Road to a Venture Capital Career: Practical Strategies and Tips to Break Into The Industry

prospective junior VC needs to be able to prove to a firm that he or she will be able to contribute from day one in order to get an offer. This means knowing the way around a capitalization table as well as how to understand standard terms in a term sheet.

First and foremost, talk to every venture capitalist who is willing to take a call or informational interview.

In a typical early stage fund, the ratio of capital invested per partner is generally $50 million. Thus if you see a firm raising or closing a fund roughly $50 million or greater than the last fund, there is a good chance it is looking to add staff if it finds the right fit.

Three avenues to obtaining quality referrals that could turn into first meetings are LinkedIn, other entrepreneurs, and VC recruiters.

Give special attention/effort to firms that have recently had a personnel change.

Give special attention/effort to firms that have recently raised a new fund somewhat larger than its last fund.

If someone had leadership experience within a startup (i.e., running a functional area of the business or the business itself), that’s even better.

PEHub’s PE Week Wire and Dan Primack’s Term Sheet are great ways to get tipped on when VC firms are raising new funds.

Come with one or more investment theses – The interviewee should develop one or more detailed investment ideas/theses and be prepared to discuss and defend them during the interview. This will require the interviewee to be up to date on relevant industry developments including recent fundings in the space, M&A activity, and product launches.