Hi all!
Would really love to get your thoughts on transitioning from an Asia VC role into a US VC role.
I am currently working in a prominent early-stage Asian-based VC firm as an investment associate, and have been with the firm for nearly a year. Prior to that, I have about 3 years experience in corporate finance, Corp Dev in a listed firm and Advisory in a mid-market firm.
I'm genuinely happy working in the VC industry and want to grow my career in this field. However, my current firm has viewed associates as VC "apprentices". Which means that I will "graduate" in 1-2 years time and have move on to bigger things once my "apprenticeship" period is up. I have been thinking of my future career and one of my top consideration is to get a into a Bay area based VC for a few years to learn. While I have no qualms to remain within Asia, SV is the place where most of the new new things are happening. I would love to experience the vibe and the trend at the forefront of tech for at least a few years before returning back to Asia as a better VC professional.
However, as a foreigner, would there be any sort of barrier for employment within the VC industry in US? Additionally, this concern is exacerbated by the fact that I do not possess stellar academics history. Would my VC experience in Asia actually be any useful, or it would not lend any strength to my applications in light of the handicaps as a non-US citizen and having a non-ivy league academic background? I am also considering a ivy-league MBA, but given the prohibiting cost (I would probably have to borrow lots of money), I have not given much thoughts about it as of now.
Thanks for reading, truly appreciate any inputs!
