How I Landed a Job in VC at 24: Varied Resume, Diverse Experiences
This as-told-to essay is predicated on a transcribed dialog with Lucia Polverino, a 24-year-old analyst at a enterprise capital agency based mostly in London. Enterprise Insider has verified her employment. The next has been edited for size and readability.
I used to be all the time keen about moving into the office as rapidly as doable after college. After graduating, I dabbled in a profession in public relations and product administration earlier than touchdown my function as a enterprise capital analyst — however my various experiences helped me get thus far.
My first workplace job was a placement in my first yr at college, the place I studied for a level in enterprise administration. I labored at Piper Sandler, an American funding financial institution. I spent six months of their healthcare M&A division. It was a extremely good first formative expertise, but it surely was difficult.
My subsequent placement was in my third yr of college. I labored at KKR of their personal credit score group. However as a result of this occurred through the COVID-19 pandemic, I needed to be proactive as we weren’t within the workplace, and attempt to get my colleagues to offer me extra work to do. It was a extremely useful expertise.
After graduating, I used to be adamant I wished to strive one thing much less company. My first job out of college was at a tech PR agency. I’ve all the time been inquisitive about entrepreneurship, media, and communications. It was a 15-person group once I joined, which made for a startup-like atmosphere — very entrepreneurial and dynamic. I labored with eight shoppers throughout AI, cyber safety, e-commerce, and business-to-business sectors. That was an inflection level as a result of it diverted my profession towards the tech world.
I liked working with tech corporations and startups, so after 9 months, I made a decision to go in-house and work at a tech firm. As a current graduate, I used to be nonetheless eligible for roles focused towards current college graduates which give a structured profession path into a selected sector. I liked the sound of product administration. You possibly can work with a bunch of various groups, akin to engineering, advertising and marketing, and UX; this was much like the way in which I labored in PR with completely different shoppers. I used to be fortunate sufficient to safe a grad job within the product group at ICIS, which is an information group inside LexisNexis, a software program firm.
My job in product administration was instrumental in main me to enterprise capital. I understood the important thing levers in a tech firm that affect its progress. I’ve all the time favored sporting completely different hats, and these threads led me to affix Playfair, a generalist VC fund.
I used to be so shocked at how related my PR expertise was
I used to be so shocked at how related my PR expertise was as a result of a lot of VC is investor relations. It is actually necessary to kind friendships with buyers, not simply transactional relationships. Equally, as a result of I used to be working with tech corporations in my PR function, it was straightforward to verbalize and justify why I liked tech corporations and dealing with startups in my interview. It is actually necessary for younger individuals in interviews to usher in their previous experiences and discuss the way it will assist them be good candidates.
For younger individuals who wish to apply to VC, it is actually necessary to determine the type of fund you wish to apply for. In case your background is generalist and numerous, that type of VC fund would doubtless go well with you. However for those who began your profession with a technical background, you’d maybe be suited to a deep tech fund. You need to perceive the place you’ll add essentially the most worth.
Being a pandemic graduate additionally made me much less apprehensive about discovering a linear profession path and sticking to it for 5 years. Through the pandemic, I assumed, who is aware of what’s going to occur in six months? Nothing was sure — it appeared just like the pandemic would by no means finish. This impacted my mindset, and I used to be extra prepared to take dangers and work out what I really favored. I feel it is also extra of a Gen Z pattern as a result of we usually tend to job-hop than earlier generations.
You do not want a background in funding banking to get into VC anymore
It could have been true previously that you just want an funding banking background to get into VC, however that is not the case anymore. I’ve met extra individuals that do not come from banking than do. In my case, at a pre-seed fund, making a monetary mannequin from scratch could be much less helpful a talent to have.
VC is such a broad business — and your expertise might be formed by what stage your fund invests in. The hiring managers normally like younger individuals who have had startup expertise, akin to being an operator. I’ve additionally met so many individuals who come from software program engineering and technical backgrounds and work at deep tech funds. I’ve additionally met lots of people coming from NGO and charity backgrounds. This in the end speaks to the sector chances are you’ll wish to concentrate on when you get into VC.
You may additionally present you have got an entrepreneurial mindset to some extent. My hiring managers liked that I had a trend weblog once I was at college and that I might attain out to manufacturers to companion with for my movies. It is actually necessary to indicate that you just love entrepreneurship and dealing with founders.
Attempt to leverage recruiters for those who can. At Playfair, we’ve got a really clear hiring course of, and the fund markets the place as a lot as doable — however that is not the identical for all VC funds. I discovered my job by a recruiter referred to as JumpStart, and it is a very useful avenue for youthful grads.
