By Kelly
Hoey Kelly Hoey is a speaker, strategist and angel investor with a
focus on creating opportunities through networking solutions. She has
worked with leading companies, professionals and organizations to help
them understand, leverage and unleash the potential of their formal and
informal social networks. "Stop committing random acts of networking"
is Kelly's frequent (and favorite) advice. Kelly has also co-founded a
startup accelerator, and not only invested in startups, but assumed an
interim operations role in an emerging tech company. Before her
entrepreneurial leap, she was a corporate lawyer and had a 5-year stint
in law firm management. Kelly is the Chief Technology Ambassador for the
YWCA of NYC's Geek Girls Club and mentors on millennial career
platform, Levo League. @ jkhoey Angel investor, speaker and strategist @
jkhoey
As for the Venture Partner route: the ideal person for that role would typically have been in an operations role for many years.
Note: These roles are never advertised. Partner level hires, almost always are someone the partners in a VC firm already know (i.e. CEO of a former portfolio company).
What are the skills that one should demonstrate in order to be considered for a partner role?
Here's the necessary skills checklist:
Answer: Startup experience is definitely relevant.
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Venture capitalists are the new rock stars. And discovering,
then funding, the next massively disruptive technology startup--has
become the "it" job based on the number of VC-job seeking email inquires
which land in investor inboxes. As one VC said to me, people have this
"wry notion that it [venture] means automatic fun, wealth and thrills,
sorry...it's just not that way". But who wants to hear that venture
requires the back-breaking hours as well as college degrees and
analytical skills required to make it as a professional on Wall Street?
Spoiler alert: VCs typically have a classic financial training
background - an MBA, investment banker or similar background. Add on
computer science or engineering pedigree, plus a startup or two and
you've more than got your foot in the VC door.
However, if Marc Andreessen really is your career muse but
you have yet to co-found a tech company or two (then successfully exit
so you can start your own venture fund) what's the steep career path to
land one of these coveted roles? Inquiring bright professional minds
want to know, so I asked six venture capitalists for their insights on
the career path to VC partner and compiled the consistency of their
answers below. Even if you have a desired skill set, it's not easy to
become a VC.
What is the most likely track record of a VC partner? What about a venture partner?
Answer: Preferably someone with an entrepreneurial
background--even if those ventures failed. Successes are great (even if
small) especially if the entrepreneur has built and sold a company in a
domain that is the focus of a VC firm. The entrepreneurial route
typically leads to becoming an EIR (Entrepreneur-in-Residence) that
often takes on various roles from triage of deals, to board seats to
becoming a GP in a firm.
The next best path is via an "Associate", "Principal" or "VP" role in
a venture firm, but you better have deep financial and analytical
capability backed by a strong work ethic.As for the Venture Partner route: the ideal person for that role would typically have been in an operations role for many years.
Note: These roles are never advertised. Partner level hires, almost always are someone the partners in a VC firm already know (i.e. CEO of a former portfolio company).
What are the skills that one should demonstrate in order to be considered for a partner role?
Here's the necessary skills checklist:
- Being able to raise money.
- Solid networks of Limited Partners.
- Domain experience (and with any luck, in a sector the VC partners find exciting).
- Prior investing track record.
- Strong access to high quality deal flow.
- Relationships with seasoned, all-star serial entrepreneurs.
- Ability to help portfolio company founders with their biggest operational challenges.
- Understanding if a company has the ability to grow and scale given its team, the marketplace, the financial composition and the vision for the product or service.
- Commercial judgment and the ability to find an exit.
- Reputation in both the founder and investor communities.
- Long-term vision and ability to see opportunities and gaps in the market.
Answer: Startup experience is definitely relevant.
Corporate or startup or accelerator experience could be
relevant but it depends on the VC firm. Different firms have a different
"lens" through which they would judge their interest in such work
experience and some of it all depends on what "gaps" the partner team at
a VC fund believe they need to fill. A non-investor role with angel
group or family office is least relevant unless it's for an
administrative position. Corporate roles are relevant only to later
stage investors.
How can someone demonstrate they have transferable skills / experience?
Answer: If you're approached by a VC firm to help
with some due diligence or to provide insights on a prospective deal, it
may just be a road-test for an actual VC role.
Assuming you've got the desired skill set already, here are
four suggestions on how to start demonstrating you've got the
capability, gut and vision to be a VC:
- Secure an internship role with a VC firm (and those roles are not easy to come by) then, once in the door, make yourself irreplaceable.
- Create a track record by investing your own money in some angel deals.
- Sit on startup advisory boards and mentor entrepreneurs in a target space.
- Teach a class and blog regularly.
Knowing networks are important, how do you
recommend someone demonstrate their ability to create deal flow or other
opportunities?
Answer: Sending deals to VCs is an ideal way.
There is no way around the networking in tech. Having
visibility in the startup community is essential whether it is by
participating in accelerator programs, speaking at events, blogging,
etc. or because you are already employed in a role where you have to be
plugged into the tech ecosystem to be successful in your job (e.g.,
business development at a media or large tech company).
What type of resume makes you sit up and take notice?
Answer: Mostly none. It's not about the resume,
it's about meeting and getting to know the person and of course, the
personal intro which got the person into the office in the first place.
If however, you're relying on a resume to get you in the
door, examples of a few skills and accomplishments that are vital in
order to get noticed:
- Analytical and financial skills.
- Community building experience.
- Founding multiple successful (even if small) startups.
- Securing a significant strategic partnership that transformed a startup's business.
Anything else?
Answer: Consider the operator route. Instead of
lusting after a VC role, gain operating experience in an early stage,
venture backed company and leverage that experience later into a VC role
(should that burning desire to be a VC remain!).
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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