5 Key Personality Traits of a (Junior) VC Investor

Last summer I was lucky enough to spend some time in the Singapore office of Burda Principal Investments, a VC Fund with investments across the globe. As a consequence of this, I had a number of chats with several people interested in understanding my take about working in a Venture Capital Firm.

The most frequently asked questions I have been asked have either been ‘how is it to work in a VC?’ or ‘How can I get into VC?’. There are no easy answers for this, but there are plentiful articles that try to do so(like this post from Cayetana Hurtado).

This being said, fewer people asked me what I believe is a more relevant and precise inquiry, which would be ‘What are the key personality traits of a VC Investor as Analyst/Associate?’. I believe that this is a better question because it focuses on motives and values, rather than habitudes and core skills.

(Although I don’t necessarily regard the former to be more important than the latter, I believe that they they are an often overlooked assets, especially in the job hunt — ‘is this the right job for me?’).

In the next paragraphs, I share what would be the 5 Traits I believe are important to have if someone wants to join a VC Fund.

Ambiversion

I don’t necessarily believe that a person must be ambivert to work in a VC fund, but I do think that a professional that is distinctively introvert/extrovert may face serious challenges on the job. In a ‘normal’ week of a VC Investor, you are expected to both perform thorough analysis of pitch decks/data rooms and spend time networking with entrepreneurs in various different settings. Of course, you are expected to juggle both activities with ease.

(I would expect the first activity to take 70% of your time, and the second one the balance — but things vary quite often!)

Bottom line: be aware of your personality and be comfortable in being able to ‘switch gears’ pretty frequently. If you are somewhat in the middle of the spectrum, you can be suited for the job.

Adaptability (in working by yourself)

A VC fund is often times composed by just handful of people. Something that may happen is that Partners may fly out to attend a conference, your fellow Investment Manager may need to go for a Board Meeting, the Analyst may be in need of meeting someone to clarify something on a data room… you get the music.

It will sometimes happen that you will be working by yourself in the office, while reviewing Pitch Deck XYZ. You need to be comfortable that this scenario will repeat several times, and have the discipline and drive to manage your own work while being alone.

Humility

Depending by the stage (seed, etc.) and type of VC you work for (tech, etc.), you will meet entrepreneurs with ideas what you may dismiss as nonsense — you may even be tempted to stop the conversation immediately, because that idea will never work. This is a very dangerous approach. No matter as a pitch may sound freak to you, remember that you are also investing in the person in front of you.

(One of my first managers once told me: ‘investors always look to who is getting the money, at least as much as the pitch deck on the table’, he was damn right)

Always listen carefully to what someone is pitching to you. If you don’t, you can risk of:

• Passing on on something that actually works for real
• Develop a bias towards an entrepreneur what can come up with something cool next time (or worse, ruin a relationship altogether)
• Risking on missing the opportunity to help the entrepreneur to pivot what in reality is something that actually may work

Passion

As I said perviously, a VC Fund is a fairly small environment. A VC fund is a highly specialised investment vehicle that most likely invests in only certain type of companies in only specific verticals in a given industry.

You must have a keen interest (and knowledge) in what your Fund is investing in. If you are in a stage of your career in which you are still unsure of what industry really drives you, I would be hesitant about joining a Fund.

Having Patience

When you start studying the VC industry, you are taught that a VC normally deploys its capital over several years, which is something that can even well extend over a decade. Before the fund starts to hit its target IRR (if this happens) it will take a significant amount of time. You will have to wait several years before this happens — namely when some of your successful portfolio companies are sold or IPO.

Feedback cycles also vary. As one of my former manager reminded me, feedback cycles in start-ups are sometimes a matter of days or even hours, often-much creating excitement and confusion at the same time. VCs are the opposite: they have a longer shelf life and balanced cycle, but tend to be slower.

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In conclusion, let me stress that I personally believe that working in a VC Fund is a tremendous opportunity. I encourage anyone who is interested in VC and sees herself in (at least some) of these traits to pursue what I believe is a great career and fulfilment.