Moving Away from Corporate Finance to Start-ups

Sophie is a 4th year Commerce and Law student at the University of Sydney where she began working in traditional finance roles such as investment banking. However, since working at NAB Ventures and various start-ups she has been extremely interested in the start-up space, where we asked her a couple of questions about her experience.

What sparked your interest in entrepreneurship?

I’m interested in entrepreneurship for multiple reasons. I’m drawn to the collaborative working style of startups, the excitement of pursuing a new idea and the immense amount of learning opportunities.

When I began university I wasn’t too aware of opportunities for graduates in small businesses. However, talking to people and friends working for startups made me super interested in pursuing entrepreneurship opportunities.

Tell us a bit about your learning and experience at NAB Ventures & Anility.

I worked at NAB Ventures in the Investments team for nearly a year. The key responsibilities of my role were deal origination, assessing potential investments, supporting the investment team in executing deals and assisting our portfolio companies with specific projects.

Here are some of my key learnings:

1. People matter. Before VC I worked in investment banking and equity research where I analysed companies in an extremely numerical way. I found the value of a startup was more about the idea and the likelihood that the particular team is able to execute it successfully, given the circumstances. Often the make or break decision came down to the team rather than any numerical analysis.
2. It may sound simple but investors want to see startups that provide unique solutions to real problems. Not all startups are solving a problem — particularly those that lack product-market fit and traction.

I am now working at an early-stage startup, Anility, which provides risk-management software to construction companies. As one of three employees, I tend to be a jack of all trades and work across marketing, sales and strategy whilst growing Anility’s customer base. It’s been incredibly exciting to see Anility achieve key milestones while experiencing tremendous personal growth.

What do you see yourself achieving in 5 years?

I’ve always tried to keep an open mind about my future. I don’t want to ignore any opportunities that may help fulfil other goals just because I have my mind set on a specific one.

Having said that, in 5 years I would love to have either founded my own startup or be working for a startup whose values I resonate with. In the meantime, I want to be learning as much as possible — whether that’s through my studies, my job or just getting out into the world and understanding what could be better.

Why do you think students should get involved in the startup space? And for those interested, do you have any tips, tools or resources?

I would recommend any student to consider working at a startup for two key reasons.

1. The learning opportunities: At a startup you will likely be given more responsibilities and work on tasks across multiple fields as opposed to if you were to work in a larger business, where you may only focus on one niche.
2. The people: Everyone I’ve worked with in the startup space has been passionate, driven and invested in my development. I believe having people you can look up to and can mentor you is crucial.

Here are my top tips for landing a job at a startup or VC fund:

1. Network

Here I’m not just talking about startup events or career fairs (all though they are great for landing a job). Building a network of friends and acquaintances while at University is incredible valuable. My network has notified me of job vacancies and have often led to warm introductions to people working at startups or in VC. I would highly recommend being involved in entrepreneur student societies (such as Textbook Ventures!). Also don’t be afraid to ask someone for a coffee. You’d be surprised at how willing people are to share their experiences and answer any questions you have.

2. Work on finding what really interests you

If you want to impress a founder enough for them to hire you I would highly recommend thinking about what industries, problems or topics really interest you. Having a passion for startups and the particular industry they operate in is essential in landing a job. For me, I found I had a deep interest in startups within the finance and property sectors. Both industries are undergoing rapid change due to changing regulatory environments, competition and technological advancements. This gets me excited about working in one or both of these industries now and in the future.

3. Apply, apply, apply!

I’ve applied to many job vacancies over my time at University — most were rejections. However, only by trying do you succeed, and it was my persistence in sending in applications that rewarded me with experience when I finally landed a role.

My most valuable advice is to not doubt yourself. If you vibe with the company and like the role description, then go for it! Some resources I’ve found helpful for finding job openings are AngelList (mainly for US based companies), LinkedIn, Hatch and InsideSherpa. VCs such as Blackbird, AirTree and Reinventure post their portfolio companies’ job vacancies on their website, which can also be worth checking out. Student societies also often advertise startup job openings, so make sure you sign up to their newsletters.

4. Cold emailing

It might be scary, but I would highly recommend cold emailing the founder / CEO of any startups you are super interested in. Startups don’t always advertise openings and often hire from their network. When emailing make sure to emphasise why you are interested in that particular company and what you could bring to their team. Also, make sure you keep the email as short as possible!

Check out more stories like this at Textbook Ventures’ Medium publication.

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