Corp Dev to Growth Equity/VC
Don't know if it's a small sample size but have seen a good amount of people who have moved from tech corp dev to growth equity/VC and am wondering if this is actually a realistic/well-trodden path or one where luck and superior networks are mostly involved.
Bump
My sense is that the smaller VC/growth shops will definitely look at tech PMs/corp dev/ops folks and in some cases actually prefer that path versus the traditional TMT IB analyst. At the upper end of the market and especially with growth equity, backgrounds tend to be more traditional and filtered by recruiters.
I've heard this as well that you can move up in corp dev and even be pulled into VC where you can play an exec role in a portco for instance and that is a path in.
Ops roles are not the same path as investing roles. Very different.
Definitely doable. Currently at a MM firm doing a mix of growth and buyout, did Corp Dev for 2 years prior. Relevant sector experience and being able to succinctly communicate why you want to make the shift is the most important factor IMO.
How'd you address the why and differentiate yourself from the traditional IB analysts? Something along the lines of deeper sector knowledge and more experience with strategic thinking?
I have good phone presence and have always been comfortable in formal discussions, even with people vastly more experienced than me. In school I cold reached out to and managed to get conversations with multiple executives of large companies and the founders of various hedge and PE funds. I don't freeze up when asked hard questions and can usually bring thoughtful ones of my own to a conversation. Even though I'd never done IB or any internship that involved a lot of modeling, I'd won a financial modeling competition in school and indicated that I was more than willing to improve any areas they felt I was weak in on my own dime/time. What I think won it for me was one of the cases they had me do asked me to come up with a few companies they could invest in and make a case. I made a presentation and it turned out several of them were ones they were actively in conversations with (in fact one just recently closed a $100m+ round with a blue chip PE). Sector knowledge definitely played a part, my main sector coverage was one they have a big emphasis on and I am extremely passionate in general about their focus area.
Did you do IB before corpdev?
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