Become A Venture Capitalist In College
Learn the ins and outs of how college students can build careers in venture
I typically tailor this newsletter towards technological trends, but one of the biggest reasons I started writing was to promote information transparency and help people find opportunities they’re right for. For that reason, I’m writing this special newsletter focused on the different venture capital opportunities available to college students (similar to the one I wrote for banking).
Note: I will not be covering VC internships, which many firms have offered in the past. In addition, I’m going to assume you’re someone who is already deeply interested in the start up ecosystem and would like to eventually partner with exceptional founders building disruptive companies.
#1: Student-Run VCs
There are 3 major student-run VCs and given the fact that as an investment partner at one of these VCs, you’d operate in a similar capacity to a typical VC, they arguably provide the best experience available to college students interested in the space. These opportunities are generally available to both undergrad & grad students interested.
Dorm Room Fund (DRF)
Founded in 2012 and backed by First Round Capital, DRF has ~30 investment partners meaning they only take a small handful of new partners each year to replace graduating members. DRF is region-specific with partners covering their respective areas with general autonomy. One of the biggest perks of DRF is that investment partners DO NOT need approval from First Round Capital to make investments, instead students are able to make investment decisions.
DRF typically invests $40,000 in businesses that range from being just an idea to ones that have already developed customer traction. In addition, founders can leverage a strong founder, investor, and operator network that can help take their companies to the next level. A nice bonus is that DRF deeply values community and so every year, DRF flies every partner out for a weeklong retreat in the Catskills.
Applications for the investment team open 9/5 and close 9/30 for all regions except SF & West Coast teams which will close on 10/14. You should apply ASAP, as applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Click here to apply.
Notable Investments: Snackpass, Brooklinen, Harper Wilde
Rough Draft Ventures (RDV)
Built in 2012 and backed by General Catalyst, RDV prides itself in helping founders turn their rough drafts into enduring and impactful businesses. RDV takes venture cohorts of ~12 students, in which, you’ll have the opportunity to own the entire investment process, from sourcing to evaluating to helping write the check. RDV focuses on pre-seed investments with check sizes falling in the range of $50,000 $150,000. Similar to DRF, RDV will provides a robust community of advisors ready to help founders constantly iterate and improve their businesses.
RDV fellows interface heavily with the team at General Catalyst and mentorship is a key component of the program. Ultimately, investment decisions are concentrated to at most, 4-5 people per geography, in addition to the General Catalyst team. Similar to DRF, RDV fellows have a retreat in Boston in the fall, on top of a budget for self-directed events/happy hours/dinners.
**RDV applications go live 9/1
Notable Investments: Spring Health, Relento, Unbox
Contrary Capital
Established in 2016, Contrary is a standalone venture firm that is most famous for having a large and diverse network of college students. Contrary’s Venture Partner Program has over 100 Partners across dozens of college campuses. Contrary takes a unique approach of establishing partnerships with schools as opposed to regions, so if your school isn’t a part of the community, you’ll have to work your way into creating a relationship with Contrary. One of the key distinctions with Contrary is that they invest in student founders as well as any other impactful and talented founders.
Contrary’s Fellowship (for engineers, designers, and product leaders) runs well with the firm’s Venture Partners as they often collaborate and provide insight into each other’s work. Contrary has significantly more capital to deploy than DRF or RDV — earlier this year they raised $75mm for their third fund. Contrary’s HQ team (full-time) control investment decisions and venture partners help source and originate companies. Check sizes typically range anywhere from $25,000 to up to $2,000,000. Applications are live here and run until 9/15.
Notable Investments: Alloy Automation, ramp, Leland
Takeaways: Investment partners at DRF can write checks very quickly (albeit smaller ones) and don’t require First Round Capital approval, fellows at RDV work with General Catalyst to source and deliberate deals in addition to the fellows having the ultimate decision on an investment (fellows take charge of the full process). Lastly, Contrary Venture Partners play a heavier role in sourcing and leave the diligence and execution to the full-time partners.
#2 Venture Fellowships
There are typically two types of fellowships: a venture-oriented one and a portco-oriented one. Venture fellowships tend to run during the academic year, while portco ones tend to act as your summer internship. Both opportunities are fantastic given you’re either doing venture stuff or you’re working at a start up, but I’ll focus more on the venture-oriented fellowships.
Venture-Oriented
NEA Fellowship — Applications tend to open in September (runs through the academic year)
Romulus Capital Fellowship — Applications tend to open in September
Greycroft Fellowship — Typically runs every Fall & Spring (geared towards sophomores & juniors)
HOF Summer Fellowship — Runs during the summer
CV Access Fellowship — Runs every Fall & Spring, only takes 1 fellow
RippleX Fellowship — Typically runs every Fall & Spring
Republic Venture Fellowship — Typically runs every Fall & Spring
Halogen Ventures Fellowship — Runs through the summer in conjunction with an internship
Atento Capital Fellowship — Applications already opened (runs through the academic year)
EVCA Fellowship — Applications open beginning of year, program runs through the year
Harlem Capital Internship — Typically runs every few months
Conscience VC Apprenticeship — Newer program
Susa Ventures Fellowship — Applications just closed (they open early August) (runs through the academic year)
Draper Scouts — Launched in 2020
NFX MBA Fellowship — Deadline of Sep. 10
Amplifyher Graduate VC Fellowship — Typically recruits in Jan./Feb. and runs through EOY
Listen VC MBA Fellowship Applications recently opened (program runs for 6-18 months)
Portco-Oriented [Product/Engineering/Design]
Kleiner Perkins Fellowship — Typically closes applications by January 1 for the summer
Bessemer Fellowship — Applications are live for Spring / Summer 2023
GGV NextGen Fellowship — Typically closes applications by February for the summer
8VC Fellowship — Typically closes applications by late January for the summer
#3 Work at a Startup
If you look at almost any successful VC, you’ll notice they’ve served as a founder/operator at some point in their career. Building and creating something new is much harder than most people think, and until you actually try to do it, you probably don’t appreciate the grit and resilience founders have. Working at a start up allows you to wear several different hats all at once because often times your team is understaffed and underfunded, and you have to figure out a way to make things work.
Now you may be wondering where you can find these start up opportunities and I’ll provide a list of great platforms to find start ups, but in realty cold outreach where you show the value you can add to the team is the best way to land the opportunity you’d like.
You can always check VC firm websites and check out their portco’s openings. Above you can see a quick tutorial on how to do it. Even if you don’t see an internship posted, reach out to people on the team and see if they’d be willing to create a role for you.
Additional Thoughts
Demonstrate You’re a VC
Pick an industry and narrow down your interest to a niche area within the industry (technology is way too broad, get it down to something like ATS for HR tech)
Create a market map to help you understand who are the incumbents and who are the promising founders building enduring companies in the space
Develop an investment thesis on why these start ups will disrupt incumbents in the future and capture significant market share — you should even speak to potential users / founders and try to understand the edge these companies offer
Research VC firms and find VCs who have invested in or are currently covering the space the start ups you’re following are in
Write a 5 sentence email to these VCs giving them a sneak peak of the business but not fully outlining it, instead make the ASK to chat with them about their investments in the space and how you think you know companies that may fit their thesis
Maintain a dialogue with VCs and people will quickly look at you as a VC, and less of a college student
Take Advantage of Twitter
The start up and VC community is incredibly robust on Twitter. People regularly interact with founders and prominent VCs on Twitter — meaning you can stay up to date with what excites them and how they’re adapting to the everchanging landscape. You don’t even need to post much, instead look at Twitter as another source of information as opposed to a social media platform.
Nicole DeTommaso from Harlem Capital is a great person to follow for tons of VC recruiting information
VC Recruiting by Accelerated does a great job of rounding up weekly VC roles
And you can always interact with me on the platform if you’re feeling a bit lost.
Newsletters to Checkout (aside from your daily ones)
Digital Native by Rex Woodbury — writing the about the intersection of consumer + tech
Benedict’s Newsletter — Round up on tech trends
Accelerated — All things tech + venture
Additional Reads
Breaking Into Venture Capital As A Student by Katie Li & Bobby Thakkar
Student Venture Capital Programs by Niraj Pant
If you’d like you can also subscribe to this newsletter, Top of Mind, to stay up to date on exciting technological innovations!
**Special thanks to Mia Krishnamurthy, Catherine Yeo, Keren Duque, Britney Zhang, and Andrew Xu for making this piece possible
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