How I got a job in VC

How a policy grad ended up in VC a year and a half after graduation

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Tomorrow I’m officially going to update my LinkedIn to say ‘early stage investor/vc whatever’. I still haven’t decided what my title will say. Sue me (on second thought don’t).

You might be wondering what business does an international public management master holder (whatever that means) have in the VC industry. And yes, I’m aware that plenty of posts have been written about breaking into VC. But I thought I’d share my journey anyway — how I figured out VC was something I wanted to do and how I got into the industry.

How I discovered the wonderful world of VC

My first brush with VC happened in 2016 when I was in Seoul. Two things happened:

1. I was interning at a startup that was in talks to raise cash from Softbank Ventures Asia. I had zero clue about what a pitch deck was but I raised my hand to proof-read the final version. The fundraise was a success and we got some additional cash in the bank.
2. I came across Arlan…