all stages of funding should be done by angels, institutions/HNW investing principally, ending with bigcorp acquisitions

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909311)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909342)

TLDR: No

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909685)

There's a big difference between Sequoia, KPCB, Benchmark, etc, and the smaller funds. It's very top-heavy.

But there are two main ways:

1) Network like crazy to be an associate and then leave after two years

2) Have an exit and be invited to join as a Partner.

2 is infinitely better than 1.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909713)

what industries?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909407)

so the opportunities that cross your desk are basically almost always inferior, no? they’re ones the top names probably already passed on

also do you do series a or later stage investments? the latter seems increasingly like a suckers game

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909718)

We do series A and seed, but really series A as product market fit is really important to us. Series B + is more growth equity and that's a different ballgame.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909728)

i’d probably miss selling overvalued stock to stupid retail investors if i were a vc investor

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909753)

how would a financial sponsors investment banker make money from you? ie how do they add value, assuming any do? i bet you hate sell side bankers (99% of vc guys do)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909769)

we don't make money from vcs. all our pitch decks have PE firm names on them and if u want to know my team's breakdown of revenue it was 85% from corporates and 15% from pe and misc like getting some kickback leveraging our cap markets for bundled financing M&A/lbo deals

pe firms get GIANT DISCOUNTS in fees but we deal with this shit because even a large corp may only do 1 deal every few years, but PE firms have such high volume we're constantly sucking their dick cause it's a familiar dick. similar to whores preferring 1 sugar daddy paying them less but is a regular customer for 10 years vs pitching 10 sugar daddies who only have 1-2 fuck sessions to give.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912989)

i’d rather be paid $80k to do vc than $400k to be a corporate lawyer fyi

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40909781)

if u wanna cold call 40 hours a week email me

i know plenty of firms including surveymonkey who will pay u $80k for that

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40913262)

Do you have to live in the Bay Area on that salary?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40913254)

what do u mean ur seeing it today

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40910134)

i've seen it before too but it sucks for everyone on the call

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40913228)

In other words, I have no fucking clue, but maybe Emergence, QED? They’re not small but you probably haven’t heard of them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40911762)

not trying to be rude, but imo people who end up at that level are on the fast track very early on

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912064)

A more realistic target is Bus Dev Director at a startup/ portfolio co. And then re-looping once there's an exit.

You seem to know more than you're letting on. Are you in the industry?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912069)

but neither is having to suck miles of cock of those above you for decades of your life

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912261)

megafund PE > upper mid market > top 5 VC sequoia accel etc. > mid market PE > growth equity > lower mid market PE > large vc > in-n-out manager > small vc

there's nothing to do at the vc stage if ur not a partner. there's no financials. there's no analysis. all u do is cold call and try to get a top startup to take ur shitty deal and preference stack before they ultimately email sequoia which is why it's a winner take all since 95% of startups fail and the good ones know exactly who to email first and it's not going to be nyreal & batgod's VC firm

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912569)

who cares if cross admit battle between blackstone/kkr and sequoia is 70% vs. 80%. or maybe it's 60%.

what matters is can u retire early with a yacht or a few houses or never and just continue wage cucking.

Because when u die ur bones turn to ash and all u had was ur shitty meager blip of an existence

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912919)

it's VERY HARD to make partner in a vc firm, it's harder in small shitty ones because if someone is in the position to boost u up to replace them, they would have to quit or die. there's no structure and very little meat to go around all the hungry mouths. and ur entirely 100% replaceable since ur a cold calling machine.

it's actually easier at sequoia to get partner vs. a generic vc or shit vc because if u get lucky and the stars align u may have enough experience in a niche field in a large org to sneak past the door and then get inside.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40912979)

what makes you think they'd (top VC) ever offer a job to someone who would turn them down for KKR/BX

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40913945)

top vc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> blackstone. with blackstone, you're managing executives at hilton hotels and jacob's cream crackers

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40966866)

it's all prestige and 0 pay. some of these guys live in SF with 3 roommates in a fucking box apartment.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40914494)

in those situations u'd rather be in the startup

mark zuckerberg got rich

the 20th employee at facebook got rich

peter thiel got rich

but even peter thiel's junior didn't see shit, much less some smaller vc firm's associates on those big exits

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40920395)

Technical: just me

Finance: everyone else

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40914035)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40914038)

how rich do you think a guy like that is

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40914303)

They are champs at the seed round and thus could have better returns than VCs on a percentage basis since most VCs come in at later seed or Series A. They have an institutional advantage over professional VCs in that they can spray and are faster moving, less bureaucratic.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40916725)

i.e. analysts, summer interns

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40916733)

if so, what happens when they join, they dont report to u?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40916839)

The company due diligence is based off of understanding the competitive landscape which we do by reading analyst reports on the market place, googling and connecting the dots. We also look for key unique selling points that the company states they have, which from what I’ve seen isn’t really challenged. We also do customer reference checks which are laughable.

So bottom line: the due diligence is really looking for information to back the fact that the company has product market fit and why we’ll invest so we can justify our decisions to the LPs. In my firm at least it’s not very forward looking. The lack of forward thought/ independent insight is remarkable. Ultimately, we’re a bunch of guys making bets hoping to get lucky, and the due diligence is more to justify capital calls than anything else. Not very different from what IB analysts do.

I do believe there are VC firms out there with more insight than us, but not too many. The point about whether we’ll exclusively get shitty deals as a no name brand VC I don’t completely agree with - you can establish ties with hot startups by connecting with them even if you’re a shitty firm if you have something in common with them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40921522)

The only insight you've had is that the economics of VC firms are very much captured by the top partner(s), despite VC firms increasingly calling everyone a "partner." If you're smart and technical, you should start a company. No in-demand founder is going to want some 31 yr old with his own "VC firm" investing if he has any real options, so you'd only get the shitty opportunities. There are rare exceptions (e.g., Fred Wilson), but most of the people who do really well in VC have been a successful founder or at least at a really high level exec of a company that had a big exit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40920484)

and i don't mean just celebs like shaq o neil or jessica alba or ashton kutcher who are actually good and at least have a big wallet. i'm talking ex-oracle ex-microsoft balding 40 year old losers with barely $4mm bucks to scrape together hiring an army of cheap kids

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40920595)

Even if you're at a shit VC firm, you'd think youd have an actual thought on rolling funds.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40920641)

you see this repeated in reddit and places where they hang out, like "ofc they'll want to fund a 35 year old staff engineer who has never shown any entrepreneurial inclination in his entire life!"

meanwhile actual successful vc-backed entrepreneurs are 20 y/o dropout child prodigies or older tech "vagabonds" with a string of successful exits

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40924991)

In other words, the 20 year old has been:

1) working on the entire business end to end

2) shows commitment to an idea and most likely has product market fit

3) can grind

Similarly for the veteran who’s had end to end experience, and has validation thru exits. He’ll be a better fit for B2B since he can hire grinders for him.

Ironically the mid level engineers are too narrow in their scope to both the college drop out and the veteran. In FAANG, you’re hired for a singular task and do it for 10-25 years before your scope starts broadening out again. At FAANG, you don’t do business, you do a task.

If there’s one key above all to VC investing it’s this: “product-market fit”

Hope that answers your question.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40927815)

you probably think VC experience is a good background to be fundable and then successful

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4623146&forum_id=2#40930292)