My Internship at a Venture Capital Fund
Over the past month I had the privilege to undertake an Internship at a well know Venture Capital Fund in Australia. For me this was a significant stepping stone in my transition from being a university student towards a young professional in finance. Over the past year I have accumulated a significant level of career experience as being part of a Fintech as well as conducting a base level of consulting for an innovation and design consultancy firm.
Leading into the Internship with these past two experiences, I had accomplished a range of career goals which primarily revolved around the concept of believing that I am capable of accomplishing the tasks that my superiors provided me with. Stepping into the professional workplace is not easy for a university student as you always wonder what the ‘bar’ is for professional work.
So what where my goals before I started the internships and do I feel like I have accomplished them?
Goal 1: Be able to Consistently Work at a Highly Competent Working Level
Embarrassingly, being able to work 12 hours’ day was an assumption that I made about Venture Capital personnel. For everyday that I worked there I would start around 8:30 and finish at 5:30. Nine hours! Thankfully, those hours worked did not feel like working hours, rather a focus-filled period of careful attention and intrigue on all the tasks that I accomplished.
Consistency for work was also a misconception, maintaining an optimal working state is rather difficult, where everything you do is perfect. One of my tasks involved establishing a personality comparison database of founders of start-ups that the Venture Capital had invested in. The communications at first were basic and limited, but over time as my confidence grew I was able to consistently engage with these respectable figures — it just takes time.
Goal 2: Further my Base Level of Financial Analysis Skills
Key financial assessments’ of company’s involved ensuring that financial models for start-ups were accurate and that they were intelligent in how to spend the money the VC firm would potentially give them. For one task I spent over three hours looking over the financials of a company making a significant level of in depth calculations. When I submitted this to my investment manager, he merely made a few calculations on an excel table showing that it was not capable of returning investment to the company. Its amazing how assumptions of tasks conducted in a professional setting can be overblown — simplicity is best I guess.
Goal 3: Develop my Capacity to Communicate Professionally with Stakeholders
Speaking with finance professionals and stakeholders was a key goal that I wanted to achieve. I had the privilege to sit in on an investor meeting with start-up founders that were looking for investment. Having the opportunity to communicate with them on such high-level matters was a priceless experience as the pressure of these in-the-moment business situations can accelerate a greater level of professional etiquette.
Goal 4: Increase my Professional Network and attain new Career Mentors
At the end of the Internship I not only had all the members of the Venture Capital fund as part of my network, but my investment manager ensured that I properly met with all the start-ups within their portfolio. One conversation took place where I proactively asked him if there were any individuals that could be beneficial towards my progression in my career. He was only more than happy to.
This instance really reinforced the notion that If you don’t ask you don’t get. Superiors aren’t always going to give you the tools to improve your personal development, you have to tell them what you want.
Goal 5: Continue to Identify what I am Effective at Undertaking and what I Enjoy
The world of finance and a professional career can be daunting mountain to climb or an exciting lifelong progression. While not every task accomplished is necessarily ‘fun’ it is important to maintain a positive attitude so that you remain passionate about your profession. Working at the Venture Capital Fund has elucidated this idea to me and it is one of the key taking points.
My Value Proposition
With this experience I have posted below what I perceive to be my value proposition at this point in time.
My Unique Personality
I love to do excel in multiple fields. I am passionate about sustainability and profitable enterprises with benevolent values. Apart from my professional progression I love to maintain a healthy lifestyle, playing team sports, practicing yoga and calisthenics. I also love to give back to my community having spent more than three years involved with a volunteering organization in Australia. Travelling is one of my greatest passions, having explored multiple continents and having learned about many countries unique cultures. These experiences have opened my personality to meeting new people and fuelled an intrigue towards fostering new ideas and mentalities.
My University Studies
I will be completing my bachelor of Business/Creative Intelligence and Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney in November. I completed a major in Finance. Creative Intelligence is a new degree at UTS that teaches students how to working in multidisciplinary teams to solve industry related problems. It is through my time here that I have developed the capacity to critically analyze and develop a structure towards learning new skills. Combined with the soft skills taught at Creative Intelligence I am capable of working alone or with others to create outcomes that involves multiple perspectives.
Professional Experience
I have work experience at multiple companies that range from an innovation design studio to a venture capital firm. With this I have developed the acumen to accomplish tasks in a professional capacity. Tasks can include operations, investment analysis, financial analysis, business strategy, data creation and development, business development and client engagement. I also have an extensive network of colleagues to lean on to.
Overall at this stage my value proposition is malleable, I lead a well-rounded lifestyle, will be completing an innovative degree in November, experienced in a range of tasks and have the capability to learn new tasks quickly.