7Understanding the VC Game
Venture capital firms are without a doubt the muscle behind innovation, as they support the company they may invest in, from the early stages all the way to IPO—especially those with larger funds that have billions of dollars under management.
In this chapter I would like to walk you through the logistics of venture capital firms so that you are able to understand fully how they operate.
Defining Roles in a VC Firm
VC firms have different types of individuals working at the firm. The most junior people want to be analysts. These people are either MBA students in an internship or people that just graduated from school.
The main role of analysts is to go to conferences and to scout deals that might be within the investment strategy of the fund that the VC firm is investing out of. Analysts are not able to make decisions, but they could be a good way to get your foot in the door and to have them introduce you to someone more senior within the firm. However, analysts are for the most part conducting research of the market and studying you and your competitors, so be careful about educating them too much.
The most immediate position after the analyst is the associate. An associate could be either junior or senior. Associates tend to be people with a financial background and with powerful skills in building relationships. Associates do not make decisions in a firm but they can definitely warm up an introduction with individuals involved in the decision ...
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