HIGH SCHOOLER WANTING TO GO INTO VC/COLLEGE ADVICE

Start a business

VC = Stanford

Start with touching grass

Just do FBLA and be a national champion. 2 girls from my high school did that; 1 went to Stanford and the other to Wharton.

In terms of BECOMING a VC, the best path is to be a founder and have a successful exit. 

Or more realistically, go to Stanford and get into YC.

Or even more realistically, become a PM at Google/Facebook/Apple and network your way into 3rd tier VC

I think the California FBLA president (around 2013) was a guy named Cameron. He ended up at Harvard. Just make sure the FBLA involvement is high-visibility and leadership. not some autist shit like what i did (business law test-taking)

First of all, get a life. If you're dead set on VC, start a company. I have met high school age founders. That could be you. There's nothing more impressive to VCs and college admins than starting a business.

Also, if you're dead set on VC, go to Stanford. There is no single school that's a better feeder. It's the best brand, has the largest VC alumni network, and you're practically neighbors with VC firms, so you can physically see many of them while still in school.

Good to be proactive and ambitious!

I think long term, it would be useful to demonstrate your ability and long-term interest in being active in the startup space. I personally would recommend Junior Achievement (JA), which does a high school startup competition in most states, and the finalists from each state go on to nation-wide competition. I've used starting a startup in high school as a talking point up until my first VC role, and it has surprisingly helped a lot.

I think something that can help you stand out is doing something that isn't within a "guided path". You're president of debate club at school? Cool, so are 5,000 other kids in the US. But if you started your own club program at your school or launched a small business in high school, that demonstrates your ability to be a self-starter and not just a good student/nerd. 

Honestly one of your biggest strengths right now is that you're young, and you can reach out to most alumni/people you admire on LinkedIn. Most would be happy to chat and give advice to someone younger than them. Never too early to start building your network.

I'll be honest, school only matters to a certain degree. Once you get to like Top 20, its more about your individual hustle and ability to make stuff work. Both Wharton and Ross have really great entrepreneurship/startup community ties and its up to you to tap into them. 

I would look at stanford and berkeley as well. 

Being active in the startup world is incredibly important. Look at someone like Harry stebbings from 20vc

If you can start your own business in high school - do so. Seriously. We see great founders who are like 18 years old

Do a startup when you can. You have plenty of time so try to enjoy your life a little before college, too. YC has a matching tool that you can use. Make sure you validate your interest before you go all in on VC path. Do internships at startups and VC funds early on in college. VC is highly competitive and a very social industry. Just look at how active VC twitter is.

I work in growth equity and it’s worth looking into as well. We invest in more mature private companies that are closer to exit. You work on different problems than at earlier stages but still very interesting.

If you don’t already, you should read newsletters. Would recommend Axios Pro Rata, Term Sheet, Thomasz Tunguz, and The Diff.