Outpost Ventures’ Post

Internships are a great way to break into VC. It's how I broke in! I did it through Harlem Capital. Harlem Capital's intern program has 3 cohorts per year of 6-8 interns/fellows. 𝟑𝟗% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐕𝐂 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. They have landed at incredible firms including: Insight Partners Bain Capital Ventures Lerer Hippeau Redpoint Drive Capital Westbound Equity Partners Slow Ventures M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund VamosVentures SIERRA Ventures JetBlue Ventures + so many more. I highly recommend getting your feet wet in VC via part-time internships. You can learn the VC world in a low-stakes way while also starting to build your network. #venturecapital #vc #recruiting

🎥 In a learning session with Johannes Blaschke from Calm/Storm, we dove deep into the fund model and explored the concept of the power law in venture capital. Curious about what it means and how it shapes investment strategies? Watch this quick clip for insights and share your thoughts below or drop your questions! 👇 #venturecapital #internship #vcinsights

This Friday, I completed my Summer Internship as a Venture Capital Summer Analyst at Info Edge Ventures . During this experience, I worked closely with the Senior Partners and Vice Presidents at the firm on several key initiatives, gaining invaluable exposure to the intersection of finance and innovation. Some key highlights include: 1. Working on a deal pipeline for a company in the Voice AI space, which honed my ability to assess disruptive technologies and growth potential. 2. Conducting detailed competitive landscaping, market sizing, and financial modeling in the Wealth Technology space. This work culminated in creating a high-potential investment pitch, sharpening my strategic thinking and presentation skills. 3. Networking with highly intelligent individuals in the field who I had the pleasure to work with and learn from. This hands-on experience deepened my analytical skills in deal structuring, market analysis, and financial evaluation—core elements that drive both venture capital and private equity investments. I’m eager to leverage these insights as I explore opportunities in investment banking, private equity, venture capital or other finance-driven roles. Extremely grateful to the InfoEdge Ventures team, especially Chinmaya Sharma for his mentorship and support! #InvestmentBanking #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #DealSourcing #FinancialAnalysis #WealthTech #VoiceAI #Investment

Breaking into VC hack: Use VC internships to get your foot in the door. I did this through Harlem Capital's program. What I didn't realize is how many others have and continue to do the same. Harlem Capital is a market maker and mover in diversity-lens investing. Outside of our investments, we are also focused on cultivating the next generation of diverse VC checkwriters. We've had 117 interns over 6 years, you can see the impact in the screenshot. It's incredible! If your firm has a VC internship program, flag it in the comments for aspiring VCs. #venturecapital #founder #startup #recruiting #hiring

🌟 I’m pleased to share that I’ve just completed my 10-week summer internship at Carpediem Capital Partners, an India-based private equity firm, with over $100Mn AUM.🌟 Over the past couple of months, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to immerse myself in the world of private equity and gain hands-on experience across various stages of the investment process: 1️⃣Early-Stage Due Diligence: As part of the investment team, I worked on deals across diverse sectors, including F&B, fintech, and QSR. I conducted initial stage diligence, prepared and presented briefs, and authored detailed industry reports. This exposure allowed me to appreciate the unique dynamics of each industry and its key players, significantly enhancing my research and data visualization skills. 2️⃣External Correspondence: I participated in external meetings with bankers and founders, leveraging these interactions to better understand how potential deals aligned with our investment mandate and to address questions raised during early-stage due diligence. 3️⃣Financial Analysis & Valuation: In the latter deal stages, I applied my experience in financial analysis, becoming more adept at working with financial models and understanding the importance of stress-testing underlying assumptions. I compiled data on private companies to identify precedent transaction comparables and used trading comps for public firms, enabling a comprehensive valuation analysis. I then presented these findings to my colleagues as we progressed through the deal process. 4️⃣Investment Note: I collaborated with colleagues to produce detailed investment notes and preliminary investment memorandums (IMs). This process involved synthesizing substantial amounts of information, maintaining correspondence with bankers, formulating and discussing queries, conducting financial analysis, and creating key data visualizations to facilitate understanding. These documents were presented during weekly deal calls to gather insights and feedback from our colleagues before advancing to later deal stages. --- Overall, this internship has been an incredibly rewarding experience, laying a solid foundation for my future career. I’ve gained a deeper appreciation of the investment process and the dynamics of interactions with both buy-side and sell-side institutions. A huge thank you to the entire team at Carpediem Capital Partners for their mentorship and support. This experience has solidified my passion for M&A and investment, and I’m excited to continue building on the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired.

Summer Internship Reflection: Leveling Up in VC Land Happy to share my incredible summer internship experience at Inventus Capital Partners, a renowned US-based VC firm. This opportunity not only enhanced my skills but also fueled my passion for the startup ecosystem. Key Highlights: - Researched 67 anti-portfolio companies from 18 years of deal-flow data, analyzing their transition from startup to unicorn status. - Collaborated with a US counterpart to crack the code on product-market fit, honing my analytical skills. - Witnessed startup founders pitch to legendary investor Kanwal Rekhi, gaining invaluable insights into how VCs evaluate founders and companies. - Facilitated connections between startups and angel investors, fostering meaningful relationships. - Developed fluency in "VC language," understanding funding rounds, term sheets, and more. Shikhin Garg's mentorship and trust in me, enabling a fresh undergrad to experience something of this magnitude is truly remarkable. So what's next? Who knows! But after this summer, I feel like I could take on the whole Silicon Valley! (Just joking ... or am I?)

The people you work alongside significantly influence your professional journey. Technical skills can be learned, but ethical conduct is a foundational aspect that cannot be taught. Choose your allies wisely.

One month ago, I embarked on my first professional journey by relocating to a new city for my Summer Internship at Realtime (RTAF). This experience has been nothing short of transformative, both personally and professionally. As an intern, I was entrusted with significant responsibilities, including orchestrating investor onboarding, delving into fund operations, and meticulously analyzing startup pitches. These tasks allowed me to develop a comprehensive understanding of the angel investing landscape and sharpen my skills in investment analysis and decision-making. Moving to an unfamiliar place was a daunting challenge, especially considering it was my first work experience. There were days when the thought of giving up and going back home crossed my mind. However, I chose to persevere, driven by my dedication to professional and personal development. This journey taught me the value of resilience, adaptability, and the courage to face uncertainty head-on. My time at Real Time Angel Fund has equipped me with the essential skills to thrive in this VUCA world. I am eager to leverage these newfound skills and insights to navigate and thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of Finance and Venture Capital. #Internship #RealTimeAngelFund #AngelInvesting #VentureCapital #Finance #Leadership #StartupEcosystem #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerDevelopment #Resilience #Innovation #IndiaStartups #VUCAWorld

A founder gave 50% equity upfront to onboard a CTO and now the CTO is asking for... 🙈 I recently met a founder who has a good idea but he's not able to build it as he's not a tech guy himself he also didn’t have money to pay someone to build so after looking for many months, he found a guy who met his requirements but asked for 50% equity to become the CTO out of desperation, the founder agreed and he gave him 50% equity WITHOUT ANY VESTING 🤯 and now, the CTO is asking for an intern before he can start building the founder doesn't have money to hire an intern so even after giving away 50% of his company, he's stuck where he was I feel bad for him but he made some really wrong decisions: 1. giving equity upfront without any vesting 2. not checking the execution capability of the cofounder before getting them onboard no matter how disheartened you feel in your search for cofounders/employees, don't give away any equity without a vesting schedule and be clear on their motivation and demands Founders, please don’t make such mistakes 🙏🏽