Landing a venture capital job interview is only half the battle on your march toward a venture capital career. You still have plenty of work ahead of you to prepare for the interview and hopefully convince a few skeptical venture capitalists that you’re right for their firm.
The VC firm is looking at your ability to contribute to the firm. Doing a bit of your own due diligence will help in preparing you for the interview and determining whether this firm fits within your own venture capital career goals.
First off, know the firm’s portfolio. You will likely be asked why you want to work for that particular firm, so be sure to gear your answer toward the focus of the VC firm. You’ll want to determine how much capital the firm has invested, their successful exits, and the investments that have not performed well for them.
The more you know about their firm, the better off you’ll be in the interview. Are they focused on seed capital? Early stage? Late capital? Do they have one or two investments that do not seem to fit with their overall portfolio? Why? Key information sources include the firm’s website, press releases, Google search, plus broader business search services such as Hoover’s or Dow Jones Factiva.
You also need to demonstrate your passion for the industry, whether it’s technology or the entrepreneurial culture overall. Passion and enthusiasm for finding and starting the next great company is what keeps venture capitalists going.
Study the firm’s principals and their biographies. Google their names and check out their blogs or social networking sites. Since venture capital firms are often much smaller than investment banks and private equity firms, they look for personalities that fit in well with their firm and culture. See if you share some of the same interests as the partners, and determine how you can bring that out in the course of the interview.
Know their competition, too. Conduct research on competing firms and their portfolio companies. Sometimes asking a pointed question about why a firm passed on a particular investment, versus another venture capital firm, can open up a discussion in an interview and show the interviewer that you’ve done your homework.
Familiarize yourself with venture capital fundamentals, the jargon, and how term sheets are structured. Not knowing what a key term means could hamper your success.
Think about your background as it relates to startups. If you’ve started a business, worked on any deals, even part-time, or done any research for a local start-up or angel investor, figure out how you can work that into the interview.
Finally, you’ve got to show them that you can hit the ground running. VC firms are driven by ideas, innovation, and the ability to execute. Demonstrating that you have great ideas gives you an edge above the competition. Guy Kawasaki, the famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist, says you should prepare five ideas for your venture capital job interview. This is known as your “investment thesis” and some experts consider it a make-or-break part of your interview. Think about the specialty and niche you bring to the table, along with the focus of the VC firm, and cater your ideas to future investment opportunities that fit their strategy.
References:
JobSearchDigest.com
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