Soapbox of the Month

Networking for Emerging VCs: Why Your Peers Are Your Best Asset

Written by Emily

This version is shortened for optimal viewing. Read the FULL VERSION of this Soapbox moment on Medium.

Networking within the VC industry can be incredibly nuanced and daunting for VC newbies. VC is a relationship-based business, and it’s natural to aspire to connect with the industry’s elite: managing directors and partners at leading firms, investors with extraordinarily successful portfolios, and thought leaders or LinkedIn influencers.

While the importance of these connections is beyond question, there’s a compelling case to be made for why early-career professionals, particularly analysts and associates, should also prioritize building relationships among their early-career peers.

For analysts and associates just starting out in VC, getting to know your peers and building a network across the board can be very strategic, maybe even more so than always trying to impress those sitting at the top.

Building a Foundation for Mutual Growth

Networking with your peers in venture capital isn’t just about making more friends; it’s a strategic move for mutual growth and learning.

1. Knowledge and Skill Exchange: At the early stages of a VC career, the learning curve is steep. Networking with peers allows for the exchange of insights, experiences, resources, and strategies.

2. Creating a Supportive Community: The VC industry is competitive and fast-paced, making it easy to feel self-doubt and isolation. Building relationships with other early-career professionals creates a supportive network that can offer encouragement, empathy, and motivation.

3. Access to a Wider Range of Opportunities: Fund managers and leaders may have access to the most coveted deals and insights, but your peers are likely to be on the forefront of emerging trends and startups. By networking horizontally, you position yourself to catch wind of these opportunities early on.

4. Long-Term Professional Relationships: The analyst you connect with today might be a future GP or entrepreneur. Growing together, you can support each other’s career paths and potentially collaborate in more meaningful ways in the future.

5. Diversifying Your Network: While it’s crucial to have mentors and connections among VC leaders, a well-rounded network should include a diverse array of people, also including professionals in VC adjacent fields, early employees at startups, or even people trying to break into your industry. Connect with a BDR at an early-stage tech startup or get coffee with an analyst at a VC research company.

Cultivating Meaningful Connections

It’s incredibly important to remember that the goal of networking with your peers isn’t merely to expand your personal CRM and boost your LinkedIn clout, but to cultivate meaningful relationships that provide mutual value. This requires authenticity, regular engagement, and a willingness to contribute as much as you gain.

Tips on How to Build Community with Your Peers

• Join online communities that focus on your demographic. You can search for these on platforms like Slack, X, Reddit, and Google. A couple of my favorites include Gen Z VCs, Women in VC, Queer VC, BLCK VC, and EVCA.

• Search for peers in your city on LinkedIn, and send a follow request + message inviting them to connect over coffee! I highly recommend setting up an in-person meeting rather than a virtual one.

• Host an event for your peers! Think about hosting casual meetups at a brewery or throwing a dinner party. Maybe you could host a game night or find a sponsor for a more formal networking event.

• Give back! We all know how difficult it is to secure a job in VC. Make time for others who are trying to land a job in VC by connecting, mentoring, or sharing tips and resources with them. We are all more successful when we bring others up with us.

• Surround yourself with people that you aspire to be. You know how they say, “Never be the smartest person in the room?” Identify people with characteristics that you admire or deeply value; this will encourage growth within yourself.

• Connect with people your age who work at startups. Regular interaction with startup employees can help you better understand the challenges and opportunities within a high-growth startup environment. This also helps you build a network of top talent you can recruit from later on.

Career, Culture, & Capital

CAREER 🧑‍💻

An exciting achievement happened during Women’s History Month in March: Ellevest, a wealth management and investment platform for women, reached a whopping $2 billion in client assets under management. Ellevest was founded as an alternative to a male-dominated industry, with the mission to get more money in the hands of women.

The Ellevest team was invited to ring the NYSE Opening Bell on Wednesday, March 13th. Emily has been a fan and a follower since 2019. We love everything behind the founding story to their badass mission!

Check out this interview with Founder & CEO, Sallie Krawcheck, on how she lead Ellevest to $2 billion in AUM.

This milestone is so exciting for a few reasons:

• As we empower more women to engage in investing, it helps narrow the gender wealth gap.

• This creates a pathway for women to financial independence and wealth creation. This empowerment can have ripple effects, supporting families, communities, and contributing to economic growth!

CULTURE 🌈

The Oscars viewership hit a 4-year audience high this month. With the final numbers in, 19.5M viewers tuned in to watch the 2024 Oscars, a 4% win over the 18.8M who tuned in for the 95th annual Academy Awards in 2023.

It’s been 9 years since the #OscarsSoWhite trend, and the Academy has since diversified its membership, doubling the number of female members and tripling the number of members of color. However, progress in nominations for people of color has been gradual despite some notable nominations and wins occurring.

"Oppenheimer" was the big winner this year with 13 nominations and winning awards in prominent categories such as Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Picture. Emma Stone won Best Actress for her role in “Poor Things.” Da'Vine Joy Randolph took home a win for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The Holdovers” and delivered one of our favorite speeches (tears incoming). Finally, Billie Eilish became the youngest two-time Oscar winner at the age of 22! 🎉

Our favorite films from this year’s list of nominees were: "The Boy and the Heron," "Anatomy of a Fall," “Barbie,” and "Poor Things"!

CAPITAL 💸

Carta just dropped their fundraising cheat sheet for early 2024! This sheet is a pulse on median valuation, cash raised, and dilution (or expected dilution) for each stage of the early fundraising journey - including the data on SAFE raises.

Peter Walker from Carta took the freshest 75 rounds at each stage and here’s what he found:

𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 (𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 $𝟱𝟬𝟬𝗞 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱) • $6M val cap • $150K raised •2.3% dilution (upon the completion of a priced round)

𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 ($𝟱𝟬𝟬𝗞-$𝟭𝗠 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱) • $10M val cap• $695K raised • 8.1% implied dilution

𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗘𝘀 ($𝟭𝗠-$𝟮.𝟱𝗠 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱) • $12M val cap • $1.52M raised • 15.2% implied dilution

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 • $12.4M pre-money valuation • $3.5M raised • 20.8% dilution

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔 • $47.3M pre-money valuation • $10.3M raised • 19.9% dilution

Of course, each of these dynamics are unique, dictated by sector, founder profile, fund economics, geography, etc., and are medians!

Here’s our thoughts: 

• We both invest pretty early. Redbud is comfortable writing the first check. The market on the early side is still investor-favorable, and val caps are a bit lower at the pre-seed/seed for first check writers. As rounds come together, esp. at the seed stage, founders may see different val caps on SAFES.

• Traction = Leverage. Even as a pre-seed company that is pre-revenue or product, there are still things you can do to drive traction. Think of deep customer discovery, robust pilots, waitlists, etc. The more early users on your product or platform, the more investors see that people want and will pay for your solution.

• Forge relationships with founders in your industry who have recently raised capital. These founders are going to give you the best pulse on what is really happening in the markets right now. If you’re getting into 3/4th diligence calls with a VC, ask to be intro’d to one of their recent portco’s or introduce yourself.

From Our Feed to Yours

Tweets, Memes, and other things from our feed that gave us a laugh.

Thanks for supporting Soapbox!!! Have something you want us to talk about, or want to connect? Drop us a note at [email protected] and [email protected]

Did someone forward you this newsletter?