Entry-Level Positions for Aspiring Venture Capitalists
While some venture capital firms offer internships or hire recent undergraduate graduates, the industry increasingly values operational experience, with Henry stating that "there's a lot more emphasis and a lot more value placed them on people who have operational experience." Therefore, gaining experience in building companies or working in teams exposed to that process is highly beneficial for aspiring venture capitalists.
Operational Experience, Networking, Internships, Venture Capital, Building Companies
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Henry Sohn
Partner
Morado Ventures LLC
UC Berkeley
n/a
Anthropology, Sociology
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing), Technology
Finance
Disabled, Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Many venture capital firms offer internships, but entry-level positions for recent graduates are less common.
2. Operational experience is highly valued in the venture capital industry. Having experience building products, managing people, and securing funding makes you a more attractive candidate.
3. Building relationships and leveraging those connections is crucial for breaking into the venture capital industry
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
Some firms have internship programs, and some hire recent undergraduate graduates. However, this may not be as common as you might hope.
Even if they hire a recent graduate, you might work there for a while before they encourage you to take on a role at a company. This is because venture capital, especially in the Bay Area, places a lot of value on people with operational experience.
You'll relate better to founders if you've been through the process yourself. This means fighting the fight, building value, developing products and services, managing people, growing companies, and securing funding.
Having gone through that experience, or at least being exposed to it as part of a team, is hugely helpful. So, gaining that operational experience is probably the best way to get into the industry. Maintaining relationships you can leverage is also key.