How to Break Into Venture Capital

Breaking into venture capital is tough — and highly improbable, but possible. There are about as many opportunities to be a venture capitalist as there are opportunities to be a professional athlete — that is about 13,000 total job positions in the U.S (VC jobs = 0.008% of U.S. jobs). As you are considering pursuing a career in the space, it can be daunting. Use this post as your guide. I will continue to update it with links and resources with the tips and common knowledge to become an angel investor and break into venture capital.

1. Network with founders

A venture capitalist is a professional investor that deploys capital to startups. If you want to get hired by an investor, they are going to prioritize candidates that are connected to startups to invest in. To build these connections go to startup events in your city or surrounding area. If you are unsure of where to start, I would google ‘accelerator {name of your city}’, look for startup events at StartupWeekend.org, Meetup.com, and your local university.

2. Develop a focus

You don’t need to focus, but if you do you would be surprised what comes to you. If you are just looking at ‘startups’ you are going to end up with a broad range of knowledge with varying detail. If you focus on say, edtech, which was my early focus, the people you meet will remember your focus and send things your way. When I launched my edtech startup I always had friends forwarding education and impact related articles and startups to me, which kept me on the edge of my game.

3. Work for a startup or an accelerator (Tristan Walker)

I am a founder at heart. I ended up in investing unintentionally by working on startup after startup until I knew the community and I was asked to join an investor syndicate to train investors. Working as a founder was not my intended route into venture, but for many it is a way in. I would not recommend what I did — starting a startup from scratch — to join venture, I would join a startup that has gotten initial funding passed the seed stage (at least $2M+) ideally with paying customers and cashflow so there is some runway to build. And be forewarned — once you go startup, you never go back. They are quite addictive.

4. Network with VCs

Venture capital is competitive. VCs usually hire someone that has been helping them out, sometimes as an intern or fellow and if they can afford to bring you on, make the hire. VCs are always looking for investment opportunities so sharing deals with them, going to their speaking events, or hosting and event and inviting them as a speaker are all ways to interact with VCs first hand.

5. Build your Knowledge & Experience

Venture capital is an apprenticeship profession. You can go to several places to learn the profession. You can read books, read newsletters, take a business school course, or take a training program specifically focused on venture capital — like ours at Rebel One — RBL1.com.

6. Apply + Coffee Chats

Venture capital is insanely hard to crack. No path is a guarantee. Truth be told many people end up doing unpaid internships for a time before getting in. While you are having coffee chats with people (so VCs know you are looking), cold emailing out your resume — apply, apply, apply while you building your experience. John Gannon’s Blog is by far the best centralized list.

7. Invest

Nothing prepares you for investing, like investing. If you want to be a professional investor consider building your own portfolio and investing in startups. Platforms to help you get started are crowdfunding websites such as Republic.co and Wefunder. AngelList and SeedInvest are platforms for accredited angel investors.

Good luck on your hustle into venture capital. May the odds be in your favor.

Best,

Sergio Marrero, Rebel One