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Venture Capital Careers - How to Break Into VC
The VC Academy is a self-paced online program covering the core startup frameworks and concepts used by venture capital investors.
* Syllabus & Program Guide (PDF) covers course overview, detailed syllabus, fees and everything you need to know to get started.
How VC Firms Hire
Venture capital firms do not recruit through formal pipelines or campus placements. Unlike consulting or investment banking, there is no standardized entry path into venture capital. Hiring is typically opportunistic, unstructured, and highly selective.
Roles open infrequently and are often filled based on timing, fund needs, and prior working relationships. As a result, VC hiring is opaque and difficult to plan for from the outside. While referrals and networking can create access, they rarely determine outcomes on their own.
Ultimately, hiring decisions depend on whether a candidate can contribute to investment decision-making in uncertain, early-stage contexts. This is why VC interviews and informal evaluations tend to focus less on resumes and more on how a candidate reasons through unfamiliar businesses.
Common entry points into VC roles are startup operating roles (such as strategy or growth functions), management consulting, investment banking, founder or early-stage operator experience. These backgrounds provide exposure, but they do not guarantee entry into venture capital on their own.
What VC Firms Look For in Candidates
At junior and mid levels, venture capital firms are not evaluating credentials in isolation. While certain backgrounds are common, the central question is straightforward: can this person think like an investor?
In practice, this means judgment over knowledge. VC firms look for candidates who can reason from first principles, assess markets and competitive dynamics, understand business model mechanics, and identify key risks. They want candidates who are comfortable forming views with incomplete or imperfect information.
Because most aspiring VC professionals lack direct investing experience, this creates a signaling gap. It is difficult to demonstrate real exposure to investment judgment through resumes, networking, or passive consumption of startup content alone.
VC Academy is designed to close this signaling gap.
It provides structured exposure to how venture capitalists actually evaluate startups, offering a more credible signal than networking-led fellowships that lack rigorous decision-making frameworks.
VC Career Handbook - How To Get Into Venture Capital
Download this guide to explore a career in venture capital. Understand the roles, opportunities, and entry paths across the VC and startup ecosystem, along with a clear 6-step roadmap to prepare yourself.
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Program Overview
Understand how startups and venture capital funds operate within the broader ecosystem.
Learn core venture capital terminology, financial metrics, and VC-specific concepts.
Develop the ability to evaluate startups for early-stage investment decisions.
Analyze startup news and market developments through a VC lens.
Understand and evaluate venture term sheets and key deal terms.
Learning Outcomes
Who is this Program for
Professionals actively pursuing a career in venture capital or private markets.
Returning Indians with international education or experience seeking roles in startups or VC firms.
Students and early-career candidates looking to strengthen applications for VC jobs and internships.
Program Format
19 Video Sessions in an Asynchronous Format.
Deal Room Simulator Exercises.
Case Study – Detailed Evaluation of an Investment.
Option to Interact with the Instructor in a Group for Clarifications and Guidance.
Certificate Eligibility
Complete the VC Academy program (recommended pace: five weeks) within a six-month access period.
Attempt all deal simulation exercises and submit the final case study.