AMA: Worked at tier 2 VC - got in post a few years of workex and a tier 2 Indian uni
Go ahead, ask if we pushed founders to commit fraud.
What stops you from *stealing* an idea that you found mind-blowing from a pitch of a startup trying to get a seed funding?
SmugTurnip
Stealth
a year ago
+1 to this
Whowhatwhy
Stealth
a year ago
+1 to this
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What do you exactly do?
How did you get in?
How much money do you make & growth you see over the years?
And how do you crack top tier VC roles in the investment domain.
Asking for my Lil bro.
I don't care about the frauds you can do as many as you want.
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
-speak to founders and evaluate PPTs, post this if we feel it's a good deal - take it to seniors. If it works well, deal goes thru and you work with portfolio once in a while to see how things are shaping up
-got in via a solid referral
-associates at tier 2 can make anywhere between 40-60L, growth is like a consulting firm only. Carry component doesn't happen / get triggered in a short span of time
-top tier roles are super hard to get even after being in tier 2 VCs
Associates at Tier 2 can make 40-60L
You’re referring to post MBA role?
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As a possible career path in the future,What is the tc (base, bonus,carry) at VP or principal levels
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Tier 1:
-1.5 to 2cr + 40-50% bonus + smol carry
Tier 2:
-75L to 1.2cr + similar bonus + smol carry
Carry is pointless if you don't stay for 10 years after getting carry - else it won't materialize.... fund cycles are super long
Thanks! Is this for VP or principal? Assuming VP is partner-2 and principal is partner-1
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MetalMan20
Stealth
a year ago
I have more specific questions focused around opportunities in VC, would be great if you could help me understand those.
1. What VCs are considered tier 2 in your opinion? Could you share a few names that would help me anchor it to similar sized funds
2. When you spoke about referral, was it from an internal team member or a portfolio founder ? What works best in these situations to get a foot in the door
3. Are operators considered or given weightage for these roles ?
Have a similar journey and been a 2X founder as well. Come from a fairly good college, but I am sure that'd be considered tier-2 in the Indian context. So super curious to know :) Been trying to crack into it for 2 months to understand the opp and entry into the domain
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
1. Tier 2 would be blume, chiratae, antler, kalaari (this is an inbetweener), fireside etc
2. Both work, a senior internal member works better tho - in my case id worked in consulting with a senior member, the referral became much easier
3. They have started to give this major weightage in a few firms, but really depends on the partner that's hiring. Some still have fuck all mandates to only hire pedigree-d folks. If you've been a successful founder in the past (even some funding), you should be good imo
Best of luck on the process my friend, you'll get there! Ps: you should also cold email a ton of foreign VCs just to start working part time for free for their partners (some parts of their work), after some persistence they usually cave in and give you some work - just show some enthusiasm
AverageNITStudent
Student
a year ago
What make vcs invest in 1.Companies which don't have a reasonable model for profits in future. 2.Companies with a product which already have established big players
AverageNITStudent
Student
a year ago
Plus what happens if the company you invested is not able to give any returns for long time or the company shut downs. How this affects your careeer path
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
1. Profit model: on paper has to work
2. This is the whole point VCs exist. You don't NEED to have a dunzo and a zepto, but there's capital to be deployed
3. 80% of outcomes are expected to lose/bleed + VC funds have a 10 year horizon. So this is usually fine if something shuts
Hello @Apothecary
How do you like what you do as a VC?
Are you currently on a track role? If not, how do you look at being a VC vs. building?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
-found it pretentious
-building is way better, before becoming a VC
Hey, thanks for taking out the time to do this!
I’m Currently working as a Senior Analyst in the capability arm of a MBB consulting firm. V passionate regarding VC and would want to ideally make the switch soon. Would be great to know your thoughts on the following:
a) What do you think of the current hiring market? Do you think it’ll get better or stay as it is? I’ve heard a lot of funds are not laying off but rather pausing hiring
b) Would you recommend to wait for an opportunity with a Tier 1/1.5 firm and stay at my current company or be willing to switch to a Tier 2/2.5 VC with the hope of moving to Tier 1?
c) If I cannot make the switch to a Tier 1/1.5 VC directly, will the experience of working in a hedge fund/public market fund be considered valuable?
Would be extremely insightful if you can let me know any tips that helped you get an offer.
Thanks a lot!
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
I can tell you're from BCN my friend - haven't heard great things about the work there so id suggest you switch asap, now to your Qs:
1. Funds aren't hiring much for analysts because deal flow and cheques are down
2. I highly recommend switching to a tier 1 startup and then going back to VC. Your opps will be much higher that way
3. Nope. Completely different fields
Hey man - thanks a lot for responding!
Just a few follow up Qs if you don’t mind -
a) the BCN part is fascinating - have people in VC started to look down upon it?
b) And yeah, exactly, since deal flow is down, do you expect it to get better anytime soon? Basically I’m trying to understand if I should take up any VC opportunity I can find the earliest or wait for an opportunity with a fund I’d actually want to join
c) Hmm the tier 1 startup thing I’ve heard from other people too - how would you personally define Tier 1 startups? Series D/E and T1 investors? Also, how long would I need to stay at a startup before making the switch to VC?
Thanks again!
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101ABC
Stealth
a year ago
What is your background tech or non-tech? If non-tech, how do you identify the potential of tech deals?
shaatirbilli
Stealth
a year ago
Following
CristianoMessi
Stealth
a year ago
+1
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What can be typical fund size range to be considered as a Tier-2 VC fund in India. Also what might be the pay range for an analyst at a Tier-2 VC fund?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Anything from 30-200M
We are building a SaaS from a tier 2 city. No big network/connections into the VC world. We are cold pitching and 5-6 firms have given 2nd, 3rd meetings. We are pre revenue. Have few hundreds(300) on our waitlist. With the current meetings I can say a few of them are convinced on the team and the market. But we are stuck in a chicken & egg problem. Everyone says, convince one Angel/VC to invest (irrespective of cheque size) we will co-lead. No one wants to take the first risk. How do you view this? Can you take a meeting with us? Do you guys even invest on anyone w/o strong referrals, uni tags or big corporate exp. ? We are just a group of builders w/o any of it.
angryceo
Stealth
a year ago
There are multiple opportunities. I can't give much info but hit up First Cheque - they have been solid with backing resilient founders lately
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Get your pitch to be the best thing you're speaking about. People love confidence, you need to own the room and show people that you're the one to build what you're doing. I've seen deals happen purely based on founded confidence
donna
Stealth
a year ago
What do VCs look at while hiring associates?
Currently working as a software Developer, looking for a change. Do you think this is something I can do?
StuckInBlr
Stealth
a year ago
Following 👀
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Picture this: Analysts at VCs are glorified call center callers
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Why did you mention Tier 2 two times? No one will judge you basis any tiers hopefully here.
The startup and VC world should lose the tiers <3
I guess cause it matters in this context
Tier 1 Uni kid gets into MBB post college from where he gets inbound calls from Top Funds.
While usually Tier 2 funds hire people without any rigid barriers
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
I wish but as @Malexistensialcrisis mentioned - only pedigree bros get into t1
GV_influenzer
Student
a year ago
How do you discover new startups and evaluate them ?
What is the one problem you face in your work flow which you think can be solved through a SAAS ?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Tracxn solves a lot imo. Deal sourcing is mostly through a closed network
treyhey
Stealth
a year ago
What are they looking for while hiring? What makes them wet their pants
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Astute decision making
shaatirbilli
Stealth
a year ago
Do you have any idea what the marketing/growth team does in a vc? If yes, do you think they are taken seriously in the org?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Very few have these and if they do exists, it's to push things within portfolio
angryceo
Stealth
a year ago
Recently been working with a tier 1 VC, and the major push is in Deal Sourcing. Is it similar in all VC offices?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Very very much so - whether you close or not, doesn't matter. Just ensure you get calls done with anyone who gets picked during surge or atoms. Whether your partner agrees or not, doesn't matter
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ConcurrentThinker
Stealth
a year ago
@Apothecary Are there any repercussions to any of the portfolio companies going bust or rogue? Are these held against the partner who did the initial due diligence?
Were these cases some companies were dropped not due to the business value but the valuation or funding being requested? At what stage of funding are these points discussed?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Really depends on the level of bust, but in most cases you know that some bets will be off, that's baked into your projected irr
Investor3823
Student
a year ago
Why do you guys invest in companies like Zepto , ByJu’s , Blinkit . Even basic common sense tells that those business models don’t make sense . Or is it like you guys just cut the cheque on founders pedigree and then just sleep and ignore all the diligences and audits
The Quick commerce business models has been frequently labelled as senseless business model by a lot of people who aren’t actually aware of how it works and how it plans to scale.
Once a quick commerce startup exceeds a certain threshold of users and store and optimised efficiently it’s gonna scale pretty fast. New consumer habits are starting to develop. Consumers have always wanted things faster and it isn’t gonna change. Everything indicates to the space growing so much in the coming decade. So if someone can get in early and hold prominent market share the profits are gonna be astronomical.
Investor3823
Student
a year ago
The diligences and audits part
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Immortal
Student
a year ago
Are there chances for a fresh graduate to join a vc as an intern?
Apothecary
Stealth
a year ago
Yep, try a few smaller micro VCs
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