Venture capital

As you probably know, getting into the VC industry is pretty tough noawadays -- particularly into the top tier VCs (that is, the ones that actually turn a substantial profit).  From my experience, very few analysts or partners started out at VCs.  Most came from their own businesses that they had either sold, spun off or shut down, some came from the investment banking world (particularly tech banking around San Francisco), and still others came from a fusion of consulting and industry.

Whichever route you choose, I would steer clear of joining a VC straight out of college, as it's tough to make the personal connections that are so crucial to VCs as a VC analyst.  If nothing else, then look to join the staff of a successful VC's venture.

Your first steps should be to speak to as many people you can find in your locale that are familiar with the VC industry e.g. VC professionals, investors in VC funds, entrepreneurs that have been funded by VC's.

This is important because the work and the career of a VC are not always what they seem to be from the outside and therefore if this is your first job out of college you will want to make sure you are making the right decision. I guess this is true with regard to any job though.

If you decide that you are focused on a job in VC then you need to understand the different types of VC funds (areas of expertise, focus, geography, stage of investments, size of team etc.) and how your skills, experience and personality would best fit and in what areas you would be able to contribute. it is always best to enter through a personal contact and someone who can give you a strong reference.

You should try to get a position as an associate. This is a junior position and could allow you to get a glance at what is happening in this world.

For example:

http://www.linkedin.com/e/bRVlNPanWYbwuEt759Ex4UJ3kb8q/vjb/169083/ 

There are 3 ways in to venture capital:

   1. as an ex-entrepreneur

   2. as an ex big company person

   3. from a finance background, preferrably small-scale deal making, close to the action finance
 

VCs like "1" because entrepreneurs are the raw material VCs deal with; they  like "2" because big companies are the most likely buyer for what they produce - start-ups.  

 with your EE background, I suggest you do 1. or 2. for a bit.

I would be happy to share my experience in the VC industry with you. You can find my e-mail address on the Genesis Partners website (www.genesispartners.com). Look under the "team" section for Gil. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Gil 

I just saw this post by Jeremy Liew on the Lightspeed Venture Partners blog discussing this point. To quickly summarize, he argues that one can recognize the following themes when it comes to hiring decisions by VC firms, at least those who do consumer internet investing:

1. They mostly have had some experience at a startup (not necessarily in a senior role)
2. They mostly had some line management experience
3. They mostly have senior management experience at large internet companies
4. They mostly also had a lot of “outside facing” experience, whether in business development or corporate development or as CEO of GM of a business unit
5. They mostly weren’t looking for jobs in venture capital.

He goes on to explain and justify each one of these themes.  Might be worth a read.