Getting hired into a VC firm

A lot of people have been asking me what it takes to get into a VC firm. Few pointers:

• At an analyst level, most firms are looking for smart people, perhaps with some background in equity analysis or business analysis. It is not unusual to have fresh MBAs with some pre-MBA work experience to be considered.
• Different firms have different views on whether analyst position is a career track position or not. A lot of firms see this as a 2-3 year relationships. Some firms believe that analysts can graduate into leading investments.
• At a senior level, different firms look for different profiles. Somewhat later stage focussed firms are happy to look at people from equity and business analysis, consulting or investment banking backgrounds. A lot of early stage firms tend to want prior entrepreneurial or strong operating backgrounds. There are no simple rules here.
• VC business is a highly reference driven business, and there are very few openings. So make the right approach and engage early in the cycle.
• Different firms have very different formal and informal decision structures – understand them well before you jump in.

Many VC firms are setting up their presence in India, and hence there are perhaps more opportunities than would exist in stable state. Amongst the US venture firms, there are two approaches. Some firms want people to join in US, work there for a year or two, do a couple of deals by travelling down, and then take a call on whether they want a full time person in India. Other firms, such as Canaan, look for people who have the network and operating/entrepreneurial experience in India to directly be part of the India team.