venture capital

Greetings Monkeys! As there are many of you who are pursuing IB, we have written up a high-level overview of the different paths that one could take post-IB Analyst stint. We were in your shoes not too long ago, happy to answer questions or help where needed! Welcome to Investment Banking: Where everyone on the outside wants in, and everyone on the inside wants out. The worst-kept secret in the world of IB is that junior Investment Bankers are planning on staying at their bank forever. Sometimes it is necessary, of course, for these interns and analysts --typically-- to play the role publicly

04 Oct 2021

Someone I know has launched a small VC fund, they're on their second fund now and looking at EDGAR have raised ~8MM in aggregate. I read the article on "This Is Going To Be Big" about small VC economics. But honestly I still don't get how someone can make a decent living. Even assuming a 2.5%/20% structure that's only 200k in management fees. After expenses at most they're taking home 100k, especially given it's over 2 funds. I find the whole idea fascinating, but don't see a way for it to be lucrative unless you raise a number of funds. It looks like the barrier to entry is substantially less

06 Nov 2021

Hi All, I got an intro to a partner/MD at a growth equity group, for a principal role they're hiring for specific to their office. However, just recently, the same group (different office, but supposedly they all work closely together) is looking for a sr principal. Going by the description (yrs exp) of the Principal role (and just looking at some bios of that firm), and what I've heard from a few people outside of the firm (but have familiarity with them), I am probably much closer to a new sr principal vs being a principal there. Also, I recall that my yrs exp / general work exp does line up

04 Oct 2021

For those that currently work or have previously worked in the fund of funds space, what are/were the pros/cons to the analyst role, and what were/are the exit opportunities (really) ? I have 2 offers right now and am looking at it as an opportunity to get my feet in the water. But my long term goal is to work in venture capital. The interviewers say you can pivot to the gp side; however, I don't know if that's authentic or just lip service. For context, the angle of wanting to get in VC comes from having interned at 2 VC firms during my undergrad. So I'm wondering if I should take the FoF

09 Aug 2021

Hi everyone, Writing from a throwaway account. Thanks to everyone who supports the forum, the advice has been invaluable over the years. I was hoping for the VC community's (or for any other knowledgeable folk's here) help on a situation I'm in. The short of it: Opportunity with a new fund <$100M in AUM at the Analyst / Associate level (i.e., post-college, few-years of experience). Being one of the first few people onboard, I have the option to provide input on my compensation structure. Partners are open to traditional / untraditional ways of structuring it. Question(s): - What range should I

12 Nov 2021

I'm a nontraditional student newly out of active duty military. I've been admitted to a few good schools. Though, my school choice will ultimately depend on the job opportunities post-undergrad. My school choices are Yale, UChicago, and Dartmouth. Dartmouth and UChicago have a large focus on the financial district more so than Yale. Though I cannot disregard Yale's network opportunity through name power alone. Chicago is a financial hub for hedge funds so it makes sense to attend UChicago. At the end of the day, if three students graduated with the same extracurricular activities, GPA, and

17 May 2021

Hi Everyone! Long time user of the IBD forum but first time posting here :) Bit of a long story but to make it short, I'm taking a career break after close to a decade in IBD. One of my friend's early stage start up (in which I invested some $$ in) is getting approached by a few regional VCs, and with the inbound interest + sales growth he's looking to scale up and wants to raise 'big' which is 7-8 figures. He would like me to lead the round given he's got no finance experience & would like to keep focusing on driving sales. I've spent years doing large scale M&A & IPOs but this whole VC/start

14 Jun 2021

I've been accepted to the above schools. Some of the discussions have a consensus that Yale through connection opportunities outweigh the other schools for HF/VC opportunities out of undergrad even though UChicago and Dartmouth have a large finance placement. Brown has a large consulting placement but not in HF as UChicago or Dartmouth. I've even heard Dartmouth is heavy in IB(which is not what I want to do even if it's the conventional route to HF). I'm having difficulty deciding which school to attend. More consideration: Yale did not offer very good financial aid. Dartmouth 100% aid

20 May 2021

Recent vc discussion shows theres some interest (as well as misunderstanding) in the vc industry. Further, even though vc isn't "pure finance" its pretty clear it's becoming more relevant to other finance industries given so many companies both getting huge funding and going public (via spac or ipo). Ms me if you want I get it but seriously, I think it'd be an interesting board and I'm not sure a good vc forum exists elsewhere on the internet.

17 Feb 2021

I have come to the second to last stage of an interview for an analyst position at a VC firm. They gave me a rather open ended task of writing an investment memo for a company that just entered YCombinator. I found a general template (bessemer) for the memo however, how would I go about finding more information about their product and team (they only have a site and YC description). Ideally, for an investment memo like this, wouldn't I need a pitch deck? I can really only asses the product, teams credentials, and their potential market share compared to its competitors at the moment. If anyone

04 Aug 2021

Hi, I am a high school senior who was admitted to several universities. My top choices are the University of Chicago, UC Berkeley (College of Letters), Carnegie Mellon University (Information Systems program), and Georgia Tech (College of Computing). I will probably pursue Computer Science at university or Computer Science with a combination of Economics/Business. My goal is not to really work in FAANG but ideally launch a startup (going into Entrepreneurship). Otherwise, I would be interested in going into PE/VC or working in Investment Management firms with a specific technology focus. I

11 Apr 2021

Short background I am finishing my MSc this summer at a well-known European university and have ~1.5 years of internship experience at boutique IBs (1 year as a working student, 0.5 year as a full time student). I have an offer from a corporate venture capital and a tech-focused boutique IB in the DACH region, but I am having a hard time choosing between them. Pay is comparable. Corporate venture capital Analyst level position Venture Capital Arm of a leading insurance group Fintech, Insurance, Digital Health focus They have around 150-200M EUR in AUM, they will be launching their next fund

11 Apr 2021

Starting to see more and more PE / VC firms have full teams of operations / consultants. I wanted to start a discussion on this topic and see how you all felt about this. As a current, former, or hopeful private equity investor / associate / principal, do you like that there are entire teams dedicated to helping PortCo operations, thereby giving you less operating experience and more execution / investment experience? Do you think It's good for the PE / VC community (or the management teams) to have massive operating teams come in and "force" them to run a playbook? Would you rather work for a

06 Oct 2021

"Hypothetical" scenario: A debut micro-VC fund with $10 million in assets has an opening for a junior investment team position. At 2% per year, the fund only has $200k a year to cover all fund expenses and overhead. The fund has two general partners. Neither of the general partners are taking any salary. The general partners have above-average intelligence and strong operating experience with successful exits under their belt (i.e. you believe you would be able to learn a significant amount from them), but this is their first time doing VC. The general partners have put into writing that the

27 Mar 2021

Hey everyone, I have a question related to DCFs in Venture Capital and was hoping for some guidance: When doing a DCF for a new VC round, after discounting the cash flows and summing them to the PV of Terminal Value you would get to your Enterprise Value. Then you deduct the pro forma Net Debt (accounting for the new cash from the investment) to get to the Post-Money value of the business. This valuation clearly depends on the VC round being successful, because the Company needs the cash to generate future revenues - so the Company would be worth less without the new capital from the current

27 May 2021

Should I feel confident? happy? nothing? I am not too sure how this all works, apparently someone forwarded a recruiter my resume and they emailed me to apply (keyword: apply!) for a BB IB role. Personally, I am not quite sure what to make of it or if it even means anything special. I am a first generation at a super non-target but I got incredibly lucky my freshman year and landed a BB internship and another at a VC micro fund. Anyhow, I am not sure to make this a big deal but the bank that reached out to me seems great and I would love to have an opportunity there. But, does it mean I have

15 Oct 2021

Hi Everyone, I am currently interviewing with a top-tier VC to join their research team in a very junior role. The next step in the process is a 1-page investment opportunity memo which the team will evaluate. While I have experience with executive summaries generally, I have never written a 1-page memo. Apologies if this is an ignorant question, but is there a specific format used in the VC world for something like this? I am fully prepared to use a condensed research paper outline, but wanted to check here first. I am aware of the Roelof Botha leaked Sequoia memo, but that seems somewhat

17 Jun 2021

I'm looking to update my resume for VC / growth equity roles (around Principal level). I've got 10+ years of experience and have worked in 4-5 roles (including banking) before VC. I managed to get it down to one page with size 10 font, but it required a lot of cutting and playing around with margins. One recruiter (who handles PE/buyside roles in Canada) mentioned she believes two pages is fine given years of exp, and she personally prefers it in this case cause it's easier to read. But I'm also looking at VC/GE roles in US, and wonder if there's a preference here. Is there a rule around 1 vs

04 Mar 2021

Saw someone else post about this and recently crossed my mind due to the hot IPO market. It does seem like theres a ton of shitcos being unloaded onto the market via spacs and IPOs. VCs are playing hot potato with unprofitable companies only to make them grow fast and then sell them to the next guy. Is it possible this is a bubble or can lead into that territory combined with current insane valuations. How would this end up?

05 Mar 2021

Title says it all. Currently in college, understand VC out of undergrad is very difficult and also heard that turnover among jrs is common. I'm wondering how possible it is advance up the ladder in a fund after going in straight out of undergrad. Thanks for responses.

05 Jun 2021

Lets say you are at the beginning of your career, just out of college and have an offer from a VC firm (Investment Analyst position) from which you would go on to do more VC later on an Asset Management firm (Equity Analyst position) from which you would aim to move on to a boutique L/S hedgefund. Which one would you choose and why?

16 Apr 2021

I've been sitting on this post for a while. I was waiting for it to turn into a success story; started-from-the-bottom-now-we're-here kind of story. But it's been so long I'm going to post it anyway. ###My Background: Finance degree from non-target, super involved on campus, extracurriculars, case comps etc. Worked my ass off to somehow maintain a 3.9 GPA. Managed to land a couple solid internships. I'm also well on my way through the CFA program. ###My Story: I've been on the job hunt for quite a while now. My school has no alumni in finance. My approach has been to apply to jobs

19 Jan 2020

I am starting at a new shop in a week. Will be working on real estate acquisitions, real estate development and small venture capital opportunities. My new employer is offering me a low-interest line of credit to co-invest in deals, to be used at my discretion. The line tops out at $25k/year, which for reference is about a third of the base comp. The interest and principal on the line get paid out as the deals perform. I am not very familiar with the various co-investment structures out there so I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this type of structure and what some of the

24 Aug 2020

Hi everyone, Wondering what you feel are the best methods to value a company that is loss-making for the next 4y (still trying to figure out margin run-rate after that) in the Saas space? Thinking of going TAM -> % penetration -> steady state margins -> cash conversion Don't have much info (nor enough time) to do a proper DCF Should I look at LTV/CAC as well? What other metrics/methods do you recommend? Also, although this company sells subscriptions for software, it effectively has to install hardware from a third party to do so. (Think about selling editing services to a client but having to

13 Oct 2021

I am leading a startup accelerator/VC (part of a Chinese innovation company) in China, Shanghai, since 2019. Our focus areas are MedTech, EdTech, Smart Manufacturing, CleanTech - Seed/pre-series A mainly. Any startups interested in expanding to China - feel free to get in touch ;) Prior to that I worked in strategy consulting across Europe for 3 years (based in Frankufrt, then Berlin). Studied in Mannheim, founded a students startup intiative. On the side, I am rather active on social media, especially on YouTube (search for "Kevin Jon") and talking about management consulting, venture capital

28 Feb 2020

I started a company my senior year of college in the CPG food space. Long story short is we spent a lot of time and money in R&D and by the time we launched Covid-19 hit and everything went downhill from there. My startup was largely unsuccessful from a sales standpoint, however we did accomplish quite a bit and it is a very sellable story. I'm very interested in getting into VC, specifically a firm with an Ag-Tech focus because I know the space. I have a finance degree from a non-target and a not-so impressive GPA. Is it possible to freshen up on my modeling skills and recruit for VC analyst

20 Aug 2020

Hi all. Saw quite a bit of interest in VC / how to get into VC on the forum, and thought it would be good to do a Q&A for anyone interested in breaking into the industry. I'm just about to begin my 2nd year as an analyst at a top-tier, sector-agnostic Asian VC fund ($1b+ AUM). Happy to answer any questions on the job / lifestyle / recruiting / trends / etc. Ask away!

21 Sep 2020

I'm currently at a tech company and we are going to an early round of funding. Was wondering if people could provide some resources or guidance regarding pre-revenue startup valuation with negative EBITDA. I have a public comps and precedent transaction analysis but, there are not many comps out there that are in or like our business. Also, the valuations are not even ballpark. I also tried the Venture Capital Method of valuation but am having some pitfalls (ie dont know what hurdle rates to use ect.). Could anyone suggest other valuation methods? Maybe some resources to use when putting these

23 Sep 2020

Hi everyone! Does anyone have any thoughts about the likelihood / how possible it is to move from Corporate Strategy to PE (maybe VC) when I have an IB background? Has anyone made a similar move? For some context, I recently started a role in Corporate Strategy at a high-growth, pretty well-known (at least to millennials/Gen Z) tech company and have been on the job for ~3 months. Before that, I was a first year associate in IB at a top three BB (GS, MS, JPM), having been promoted after my 2 years as an analyst. I also graduated from a top-tier undergrad target school. I didn't do the

04 Apr 2021

In his eternal quest to become a billionaire, Jay Hova is launching a VC fund. Say what you want, but the dude is in no way comfortable being a billionaire when you combine his and his spouse's fortunes. He definitely wants his own billion. In the past few years Jay has launched a sports agency, purchased Tidal (which Sprint recently invested in at a handsome valuation), and now, he is going to be raining $$$ on these Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. What are your thoughts on the burgeoning celeb VC scene? Melo, Kobe, and now Jay Z have entered the space in recent years. I, for one, hope they're

23 Feb 2017

Hello everyone, i'm a junior at a decent tech school (~ucsd, purdue, uiuc) studying cs/ce, and i am going to be an apm intern at google/facebook. I was wondering whether the top vc's recruit from the google apm program. looking at linkedin and the bios on firm websites, it doesnt appear that many apms are hired at top firms, but i've heard (anecdotally) that exits are decent. Also, there is a chance that i may have to take an engineering, and not apm role at google (abysmal intern to ft conversion rate for apm interns). would i still be able to get good vc roles if i do 2 years as an engineer

18 Jan 2021

Does anyone have any thoughts on the exit opportunities from highly sourcing based roles that are common in growth equity and VC (e.g. Spectrum, Summit, TA, Battery)? Specifically as it relates to: - MBA opportunities (are you still competitive for top 7 MBAs, or is McKinsey/Bain/BCG a better platform?) - Promotion opportunities (can you still make partner after an MBA?) - Does it set you up well for leadership in other companies? Basically, the daily-life of sourcing-heavy roles actually appeals to me, but I want to be sure to not shoot myself in the foot in early career.

13 Jan 2020

Hi, I just started my first year at a high-tier MM IB in a well-regarded industry group. I am really enjoying the work so far, how the culture is, and I am happy with where I am at. All the other first year analysts have began discussing the PE recruitment timeline, but I am interested in Corporate Development (CD) and Venture Capital (VC) in my industry vertical (potentially another one as well but I know sticking to my industry is far easier and I am enjoying it thus far). I have four topics/questions I would like to know more about: 1) Any insight around the timeline for CD and/or VC

23 Sep 2020

Bit curious as to what you all view as the top VC markets in the US/Internationally currently? In the US, I'd assume that the San Francisco Bay Area is the top but what other major cities do you see as hotbeds for lots of activity right now? Also looking on towards the future, what are some up and coming areas and do you see any areas in decline anytime soon? Same questions apply for international markets. EDIT: Someone brought up a great point about the quality of startups in a lot of these major cities. Where do you see startups actually being successful and undergoing meaningful exits?

18 Jul 2017

Hi All - I'm ~5 or so years out of college. I did not do a formal 2 years of investment banking and was instead hired out of undergrad as an analyst at a fund. I've worked at several firms in several major US cities. I've worked at one smaller regional firm with $500M - $1B AUM and have since worked for larger firms with $3B+ and $5B+ AUM, both of which are well known and respected in the investment community. In terms of deal experience I've worked on 10-20 deals so far in my career that have ranged from $10M Series A investments to $20M-$50M minority growth equity investments in unprofitable

04 Sep 2016

Recently saw a post that Lightspeed Venture Partners has hired three new partners across a few of their platforms. One of the hires is a (seemingly) 25/26 year old 'Growth Partner' with only 3 prior years experience in public markets investing at Point72. This is bizarre to me. Granted, there is some overlap in late growth with public markets investing, but the fact is they brought on a junior person with no prior experience in the space as a partner. For context, she still has her role as a portfolio manager in UVa's student fund on her LinkedIn. I feel like this could be due to one or more

22 Jul 2020

So I hear a lot about networking on this site and how it is important, especially if you go to a non-target or a semi-target. How hard is networking and how should one go about networking? In an ideal world, I would want to work for a BB investment bank or at least an EB investment bank, however I fear that this may not be possible if I go to what is considered a non-target. Any helpful tips on how to network properly and your own experiences with networking would be greatly appreciated.

05 Mar 2017

Hi everyone. I wanted to get some candid advice from all of you about a job I'm thinking about taking. It is a VC role at a top-tier firm. I'm being directly hired as an associate (so I'll skip the two-year analyst role). My only concern is that I believe that the salary is slightly low. I'll basically be making a little less than 100K on an annual basis. I know that this is a unique opportunity but I have a number of banking offers that would allow me to make your typical BB type salary. However, I strongly want to be in VC long-term. This VC role would clearly set me up to be a partner well

19 Dec 2017

Hi WSO - I've worked in big tech (think FAMGA) since graduation ('17). Went to a top 10 US UG, currently working in product, was previously in corporate strategy (got to work on an acquisition in 2019). I would like to transition to the investment side for my next role; ideally in early stage VC, open to Growth Equity. Not super interested in Seed (not a good fit), or in Buyout (not a good fit; not a banker). If anyone has experience making this transition, or has peers who have, I'd love to hear any and all advice. I am just now starting the process. Some avenues I'm considering searching

05 Mar 2021

Hi All - I currently sit in a vanilla ECM team at a BB, 1 year away from Associate. I like the seat and enjoy the equity markets, but don't love the vanilla "IPO" process and think I want to have a slightly more bespoke role, as I feel like that is where a lot of value can be added in a commoditized business. I am currently in discussions with both Barclays and JPM (luckily had a connection at Barclays from my family) regarding their Private Capital Markets/Private Placements teams, and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on these teams. From what I have gathered, it seems like they do

28 Feb 2021

Does anyone know what's going on with Bessemer? I had my first round on the 9th of August and am wondering what the rest of the process is going to look like.

10 Aug 2021

Hey All, Hope everyone is doing well. I was wondering - does anyone have any experience or know of the top PE/VC firms in the greater Nashville area? I'm currently working in strategy/advisory/analytics at a top tech company in the NYC area (I'm ~mid-level with 10ish years of experience). My wife and I are looking to start a family and, being that we're both from the South, would love to move back to Nashville. Being in NYC is a great luxury, and if I wanted to change jobs I have a plethora of choices, but I'm not entirely sure what's out there for me in Nashville. I would love any thoughts

08 Jan 2019

There has been increasing talk of Africa being the next big boom, especially in technology. Without saying too much about what I think, I would like to hear WSO's opinion on the future of Africa, including for investment purposes. I know there is a LOT of corruption, and I have great hatred for the ANC (as it currently is, not Mandela's ANC) and Mr. Zuma Booo. However, South Africa appears to be one of the more developed economies. Provinces such as the Western Cape that is run by the DA rather than the ANC, as well as a few select VC's / private sector people, are doing quite a lot to improve

22 Dec 2013

So I just got notified that I've been invited to interview at a top tier growth equity firm, and the opportunity just sounds absolutely amazing so I'm desperate to land the position. If someone currently at a growth equity fund wouldn't mind elaborating on the interview process, I'd be forever grateful. An overview of the typical growth equity interview process, some fit / industry (HCIT and B2B SaaS) questions they'll probably ask, general finance questions more relevant in GE, etc. would be great. I've only found generic overviews with search, and I also have additional questions. I will

27 Sep 2012

Mod Note (Andy): Best of Eddie, this was originally posted in October 2013. The venture capital business has gone through a lot of changes over the past decade. Most recently we've seen regulations implemented that give regular Joes access to deals only institutions and accredited investors could touch previously, and the swelling ranks of Dot Com and Web 2.0 millionaires (and billionaires) have elbowed out a lot of traditional venture capital shops. That trend looks like it's only going to continue, and the latest proof of that is the expanding role of angel investors in the startup ecosystem

06 Feb 2016

Anyone seen any wack sites for finance companies? Benchmark VC just has a link to a twitter list of their portfolio companies: http://www.benchmark.com/ Also, shoutout to Thiel capital for what must be the most minimalistic fund site ever: http://www.thielcapital.com/

02 Jul 2021

Curious about what kind of candidates healthcare and biotech-focused VCs look for. It seems like many partners have a Ph.D or an MBA - how necessary is that? I'm certainly aware there isn't just one path. For context, I am a graduating senior and deciding between three offers in MBB consulting, and BB healthcare investment banking (both at analyst level). I also have an opportunity to join a biotech startup instead. MBA or science master's degree are an option in the future! But the end goal is VC.

25 Jun 2018

I landed a gig at a seed stage VC out of undergrad. I love the work and even more so, the lifestyle. All my IB friends are jealous of my ~60 hour workweek and flexible setup, and I'm learning a ton. However, a lot of the skills I've been honing are more so in the qualitative analysis realm as opposed to the hard modeling skills an IB position would bring. I'd like to eventually make the jump to growth equity or maybe even PE but from my understanding the hires in these fields predominantly come from the pool of exiting IB analysts that are modeling gods. Has anyone swam upstream in VC before

02 Jun 2021

hey guys! first time posting so idk if I'm doing this right, but I recently got an offer with a small tech-focused vc arm that's def full of super smart people but obv not "prestigious" or with a big name for vc (am I prestige whoring yikes). I don't even know if I want to do vc in the future, and still want to be able to potentially position myself for IB recruiting for junior year. I go to a target school but sophomore recruiting sucks and the vc work does seem itself interesting. If I take the vc position and decide I want to go for IB junior year, would this position put me at a

22 Sep 2020

Hello all, I am currently a first year analysts at a decent MM IB who has always dreamed of being a VC or starting my own thing. Recently, I've been presented with the opportunity to do the latter from a buddy of mine who had already exited a semi-successful venture backed startup as its co-founder. He would like to bring me on as his co-founder for this new venture which I have high conviction in and am excited about. The thing is however, I feel like I have no safety net should things not work out. Unlike him (rich parents, very well plugged in the venture scene) I went to a non-target, grew

25 Mar 2019