What the roles actually involve, how hiring really works, and the practical resources to get noticed.
Sourcing, market research, building models, screening inbound deal flow. Usually the most junior investing seat; heavy on research and pattern-matching across many companies.
More ownership of deal evaluation, first meetings with founders, writing investment memos, and starting to build their own network and thesis.
Leads deals, sits on boards, makes the final call in investment committee, and is accountable for fund returns.
Supports portfolio companies directly — recruiting, marketing, finance — without making investment decisions themselves.
Part-time or advisory investing role, often an operator or former founder who sources and champions specific deals.
An adjacent path — working directly for a fund's own leadership or for portfolio company founders, often a stepping stone into investing roles.
Most VC funds run lean — a handful of investment professionals, sometimes fewer than ten. There often isn't a formal recruiting pipeline at all, which is exactly why most hires come through referrals, networking, or a standout cold email rather than a job board.
Because teams are small and turnover is low, roles often aren't advertised publicly. This makes proactive outreach — a well-targeted, well-argued cold email with a real investment thesis attached — one of the few reliable ways in.
An investment memo is a structured written case for (or against) investing in a specific company — it's the clearest way to prove you can think like an investor before anyone gives you the job. A strong memo usually covers:
Writing 2–3 of these on real companies you find genuinely interesting — unprompted — is one of the strongest things you can attach to a cold email.
Try the Interactive Memo Room →Seven hypothetical startup cases across SaaS, fintech, marketplace, consumer, deep tech, AI, and a failed-startup postmortem. Make the call, then see the full bull/bear breakdown — this is especially useful prep for VC interviews.
"Pitch me a company you'd invest in" or "walk me through how you'd evaluate this market." Practice structuring an answer, not memorizing one.
Know the fund's stated thesis, recent investments, and be ready to discuss why a specific portfolio company is (or isn't) a good bet in hindsight.
Be ready to defend a specific investment view you hold — with real market sizing and named competitors, not just "AI is big."
One clear sentence on who you are, a specific reason you're reaching out to this fund, and a low-friction ask.
Problem → market size → why now → competitive landscape → your view, with a stated conclusion.
Team, market, product, traction, competition, unit economics — the same lens most funds use to screen.
Use the Investment Memo Room to apply this template with your own inputs.
Apply the Startup Analysis Framework to 7 hypothetical cases in the Case Room.
Strong VC candidates can move from facts to an investment thesis, identify uncertainty, and ask high-information questions.
Analyze why investors funded a loss-making marketplace and which improving metrics changed the risk profile.
Practice technical diligence, evidence verification and governance red flags.
Analyze product-led growth, collaboration and strategic acquisition value.