Investment Memos for VC Interviews

A Guide to Prepare for your Final Round Interview

Congrats you have received a final round interview to a traditional early-stage (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A) VC firm! After all the coffee chats, the warm introduction from your friend, and a successful first round interview where you have shared your passion for technology and contributions to the startup ecosystem now you have been invited to give a presentation on a potential portfolio company. If you were like me (before my second round VC interview), you may have never prepared an investment memo. So where do you start? What’s the correct format? In this post, I will provide background on the following:

1. Why you are doing this exercise
2. What company or industry you should pick to evaluate
3. What questions you need to answer
4. The format of your investment memo presentation

1. Why you are doing this exercise

You may be thinking, I thought VC was an apprenticeship model where I would get on the job training from general partners on how to procure, evaluate, and secure early-stage venture deals. Well, that’s partly true. Especially if you are interviewing for a post-MBA associate/sr. associate/principal role. Venture Capital firms will…