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venture capital
 

B-School Chances with Three Years Work Experience

brutalglide's picture
VC
 
Points)
 on 5/7/13 at 9:02pm

Hi all,

Was hoping to get some advice with regards to b-school as I'm considering going next year. Thinking I'd only go if I can get into a M7 and wondering what my chances would be like given my profile.

My background is that I went to a top public (UVa/UMich/Berkeley) and did a double major in math and econ and graduated with a shitty GPA (2.9-3.1 range). In terms of my internship experience before graduation, I interned at a F500 PWM company, top tech company (HP/Oracle/IBM/Dell/etc.) as a business analyst, an boutique incubator/accelerator, and BB BO/MO leadership rotational program.

What to wear for VC interview?

chimpanzee's picture
(Monkey, 52
 
Points)
 on 5/4/13 at 7:35pm

Hi everyone, I have an interview for a venture capital internship interview in the Boston area, just wondering what I should be wearing? I know everyone there will be dressed pretty casual, will it look weird if I still go in a full suit and tie?

Thanks

Abroad Internship

SuperU's picture
(Chimp, 15
 
Points)
 on 4/24/13 at 4:17pm

I have an offer to work at at decently sized Venture Capital firm in Israel. Israel has a prominent start up environment with leading technology and clean tech firms. How would professionals in the finance sector back in the US look at this experience versus an internship at a more well known finance firm in NY not in Venture Capital?

Non Tech Venture Capital Funds/Firms

mapr89's picture
PE
(Baboon, 102
 
Points)
 on 3/28/13 at 6:20pm

As soon as someone says Venture Capital most people immediately think- TECH or HEALTHCARE! I work for a fund which invests in later stage/growth enterprises and I would like to know, which funds out there are purely non-tech or non-healthcare oriented.

Silicon Alley > Silicon Valley?

Edmundo Braverman's picture
ST
(Human, 14,408
 
Points)
 on 3/19/13 at 9:30am
alley vs valley.jpg

The prevailing wisdom over the past decade was that if you wanted to throw your hat into the tech startup ring there was only one place to do it - Silicon Valley. By and large this was true. Over the years however, a number of other cities have taken aim at the tech crown, and now people are starting to speculate that New York is the place to be - not Palo Alto.

I only bring this up for one reason. I had a meeting last week with the CEO of Dashlane and the CTO and co-founder of Eventbrite (which handles the ticketing for the WSO Conference). Both companies are headquartered in the US but run all of their tech development out of France (for reasons I'll get to in a minute). Eventbrite is a Silicon Valley company, and Dashlane is a Silicon Alley company.

Eventbrite started in 2006 when Silicon Valley still very much had the upper hand. But they were a company that could have gone either way, because they bootstrapped on founder money until 2008 when they raised $1.5 million in Series A funding. By the time they did the raise, the business model was proven - so they could've gotten funded anywhere. In 2010 they raised another $10 million and are looking at doing $1 billion in ticket sales this year.

VC Modeling Boot Camp

TheBigBambino's picture
VC
(Orangutan, 272
 
Points)
 on 2/15/13 at 2:46pm

So I've already done programs like training the street and wall street prep, but what I'm looking for is a more relevant modeling boot camp for VC's.

The deals I'm doing can range from 500K - 25M Seed, Series A/B/C/D/ect. rounds. I'm looking for more practice modeling out cap tables and 5 year projected PnL and BL's given certain assumptions and crappy financials. Also exit analysis would be nice.

Anyone know of any services?

Thanks.

Houlihan Lokey vs. Jefferies vs. Terra Firma

Zweihander's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 1/12/13 at 5:58pm

Have offers from Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, and Terra Firma (UK private equity company) - all for London office.

Just wondering which do you think will be best for Silicon Valley VC?

Edit: Regardless of which offer I take I imagine I will have to do a MBA in the US before moving into VC.

Some pro/cons of each I have researched:

- Houlihan is headquartered in LA, and is pretty strong in CA. Have talked to one of the analysts and he hinted at possibility of moving to a CA office after a few years in London, but I'm not sure what the process is for this or how feasible it is.

Foursquare - Twelve Months to Live?

TheKing's picture
O
 
Points)
 on 1/10/13 at 3:30pm
Foursquare Fail

Business Insider is out with an interesting story on geo-location startup Foursquare. Apparently, an Analyst from PrivCo, a research firm that covers private companies, believes that Foursquare will fail in 2013.

Wow. Frankly, I've always found Foursquare to be sort of silly. Perfect for the "look at me, look how great I am" crowd, but not of any serious use. But, given the nature of social media companies and the possibilities for monetization when one has a massive network built up, I always sort of assumed that Foursquare would end up going public or getting gobbled up by a company like Apple, Google, or another titan with interest in breaking into the social scene.

I certainly didn't think they were at any real risk of failing. Let's take a look at some of the risk factors the company has that could lead to its downfall in the next twelve months.

Finance Skills Needed for VC

californianbox's picture
(Chimp, 4
 
Points)
 on 12/23/12 at 11:58pm

What are the core finance skills needed to be a venture capitalist? I'm coming from a non-finance background and want to know how to prepare for the interview and job

Finance Skills Needed for VC

californianbox's picture
(Chimp, 4
 
Points)
 on 12/23/12 at 11:58pm

What are the core finance skills needed to be a venture capitalist? I'm coming from a non-finance background and want to know how to prepare for the interview and job

Venture Capital SA Positions?

SwaGGeReR's picture
 
Points)
 on 12/22/12 at 2:41pm

Any VCs currently recruiting for SA positions for next summer? I've heard BVP and IVP sometimes take SAs, but I haven't heard anything this year. I also know there are several smaller shops that hire SAs but don't hire back for full-time, but I'm primarily focused on going somewhere with an opportunity to get a return offer.

Thanks.

What do VCs do with Cap Tables once they get them?

BuyersRemorse's picture
IB
(Baboon, 140
 
Points)
 on 12/21/12 at 8:24am

So your a VC, and an entrepreneur you have no prior investment in is trying to raise a series C. She submits her latest cap table and proposed term sheet. Now what? What do you as the VC do with the cap table? Do you run scenario analysis on it to see what it would look like given various terms/liquidity events?

VC Spotlight: Rob Go of NextView Ventures

sreedich's picture
 
Points)
 on 12/22/12 at 6:30pm
VC Spotlight

Intro to Rob Go & NextView Ventures:

Rob Go is a founding member of NextView Ventures, a Boston based micro VC, who as of February 2012 closed their inaugural seed-stage fund.....of $21 million! Rob brings an array of expertise to NextView and their portfolio companies. He is a Harvard Business School graduate, started his career at Parthenon Group (consulting firm), worked for eBay and Fidelity in product management roles, transitioned into venture capital with Spark Capital, and now is well on his way with NextView Ventures. With the hectic life of a VC: traveling, meetings, startup pitches, etc. Rob was kind enough to answer a few questions about his experiences as a VC. So lets get started:

Investment Opportunity Management

Wallstreetfinancier's picture
(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 12/8/12 at 9:33am

Hi,

Wanted to get a view on what VCs use to manage the investment opportunity process?

What application / system is used in recording information about various investment opportunities (such as founder details, funding history, call reports) tracking them and analysing the aggregated data.

Looking at developing a solution.

Also very keen to get a view on what are the attributes of an investment opportunity that VCs keep a record of?

Thanks.

College -> VC?

Zweihander's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 12/3/12 at 7:18pm

Little about me: BB IBD SA (rotated in TMT & LevFin), applying for grad roles in M&A, but have only ever been interested in banking as a stepping stone to VC.

Does anyone know any firms that take on college grads? Don't mind if its "bitchwork" for first couple years (banking's not much better in that respect).

Venture Financing

Kevin1989's picture
(Chimp, 2
 
Points)
 on 12/3/12 at 2:54am

Anyone heard of NXT capital? Also any thoughts of entering the private equity world post NXT?

Something To Think About

xhongxkongx's picture
(Monkey, 52
 
Points)
 on 11/17/12 at 12:25pm
The other road

I recently came across this video and until now I decided to share it with you guys. It has really made me think about the things I do, why I do them, whether or not I really should be doing these things that I am doing and to what extent to they matter to me and to the ones around me.

Below is the youtube video of Dr. Richard Teo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umLkfADe17s

Is it possible to break into VC without an MBA?

claire15's picture
(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 11/15/12 at 2:51am

Do any VC firms hire pre-MBAs with no prior VC experience?

The Power of the Kitty

Disincentivy's picture
VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 11/11/12 at 1:45pm
i can has funds.jpg

I've had some super eventful last couple of weeks, dead laptop, shattered phone screen ,admissions events, canceled travel plans, canceled admissions events, midterms, some anxiety, stupid friends, stupider professors, where did my paycheck go? Was I supposed to feed the fish?

All this, including the dead fish is one thing- and this one client of mine is another. For the sake of this post, I would like to call her: ClientWTF.

ClientWTF was introduced to the fund the day I started my job. The introduction went something like this:

Partner: WTF, this is Dis, the newest addition to our overwhelmed analyst collection. She loves cats.
ClientWTF: Oh really? I knew this is a great day, karma is in the works. I have 11 cats.

Knock Knock Knocking on Vee Cee Door

Disincentivy's picture
VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 10/26/12 at 12:30pm
Find yo angel

My little precious startup idea is hungry and I want to feed it in the hopes that in a gazillion months it will pay for itself and for my therapy sessions and all the anxiety medicine I am now dependent on, so naturally, I think: Hey, VCs are going to eat this up, baby. Oh yeah show me the money.

I put my best shoes on, armed with my solid business plan I knock on the door, an analyst asks me a few questions, an associate giggles, and a partner hands me my butt and shows me the door. Well that was fast, what happened? They didn’t even get to the business plan part! How outrageous and WTF!

The giggling probably started when big bird was brought to the table. The Money. How much money do you need? A 100k? 200? A million?

Exit Opportunities: Consulting vs. Banking

BankingWaffle's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 10/24/12 at 1:59am

I'm lucky enough to be currently sitting on two offers: one from a top consulting shop (McKinsey / Bain) and one from a MM bank (Stifel, Montgomery).

If I'm looking to break into private equity or possibly venture capital (growth equity division) in the future, which job would give better exit opportunities?

I'm leaning towards the consulting gig thanks to the preftige, but also due to the fact that if I do some PE due diligence work I probably won't be screwed when it comes to breaking into PE/VC. Please correct me if I'm totally off.

Insights please! Thanks! Much appreciated!

BankingWaffle

VC Proposal Analysis Strategy and Templates?

fuquamarine's picture
CO
(Monkey, 34
 
Points)
 on 10/21/12 at 3:12pm
1350602347606.gif

Current VC analysts and associates can you please share if your firm uses a standardized template or checklist to vet a potential investment. I'm interested in what kind of an analysis product you would present to a partner after you've reviewed a company, met with the ceo, seen the business plan and you are considering moving forward. Do you make a qualitative analysis of the market, management team, strategy, product and a model? Do you include a 5 forces and VRIN analysis?

If anyone is willing to share an example of their work, or a template their firm uses, that would be awesome.

Why You Shouldn't Start A Venture In Silicon Valley

GMngmt's picture
O
 
Points)
 on 10/21/12 at 3:30pm
Texas Hold 'Em

Apple, Google, Facebook, they’re all technology firms and pioneered transformative ways in how our society uses information. It seems that over the past 30 years such firms have seemingly grown out of super fertile soil or by some unidentified minerals in the water supply at Palo Alto. Whatever the case, if you live, eat, and breathe technology and you’re looking to start a business then Silicon Valley is what NYC is to of finance.

But do you have to be in Silicon Valley to follow in the footsteps of one of these fabled start-ups? CEO and Co-Founder of Zenoss, Bill Karpovich writing for VentureBeat thinks that the valley is over-hyped and the economic reality is much different. Read more to find out why and the latest paradigm that didn’t come from the valley…

Greenspring Associates?

Accrual King's picture
(Baboon, 109
 
Points)
 on 10/17/12 at 4:39pm

Does anyone have any information about the firm or has heard of it? Reputation?

Thanks

"You ain’t getting that job” -three major VCs & a Harvard Prof

Disincentivy's picture
VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 10/12/12 at 1:00pm
Venture Capitalists Are Evil

My appetite for knowledge changes with the seasons, and as fall rolls into a full-blown depression mixed with an unstoppable force of hormonal surges, I have sunk my inexplicable desire for information into my new subject of obsession: Vee Cee

As a result of my previous post, I have received quiet a few PMs, some included crotch shots, and others were legitimate questions about “how to break into VC” and “Qualifications needed to be a VCist” I wanted to respond individually, but I really didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have an educated and accurate answer, so naturally, I turn to my boss for answers.

In a car heading over to Westchester…(classy, I know)
D:

So why did you hire me?

A quizzical look takes over my boss’s face, keeps eye on the road, turns music up
Rack city b***h, rack, rack city b***h

A few moments of head bobbing and gangsterism pass by before he says:

Because you ask the most unexpected questions.

Things to look out for in Minority Investment Proposal?

Boreed's picture
PE
 
Points)
 on 10/10/12 at 8:18am

I'm interning at a growth equity fund and I've been given a minority investment proposal (an executive summary prepared by an IB) and have been asked to check if the valuation makes sense, and if it would be a worthwhile investment.

I've never "deconstructed" a valuation before, nor have I evaluated a proposal without any raw data.

What kind of things should I be looking at?

The report states that a 37.5% stake (what they look to give away) yields an IRR of 60%. I don't really know how this is arrived at.

Liabilities are not divided into current and non-current, so I can't find the change in working capital.

Insight Venture Partners Interview

gh15's picture
IB
(Monkey, 44
 
Points)
 on 10/7/12 at 10:02pm

Hey all,

I have an interview for an FT Analyst position for Insight Venture Partners coming up soon, and I was wondering if any of you can provide some insight into how I should prepare / shape up.

I did a banking stint for my summer as a junior (didn't really expect to land this interview). However, it seems like most of their analysts don't come from traditional technical backgrounds, but come from start-up experiences...(see below)

http://www.insightpartners.com/team/

Seems like these guys focus mostly on Tech, and they are fairly large with 5Bn AUM...able to write equity checks of $200mm.

So Many Eggs in Vee Cee

Disincentivy's picture
VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 10/7/12 at 2:00am
So Many Eggs, Man

I went through a few rounds of interviews at the fund that I now call my employer, I was asked insane questions, easy questions, technical questions, and borderline bizarre questions, but I was not asked the most obvious question I expected to answer. What is Venture Capital?

I thank all the deities in the world and nearby galaxies that I wasn’t asked this during the interview process! Had I given the answer I was prepared to give, the one I meticulously crafted after several, long minutes spent browsing the interwebz. I will have been unemployed now.

The first couple of weeks on the job were truly a humbling experience. I got laughed at, called a “Sell Side Scroog”, and umpteen business plans (most of which were rejected ventures) were thrown on my desk while a senior analyst blurted the word “learn” in a tone that suggests sorrow and sadomasochism.

STEM Students: KPCB Wants YOU!

Edmundo Braverman's picture
ST
(Human, 14,408
 
Points)
 on 10/2/12 at 12:00pm
KPCB.jpg

Venture capital firms are going after younger and younger entrepreneurs in order to find the superstars of tomorrow, and Kleiner Perkins has been leading the way. If you're a STEM student, you're going to want to pay attention to this. The application process is now open for the 2013 Kleiner Perkins Engineering Fellows Program. You need to have your application submitted by October 31, 2012. The program runs next summer and STEM students from all US universities are encouraged to apply.

2012 was the inaugural year for the program, and 30 applicants were selected from over 1,000 applications. They worked with KPCB portfolio companies like Klout, Zynga, and Path, and interacted with companies like Facebook and Twitter. According to Kleiner Perkins, 90% of them will receive full time offers or internships with their portfolio companies. A 90% placement rate is nothing to sneeze at.

So if you think you've got what it takes, get your application in soon. Obviously only the best and the brightest are going to make the cut, but I have to believe if you're reading WSO that you fall into that category. Besides, what else are you going to do with that monster IQ of yours? Middle trades for some HFT outfit? Your mother would be so proud...

Advice Please! Growth Equity Interview Questions?

BankingWaffle's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 9/27/12 at 6:43pm
yeaaawp, i'm desperate

So I just got notified that I've been invited to interview at a top tier growth equity firm, and the opportunity just sounds absolutely amazing so I'm desperate to land the position.

If someone currently at a growth equity fund wouldn't mind elaborating on the interview process, I'd be forever grateful. An overview of the typical growth equity interview process, some fit / industry (HCIT and B2B SaaS) questions they'll probably ask, general finance questions more relevant in GE, etc. would be great.

I've only found generic overviews with search, and I also have additional questions. I will banana away really good advice/insights until I run dry. Thanks WSO!

Sincerely,
BankingWaffle