A Day in the Life of a Young VC Fund

Ever wondered what a day in the life of a young VC fund looks like?

The 1990s were the first Golden Age for hi-tech startup companies – entrepreneurs worldwide, including many Israelis, developed internet-based technologies, earning investments and gaining high profits through Nasdaq. Despite experiencing extreme ups and downs throughout its short history, including the burst of the .com bubble at the beginning of the 21st century, it is now safe to say that the hi-tech industry is at an all-time high. The main engine driving the increasing number of startup companies that join the hi-tech ecosystem every year is Venture Capital funds, a term which, being a LinkedIn member, you have definitely heard before. But what do you really know about what goes on behind the scenes of helping a small business with a good idea grow into a successful tech company?

Well, we're here to tell you just that.

Take a look at a typical day at Synaptech Capital, as told by Avi Kochva, the fund's Managing Partner.

* Synaptech Capital is an Emirati VC fund based in Abu Dhabi and established by Israel's Avnon Group. The fund invests in early-stage Israeli startups, relocating them to the UAE where they will participate in the fund's incubator program, and dedicates some of its funds to promote local UAE startups. 

Starting the day: Starting early and surfing relative sources for new and interesting opportunities, paying careful attention to Fintech, Insure-tech, Public Safety, Smart Cities, and Cybersecurity, the industries we want to focus on. We review a few new companies and check our database to see if anyone on the team has recently noticed them. Then, we send a note with basic info to the team to review.

Morning team stand-up meeting: Updates on everyone's progress, challenges, tasks we need to finish and decisions to be made today, lagging items from yesterday, getting everyone into synchronized motion.

IR: Phone calls with investors and partners - they like to get updates during their morning coffee. We relay what's new and share our progress, listen to our partners' concerns and communicate any strategic challenges.

On the agenda: Three early-stage startup companies are coming to meet with us. Before they come in, we refresh our memory by reading notes on their decks and business plans and check the teams' market observations and competitors. 

First start-up: The first startup seems to have an interesting idea. They are a great team, but they don't have reasonable knowledge of penetrating the market. Financial projections are weak. Though the decks seemed good at first glance, the leading team have difficulties answering basic questions. We decide to reject them and leave a crack in the door for a second meeting, should they come back with something that truly impresses us.

Lunch: Short working lunch with managing partners discussing when to set up a meeting with our Investment Committee to examine advanced deal flow opportunities.

Second startup: Slightly disappointed with a weak start, we welcome the second startup and try to put on our best-smiling faces to keep their hopes high. Three entrepreneurs led by their CEO, a young woman not older than 25, begin by presenting a perfect deck, great innovation, demonstrating knowledge of their domain, financials, and competition. Just sit back and enjoy the show. Round size and valuation can potentially fit our strategy. We ask a few questions, and they address them in-depth. We move on to the next step with them.

DD sessions: We spend a couple of hours checking in on current due-diligence ongoing status, answering challenges in the process, deciding not to move forward with one of the companies because of multiple red flags. We add the item to the next Board of Directors meeting.

Third startup: Though they enter the early-stage category, they are a bit older than average entrepreneurs and have done quite a bit of work in their garage, investing substantial time and proceeds raised from friends and family. All of them have impressive technology and enterprise backgrounds. They share their innovation with us from the ground up, know their technology and how to deliver it. We raise the Go-to-Market concerns. They don't have experience in the area, which causes major concern on our side. They don't hesitate for a second – knowing that this is a weakness, they plan to recruit marketing and sales professionals when the time comes. They show us when and whom they target. This meeting lasts longer than planned because of our interest and the deep dive into technology from our CTO. We conclude to move on to the next step.

Almost end of the day: The sun has nearly set, and we still have quite a lot on our plate: HR issues, bank statements, expense reports to approve, getting acquainted with new team members.

Dinner: We have dinner with two potential LP investors that happen to be in town, discussing deal flow opportunities. We talk mostly about life, sports, travel, and relationships and discuss trending business ideas and recent successes.  

Always seeking the best investment opportunities, we at Synaptech Capital work hard and invest in the process. Our daily schedule is dynamic and never without surprises, as we give our all to finding the best companies with the most advanced technologies, keeping in mind that any plan is only as promising as the people executing it.