#PowerToTheTeam — Celebrating CRV’s Newest Investors and Sharing Lessons Learned
By Team CRV
As we gear up to celebrate the one year anniversaries of three of CRV’s newest investors, we thought it would be a good opportunity to share their perspectives. Here are some insights on what their first years of being an important part of our early stage VC firm look like… including some important lessons learned and how others may be able to gain insight from their experiences.
They include Veronica Orellana, who joined CRV in May 2022; Chiraag Deora who joined in August 2022; and Brian Zhan, CRV’s newest investor who joined the crew earlier this year in January 2023.
Lesson One: Know Your Lifestyle Temperament and Work Preferences
Having previously worked in M&A at Oracle and investment banking at Barclays, Chiraag encourages those considering entering the VC world to think about their work style and personality as the intensity may not be for everyone.
“There are many jobs in the world of finance and investing that are very task oriented; your work day is focused on completing those specific assignments and then you go home. VC is much more open-ended,” Chiraag says. “There is always one more article you can read, one more call you can make or one more event you can attend. There is always more you can be doing and that kind of self-driven workload isn’t for everyone.”
Lesson Two: Invest in Relationships, Not for a “Deal”
“One of the most common pitfalls I’ve seen junior VCs lose sight of is the singular focus of chasing a deal,” Chiraag added. “If you are focused only on the deal, you are missing out on the long term benefits that come with establishing and growing relationships.“One of the best pieces of advice I’d offer to those who are just starting in this field is to focus less on the transaction and more on the people.” Echoing those sentiments, Brian adds that the trail you leave can make a huge difference in the long run and in your overall career trajectory. “It’s so important to provide value and to be genuinely helpful as an investor. People will remember you for your contributions to the team and the overall process long after the deal has closed,” says Brian.
Lesson Three: Preparation Is Paramount
Whether it’s an interview or meeting with a founder, all agree that preparation is critical for success.
“In addition to general research about the firm, I encourage everyone to read the online bios and social media accounts for the people you’ll be meeting and the other team members to gain a better understanding of the culture and people,” says Veronica. “You can also use some of what you learn as ice breakers — or even as a way to network into the company by connecting through a common bond whether it’s a business fraternity or another shared experience.” (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge you can discover fun facts about each of our investors, including who is a coffee aficionado and who played soccer competitively, by checking out CRV’s team page.)
“It’s really important to do your homework and to understand the tech the founder has built,” says Brian. “Before meeting with a founder, you want to make sure you understand the space and the best way to do that is read papers written by the founder. This is another way to demonstrate the value you bring — that you are genuinely interested in the company, you understand the mission. All of this also enables you to be more helpful — and that is really what can distinguish you from others and take your career to the next level.”
The Path to Becoming a VC
Unlike other careers in finance and business, there is no one specific academic path when it comes to a career in VC (though many go the business school route like Veronica did). Brian actually studied computer science at Northwestern University while Chiraag pursued Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign.
Having experience working in tech definitely helps grease the wheels if you’re interested in VC. Prior to his first VC role at another firm, Chiraag lived in the investment banking world over at Barclays. At Barclays he advised companies on their M&A strategy and helped them facilitate the transaction. During his three years at Oracle, he found himself on the other side of the coin, driving acquisitions for the business. Those experiences, at Barclays and Oracle, and the domain expertise he accrued diving deep into infrastructure software ended up being the perfect match for his prior VC firm and for CRV. Brian was at Facebook and Starburst Data before shifting to VC and he also angel invested in former Facebook colleagues’ startups which is where he first became interested in helping founders build out their businesses. Building out an open source community and a batch analytics business around that community was another endeavor that Brian found incredibly useful in terms of experiences he could share with the entrepreneurs he angel invested in. Veronica also brings firsthand startup experience from her tenure at Saturn, a time-based social network, but that was after her first VC job. While it’s rare to go straight from college directly into the VC world, Veronica was able to accomplish this due in part to a unique bonding activity her family had, watching Shark Tank episodes! Viewing the American reality TV series is what sparked a love for startups and innovation for Veronica. Since she knew early on that investing was where she wanted to be, business was the major for her. Nabbing that first coveted job at a VC firm straight out of college happened for Veronica in large part because of strong alumni connections. Her alma mater, U of M, held a career fair where her first VC employer had a presence and two of her fellow U of M students were also working there proving once again that relationships matter, especially in the VC world.
Are you a founder looking to work with an all-star team who is committed to your success? Get to know Chiraag, Veronica, Brian and our team and reach out. We’d love to show you that we’re always prepared, committed to the founders we partner with and ready to go the extra mile for the companies we back.
