Hey guys, how are you? I'm kind of new in this forum (actually a long time silent reader...), and I was wondering if you would could help me with some stuff that have been running in my head for a couple of months. First, let me tell you my background in order to make some sense in the forthcoming question.. I am in mi mid 20s from Argentina, I have a BSc in Economy and a Master's degree in finance. I am also enrrolled to sit for CFA I next June. Regarding my work experience, I have 3 years of experience in rating agencies (top 3 CRA). My doubt, which brings me here with you folks, is that I would like to make the jump into the VC world in a couple of years, and I was wondering what is the best path to do so. My current plan (still a draft-plan actually) would be to move to the UK in two years (for personal stuff) and take advantage of being there (hopefully still working in my same company) and start a part-time MBA (i've seen that Imperial college has a part-time MBA in London, how good is it?) in order to hold that degree when coming back to my country. If that was the path taken, I would be then making the jump into VC with, hopefully, an MBA and the first two levels of the CFAtaken, along with 7 years of experience in rating agencies, at the age of 29-30. Do you think this is a good plan? Am I missing something? Am I taking unecessary steps towards my goal?
I would really appreciate your comments and help. Many thanks in advance, and sorry for the inconvenience and long message.
Regards,
In my opinion, it's best to get tech/operations/product management experience before even thinking about this path.
VC is almost exclusively made up of three types of people:
Tech people who were in the Startup realm (normally with prestigious backgrounds) Finance people who went through an IB --> wherever --> VC (normally with prestigious backgrounds) Founder/key-level early hires who had an exit in surplus of 250MM+
Thanks for your replies. Kind of a bummer to hear the (ugly) truth... but well.. Going forward on my potential path, do you think a part time MBA from Imperial college is good? (By good I don't mean to compare it to a full time MBA from LBS where being head hunted is certain, I mean in terms of being recognized in order to change industries with a good position).
Thanks and cheers!
If you want to change industries, you should really pursue a full time MBA. For you to ever get closer to a path where VC might be a reality, you really need to jump to the tech industry as soon as possible. Ratings agencies provide you with zero relevant experience. You can probably make a jump to something in tech even without a MBA, but you'll likely need to work your way up.
As others have stated, if this was the path in the U.S. you'd have a very hard time breaking into VC but you want to go back to Argentina if I understand correctly. Which leads me to the question: does Argentina have much of an established and institutional VC industry? It could be different there.
Can't see a transition of ratings agency experience into VC (perhaps due to my ignorance of the ratings world).
If you think about the key requirements of an analyst...
-Understanding / analysing / scoping markets -Understanding a products key functionality / USP, also, how to scale said product in a market -Understanding the strategy of how to take this product to market, or improve the distribution channels -Analysis of management who are expected to execute on said strategy
Add in to this understanding of valuation, exit process, diligence etc. I fail to see how pre-MBA experience in a ratings agency is of tangible value.
It's possible to get a VC job as a grad so logically it should be possible to get in as long as you're willing to go back to square 1, i guess. Lots of luck required though.
Why do you actually want a VC job?
Since you have ratings experience, there are a handful of startup/growth credit funds.. might be a nice transition.
CFA is useless for VC, more or less.
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