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A Typical Day A venture capitalist studies companies and decides whether to invest money. When a venture capitalist is not researching he or she is negotiating with businesses and helping manage the businesses that they invested in. |
Top 3 Perks 1) Self employed2) Meet many people and a variety of businesses3) Often receive equity in the companies they are working with |
Job Culture Long hours in offices and meeting rooms, telephone calls, job autonomy, travelling, periods of heavy work followed by slower work, research |
My ExperienceBeing a venture capitalist is mentally exhausting and requires a lot of stamina. They can work really long hours and deal with huge amounts of money so it has to be hard not to burnout. The highlight of the day was when I sat in on a meeting between a venture capitalist and two entrepreneurs agreeing upon a deal. The meeting lasted a few hours and consisted of a lot of tense negotiating and intense discussions over small details of a business deal. This meeting was after weeks of talking and research done by both sides. The venture capitalist had to learn about this business that was an investment in a new industry before going on with the deal. You have to have transferable business skills to apply to any industry or else they can lose substantial amounts of their investment and that’s a lot of pressure. The deal was not confirmed, but the venture capitalist believed it would be done within a few days after due diligence was done. I really enjoyed my experience shadowing a venture capitalist. The office was a transformed house/mansion, which was a great atmosphere, especially since venture capitalists are in their office a lot. The venture capitalist also stressed that since that type of work tends to be intense a work life balance is very important. It’s a great lesson.
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Requirements There is no particular path to become a venture capitalist. You have to understand finance, business management, and have entrepreneurial drive as well as experience. An MBA is also recommended. |
Skills Needed Communication, analytical, decision-making, leadership, managerial |
The Field - More and more entrepreneurs are trusting venture capitalists so the field is booming- Future venture capitalists should have experience in computers since the tech industry is growing |