The Story of How I Got Into VC
Michelangelo: Do you want to hear about my most embarassing day of my life?
Everyone else: Oh, Michelangelo, we really don’t have time for that. Give us your unique formula for success!
Michelangelo: That’s a pity! I have to disappoint you and say there is no such formula. But what if I told you that my initial question led me to where I am today, would you believe me?
Everyone else: We don’t believe you, but we might listen if you promise it is indeed a true story.
Michelangelo: I promise, and you will have a great laugh at it. Can I begin?
Everyone else: Yes.
Michelangelo: Excellent, once upon a time….
The year was 2016, and I had recently turned 19.
My founders and I were ready for a day out of the ordinary. We had applied for a startup-event to raise $100k for our newly funded project, and today was the initial pitch-night.
Our pitch deck was perfect, and we had worked all day to make it complete. We even bought one of our founders, a cowboy hat, as we might look more legit by doing so. We chuckled when we looked at him; he seems like the real deal.
Unfortunately, I was the one to pitch, and I did not have any cowboy street creds nor shark tank experince. But I did have confidence, a lot of it.
Before we entered the room, I reminded my two founders that we have to look experienced and business-savvy. Then we invaded the floor filled with other startup’s founders, not fully aware of what was ahead of us.
It was already time for pitching, and all teams had one minute to present their ideas. The stage was all mine, and the audience cheered when they saw a young guy walking up.
I don’t remember much besides walking off after only 15 seconds with the whole audience looking at me like living interrogation marks. The silence was broken by the organizer of the event, saying: Oh, that was lightning fast, give a round of applause to Michelangelo. Again, little did we know that things would go even more south in the next round, namely the investor one-on-one.
It was again our turn, and the cowboy hat was taken off in full embarrassment before entering the little oval room. Our power-point slides were already on the screen, and I could spot right away a significant spelling mistake. The investors chuckled when they recognized the 15 seconds guy.
Oh, we were in for a ride, and it was going to be bumpy.
What is your business plan?
What is your revenue model?
Who are your customers?
How will you spend the money?
In which market are you competing?
How does the market look like in the next five years?
How will we make money by investing in your company?
My stellar confidence went from the Champions League to Sunday League in a split of a second. Holy macaroni, we had no clue; we did not even have a concrete business plan.
We gazed between the three of us, and stutter some random words here and there, but we had no understanding of what was happening around us. As the investigation continues, we fell deeper and deeper into the hole, until the point where panic took complete control of us. The investors proceeded to roast us on the flames of hell. And seemed to enjoy their prey; three stupid startup-founder with no idea of what they were doing. Nice catch, I thought.
At one point, the investor realized our ignorance and shifted the tone to a more understanding one. After all, they might have appreciated our hustle. It ended with all of us having a good laugh, and that we still have an enormous amount of hours of work ahead of us.
This entirely new experience shook the three of us. But we also felt that it was a revolutionary moment, as we had gone through the worst possible scenario, so what could be possibly fear in the future?
To fully become an investor-ready startup, I had to understand the rules of the game, that was the biggest lesson I learned that day.
Ironically, that day fueled me with sincere enthusiasm to grasp these rules of the game. It was the tipping point that sparked my interest in venture capital, and I promised myself, that one day I would on the other side of the table.
The story above is one of the many, and I have accumulated tons of others during the last three years. After each, I learned something new that I took with me onto the next situation. After all, small crumbles all together are the result of whole bread. And I developed a habit of collecting every crumble of knowledge.
Fast forward, three years, and I am suddenly an analyst intern at a venture capital firm. The odds of entering the industry are microscopic. And did you know there are more professional basketball players than venture capitalists? So the million-dollar question is what specific skills got me here in the first place.
What got me here was my unique story, my hustle to be vulnerable and my willingness to fail in front of a board of investors at the age of 19.
The keyword is resilience.
Resilience turned a catastrophic event into a learning opportunity. Resilience made me persist on my journey and not give up on the first sign of failure. It might seem obvious or vague, but I challenge you to tell your failures openly. I challenge all of you who want to join this industry to be willing to fail and to get back up.
Resilience is what will get you here, and what will make you endure in the game. Willingness to fail is the life-blood of VC and the very same blood that should pump into your veins.
I got into venture capital as a consequence of being in highly vulnerable situations. It was never the end destination, but rather a series of lessons I learned that got me there.
What venture capitalist looks for in interns are good stories and unique perspectives about the world. The key here is to have a set of stories which are congruent with a specific career, as ultimately, our stories are what makes us unique from anyone else. This is not merely true for venture capital alone, but for any other career, we aim for in life.
Be willing to fail, be prepared to lose, and be enthusiastic about taking life with a grain of salt. I want to end this article on a high note, and a with only one action point.
Strive to become extraordinary at telling your story and accumulating unique experiences.
That is the skill that got me into VC.
The last few words
Venture Insider would love to hear your voice.
You can be a part of the change.
We strongly believe that everyone has a story to be shared and that there is invariably something to learn from everyone.
Reach out to ventureinsider@gmail.com if you are on a mission and wants to be heard. Get in touch with us to get your story featured to a bigger audience.
