Tips for VC Interviewing

Originally posted on twitter in October 2020

I hosted two workshops this week on how to interview for a VC internship or full-time job. 100+ students got the tips and tricks but that still leaves a lot of people trying to figure out what to expect, so here goes

Our recruiting process:

• 📱Phone screen (one on one, 15–20 min.)
• 👩‍💻Complete an activity (on your own, 2–3 hr.)
• 💬Discuss activity, test skills, and get to know each other better (two or three on one, 60 min.)

Here is what the phone screen looks like:

• 👋CV intro
• 🗨Your intro
• 👍What startups do you like?
• 🚀Which of our portfolio companies are most exciting?
• 🛑Which of our portfolio companies made you pause?

Why these questions? I am testing for:

• 😍Are you passionate about VC and entrepreneurship?
• 🤔Can you think critically and share those thoughts respectfully even if they may create conflict?
• 🤯Do you put the work in?

(If you think this is a lot of work for a 20 min., conversation, remember that I do this every time I speak with another VC!)

The activity portion of our interview has changed over time (and will continue to do so!) but is always related to the work we actually do in VC. Examples include: