A Week in the Life at Rough Draft VC: The HBS Perspective
I wear two hats as a student at HBS: one as a case-reading, hand-raising, Spangler-lunching student, and the other as an advocate for student-led startups on campus as a student team member at Rough Draft Ventures. As an ambassador to the student founder community, my bifurcated responsibilities have led to the most interesting conversations, fortuitous meetings and parts of campus I never would have explored otherwise.
Throughout the year, fellow students have asked what it really means to be a student team member at RDV, so here is an attempt to share what a week in the life of an HBS Rough Draft student team member is like:
Each week, I spent 4–5 hours meeting with 6–7 companies learning about what they are working on and the problems they are solving. I’ll meet with founders that are are building a one-stop-shop for navigating the healthcare journey, or a company that is changing the way we shop by delivering a single-click buy experience to any image, video, or app. HBS is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. We have a variety of entrepreneurship programs as part of the curriculum and organizations affiliated with the school, like the Rock Center and the iLab. I spend a lot of time at Harvard’s iLab, which runs a venture incubation program that provides resources for students working on startups.
Dozens of startups take shape in classes like FieldX or Founders’ Journey. One of my favorite startups that came out of HBS in the FieldX course is trying to maximize utility of the browser. The founder really impressed me both during classes we had together — his tie to the vision based on his previous work in the space, and his relentless pursuit to built a product that addresses the fragmented browser experience that companies face. I find great joy in the diversity of founders coming out of HBS. I see lots of companies founded by women or underrepresented minorities, and I try to prioritize my meetings with those teams.
In those initial meetings, I look for passion, founder-market fit, milestones accomplished and the depth of the product itself. There is a misconception that HBS yields non-technical products, but I find that many of my classmates have CS or engineering backgrounds and build MVPs or full products. I also spend time connecting with founders from other schools throughout the greater Boston area that fellow RDV student team members attend, providing a second opinion before determining whether to invite founders into a pitch meeting.
Beyond the coffee chats, the culmination of my week happens fairly early, on Monday nights. Our team gathers for an action packed night. We arrive promptly at 5pm at the General Catalyst Office, catching up with one another on the happenings of our week before being joined by a special guest. We’ve met with tech luminaries from across Boston including Katie Rae of The Engine, Rob Go of NextView Ventures, and Ellen Rubin of Clearsky Data. We get to know each guest on a personal level, and have a pretty informal discussion where we get to ask him or her our own questions. These guests have shaped my thinking around what ingredients are needed to build a successful early stage company in Boston, and subsequently how to evaluate a startup at the earliest stage.
After our special guest, two student founded teams that we’ve invited in pitch our larger student team. We listen to the pitch, and ask questions based on our prior knowledge of the company. When the companies have left, it’s time for the hard part: over dinner we debate the merits of the company — assessing the product, founders, market, and fit within the RDV community. These debates can get pretty intense. We all have differing opinions and sway each other in different directions. Yet that is what makes our decision making effective. By the end of the night, we ultimately make a group recommendation as to whether or not to back the team with up to $25,000 in capital.
For one of the companies I worked most closely with, I’ve helped them with pitch practice, connect with other investors in the RDV network, and have even helped them meet potential hires at our community events. A new Rough Draft portfolio company actually had me work with them on their partnership pitch deck for a final project of a class. We developed the slides, created a story arc and fleshed out the specific ask for the company’s needs. We even practiced giving the presentation together. For me, this is the most fulfilling part of working with teams at the earliest stage: being able to move the needle for a team in such a major way. I have been the lead for several companies and have even had the opportunity to work with one RDV company as they raised a formal seed round. I helped him him practice his pitch, and connected him to other mentors in the RDV network.
The months have flown by, and I can’t believe my routine of chai lattes and founder conversations in Harvard Square is drawing to a close. I’m still available as a resource for any student founder from HBS or elsewhere, to bounce ideas off of or provide connections and resources. For anyone who is interested in joining the team next year, and for those entrepreneurs who are still students, don’t hesitate to reach out! You can find me at ellen@roughdraft.vc or on Twitter as @ellenjdasilva.
