High school student interested in VC

Hello everyone, I'm a senior in high school looking to become a venture capitalist despite the difficulty. I mainly have a background in tech and little to no knowledge of venture capital. I have a faint idea of what my path will look like but I am flexible. So for everyone who responds, why did you take the path you took?

What should I keep in mind during my journey?

What should I learn/become familiar with?

Where should I look?

What are some tips that you have for people in my position?

12 Comments
 

Message me and we can chat, I'd like to get to know a little more about you in order to provide good advice. Good on you for having aspirations this young, I didn't figure it out until I was 21.

EDIT: For context I do not work in VC but have contacts who do and am pretty familiar with the space.

 

Step 1: Get into Stanford (Berkeley will work too) 

Step 2: Enjoy the rest of senior year and don’t worry about anything else until you get on campus

 

I'll definitely apply to both schools, but it is more likely for a student of my caliber to get accepted into the semi-target schools. I understand enjoying the rest of my senior year, but isn't there anything I can do to give myself as much as a head-start as possible especially considering my realistic choices of schools?

 

Start a small business in a tech adjacent subsector, dig as deep as possible into learning AI, build a network of entrepreneurs that you can introduce to VCs. 

 
Most Helpful

Work on founding a startup or join one that interests you asap. Apply to good schools for CS or any technical STEM subject that interests you. Stanford is unbeatable, Berkeley is great. Other good schools are MIT, CalTech, and GA Tech.

VC is a combination of network, skill, and luck / timing. I work at a niche fund doing late stage / growth investments. I think the best way into VC, especially anything seed to series B or C, is to found a startup or work at one during college.

I came into this fund from tech investment banking which is another avenue into the VC space.

 

In your freshman year, apply to student VC funds like Dorm Room Fund, Rough Draft Ventures, and Contrary Capital. super competitive processes, but they have a strong alumni base in VC

 

lol these comments are clearly all written by college students who do not work in VC. OP, do not take these responses seriously. No, you do not have to be at Stanford/Berkeley lol. and that's the beginning of the stupidity of this thread. If u want VC, be a baller. That is all it is.

 

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