A Day In The Life Of A Climate Venture Fellow At An Early Stage Venture Capital Firm

For someone at my career stage and experience level, I'm entering a senior associate role. If you're fresh out of undergrad, you might be looking at an analyst or associate position, depending on your background and experience.

For me, it's a combination of reading and staying updated on what's happening in the space. If we focus on climate and sustainability, it's about understanding what's happening on a micro level. If we're investing in specific verticals like transportation, energy, and agriculture, I read newsletters and news articles. I also keep up with people in the space to understand what they're hearing and what I should be aware of.

It's important to build relationships with people at other venture capital firms, regardless of whether they invest in climate. These human relationships are crucial.

There will be opportunities to co-invest. For example, a firm might want to make an investment and say, "There's room for multiple venture capital firms. We'd like to bring you in. We've done much of the work, and we have a good working relationship." They'll still ask you to do your due diligence, but they offer an opportunity to co-invest.

Alternatively, they might say, "We're not investing right now because it's not a good fit for us, as we don't focus on energy. But we know your firm does, so we think it's a great company and want to pass it along to you." This creates deal flow that is very relationship-based.

It's really important to maintain these relationships, provide value, and connect with people on a human level. This generates excellent opportunities.

Another key part of my day is talking with founders. You'll receive inbound requests, perhaps through a form your firm has set up. You might also do targeted outreach to specific founders.

You might read a news article and think, "Wow, they're looking for funding. That's interesting, and maybe we can help." You'll also research PitchBook to understand upcoming funding rounds. Looking at what small incubators and accelerators are doing can reveal companies that will need funding soon.

You start building connections now so that in six months, they'll reach out to you. You then field those calls, understand their pain points, and figure out how you can help.

Finally, you put it all together and work with your general partners or senior associates/principals. You present the deal flow you're working on and suggest where you think the firm should invest. You create a quick slide deck or one-pager, depending on your firm's format, to propose potential investments. This starts conversations that can turn into deals.