I’ve written before about the role of the junior professional in VC and pointed to two such individuals who are blogging and worth a read:
- Andrew Parker, Analyst at Union Square Ventures
- Sagi Rubin, Associate with Gemini Israel Funds
Two more have cropped up in my mindshare over the last few weeks, and I’m adding one that should have made it in my last post.
Before we get to these, though, let’s focus on experience for a minute. Interestingly, one hears about VCs coming into the fold from all sorts of backgrounds. More often than not at the “junior” level, experience consists of investment banking or consulting - take a look at Summit’s and TA Associates’ Associate ranks. They do quite a bit of later stage investing so the “hard” finance and enterprise-level consulting background holds more importance, but take a look, too, at a firm such as Norwest that invests in “seed-stage and early-stage companies.” You’ll see Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers backgrounds.
What strikes me about the six bloggers assembled herein (including myself) is the near universal presence of direct startup experience. In my biased view, there’s no better way to connect with an entrepreneur than to speak her language, share war stories, proffer operating expertise. And, it turns out, blog.
So without further ado, here’s three new bloggers to add to your feed reader/inbox and perhaps, blogroll:
- Susan Wu, Associate at Charles River Ventures
- Rob Finn, Business Development Associate at Edison Venture Fund
- Sarah Tavel, Analyst at Bessemer Venture Partners
I hesitate to call Susan a “junior professional” because her experience (including CMO at Apache) eclipses that of any other Associate I’ve seen, but such is the proving ground/apprenticeship of the VC business. Rob and I have spoken - in my limited experience he’s a fantastic “connector.” Sarah, welcome!
Thanks for mentioning the other rising star VC bloggers! Great to know our “young” community is “growning”… Keep updating if you find any more
BTW - In the Israeli VC world, it seems the background of young VCs tends to very “technology” oriented (engineers, tech sales / marketing).
I think this has to do with the fact that most successful investments have a big tech barrier to them (hence tech understanding is a big part of the DD work) (as well as the fact that Banking/Consulting are not very big industries in Israel…)
Sagi:
Thanks for stopping by. The confluence of software/tech/IP centric deals (which is for the most part the case in the US as well, but likely less concentrated) and lack of banking/consulting feeders makes a lot of sense. I’d hold that the operational expertise/tech savvy skillset is significantly more valuable in early stage investment than the finance one, though a base amount of financial knowledge is a requisite. For the “youngest” companies under deep consideration at Chrysalis I’ve been known to dig in and generate a full model (income statement, balance sheet, cash flows), but see this kind of work as prime for outsourcing in the near term.
Best,
Matt
[...] I’ve been encouraged to continue unearthing young VCs that are blogging. Happy to oblige: [...]
hey matt. I just came across you blog because I was trying to put a blogroll together of other pre-mba’s in VC and was caught by surprise to see your shout out. Thank you! Great blog — I look forward to reading your future posts!
st
Thanks, Sarah! FYI, I give you full credit for a well received holiday present to my sister - a pair of jeans from Zafu (via giftcards.com). She’s in NYC working as a documentary film producer. Let me know if you’re looking to expand your circle in “the city.”
Best,
Matt
Matt - Embarrassed to say I just saw your reply. That’s so great that your sister’s jeans worked out! If she’s free, I’m always love meeting interesting people in different spheres….
st
Great; I’ve passed along your contact info and imagine she’ll be in touch.
Best,
Matt