How to become a Venture Capitalist

Venture capital companies collect funds from Limited, Third-party Investors and then invest in and support a young, potential-high-growth, and profitable businesses in return for equity, company ownership. Their objective is then to grow these organizations for potential return on investment (ROI) when the organization is prosperous, and ultimately exit through acquisitions or public initial offerings (IPOs).

·       Attend meetings with different budding entrepreneurs, industrialists, etc.

·       Network at conferences, financial and funding seminars, and other economic events

·       Meet start-up teams for potential investments

·       Research on potential company’s deals, market projections, financial statements, records and on their products and services

·       Perform background check on prospective company and on the entrepreneurs before investing

·       Question and communicate to personnel involved at all levels in the potential organization

·       Conduct financial modelling, business plan analysis, and valuation drills on prospective investment company

·       Look for exciting and profitable investment opportunities

·       Be updated about market developments and industry trends

·       Cold-call target organizations to obtain information and schedule meeting with the founders

·       Draft agreement for negotiating terms and conditions of acquisitions, executing transactions, and exit portfolio

·       Pre-qualify best start-up and recommend those to superiors

·       Perform quantitative and qualitative risk analysis

·       Work with administration to understand business developments

·       Identify and provide investment opportunities to interested third-party investors

·       Supervise on invested firms for profit returns.

To begin with financial literacy, confidence with numbers, impeccable research, quantitative and analytical skills is a prerequisite to be successful in this career. One should also have proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel and VBA.

A person taking up a career in this field must have high resilience and the ability to face the consequences when things get difficult. The career is suited to confident individuals with endless enthusiasm, high achievers who are ambitious and competitive with a supreme work ethic and the ability to handle immense pressure. Venture Capitalist must be able to manage both time and projects well which requires commitment, dedication, and high energy.

Along with excellent team leadership and teamwork skills, one needs to have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, having long work hours with minimal supervision. To succeed in this profession, individual need to have eye for detail and ability to organize and track overlapping tasks.

Strong professional communication, interpersonal, negotiation, persuasion and presentation skills will also benefit. The knowledge of deal structuring and closing principals will be helpful. Venture Capitalist will also need good judgement and decision making skills to make informed choices.

They need to also review data; thereby having research and analytical skills are essential. They need to be logical, efficient, orderly, enterprising and organized individuals. They must be prompt at critical thinking, problem solving, and business management.