fund, KPCB, and others. I bet you will be able to find something you are looking for at a later stage company (more on that below). When companies start scaling and recieving VC money, that's when they start needing specialized employees and functions like a comptroller, full-time CFO, etc.
Where you might find a corporate finance jobs would be at a company with growing revenues that has been around for a couple years. Think more Pinterest, Square, Yammer, Second Market, Dropbox, Twitter, Foresquare, etc. and less Asana, Angel List and Airtime (which is only Sean Parker, Shawn Fanning and two other guys at the moment). Getting experience at one of these firms can help you when it comes time to actually join a startup with only three employees.
Go to your favorite VC funds'
Go to your favorite VC funds' websites; some have "opportunities at our portfolio companies" job listings. Have a look, and don't be too choosy about "corporate finance" specifically.
Why? Story-time: A friend started out doing marketing for a software co in the portfolio of a large west coast VC. That company got acquired by a Fortune 500 a month after he got a big promotion within the VC-backed co. He transitioned into the Fortune 500 at a job-level in corp strategy that would have taken him at least 5 extra years to get to.
Get your hands dirty in whichever way you can add value to the VC-backed co (you'll often find yourself wearing many hats). Go to b-school afterwards and then you can get your corp finance job with a much stronger background.
Aei ho theos geōmetreî
I Second what Themistocles
I Second what Themistocles said. In most case you won't have the chance that his friend had, but still, at a start-up the hierarchy is almost flat, you will learn a ton and it will be a very good experience for the following of your career, be it in Business school or another corporate job.
The best thing you can do is
The best thing you can do is create the role you want to fill at the start-up and bring it with you as your personally branded package. Basically, since startups have a relative "flat hierarchy" you need to show up with a clear value you're going to bring to the table.
As an example, before my current role I worked in corporate strategy/dev at a tech (hardware) startup. I knew the founders and had been following the company's progress. I knew they were raising a 2nd round and were trying to sort through alot of interest from VCs, so I offered to act as information liaison to get the valuation, specifics and scale of the round spot-on while keeping existing stakeholders happy. There was no role, I just convinced them they needed me. That's really the essence of dealing with startups as a non-engineer.
Feel free to PM if you have more questions.
"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns or dollars."