Thea Knobel
A Guide to Breaking into Venture Capital
A step-by-step guide including understanding your value proposition, resources to prepare for a job in VC, and tips on how to get an offer.
TL;DR — You can't break into VC if you can't articulate what makes you special, have the skills, and understand the landscape. This guide will show you how.
Venture capital is a competitive industry. While relatively new in my career, I started working in the VC industry during grad school and I've worked at a couple funds and an accelerator across internships and full time jobs. Over that time, I've spoken to hundreds of people; both those in the industry already and people trying to join. Those conversations coupled with the responses from VCs on my tweet about archetypes of VC inspired me to write this article. …
Published in GSV Ventures
Triple Threat: Serial Entrepreneur David Blake
GSV Ventures backs David Blake's startups: Degreed, Learn In, & BookClub.
David Blake Co-Founder of Degreed, LearnIn, & Bookclub.
David Blake has always been a star student. However, when he sat down to take the ACT he began questioning the education system. He wondered why this one test held such importance for where you would go to school and ultimately which job you may get, given that the information on the test had little to do with real life skills. Blake realized he was a good student, but a terrible learner. From there on out his mission was to "jail break the degree" and focus on Lifelong Learning.
"When someone asks you about your education why do you say where you went to university? …
Read more in GSV Ventures · 4 min read
Hellosaurus: Hollywood Meets Harvard for Kids
Hellosaurus' platform showcases interactive video classes from award-winning kids media creators and YouTube Stars.
Hellosaurus interactive content and creators.
With millions of families at home during shelter in place and the living room and classroom merging, screen time has spiked over 150%. The uptick in screen time is something Hellosaurus Founder & CEO James Ruben believes will stay. So he set out to reimagine screen time into a truly interactive experience. Hellosaurus is a platform that enables creators to make their content more interactive, in turn producing an experience that is not only fun for kids but meaningful for their cognitive development.
"We wanted to create something that a kid will love, but a parent will also feel great about handing over," said Ruben. …
Techstars LA: Fabrica
Fabrica's first real estate transactions are closed online in minutes with their proprietary blockchain technology.
Fabrica's platform, which allows buyers to perform real estate transactions online in minutes without any paperwork.
Real estate is the largest asset class in the US, yet one of the slowest industries to modernize. Traditional title and escrow companies used in sales of properties are outdated. Additionally, closing on a home is a painstaking process filled with manual paperwork and multiple parties that takes on average 49 days. Fabrica set out to change this.
Five years ago, Co-Founder Federico Pomi moved from Italy to San Francisco to start his family. As a young home buyer, he searched online. …
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: AlgoPay
AlgoPay's latest trip to the Middle East creates connections in the region's major tech hub.
Founder and CEO Anna Merzi with Operations & Risk Head Bridget Payne in the West Bank.
AlgoPay is a payment solution for online businesses in cash economies, starting in the Middle East where there's over $1.3T handled in cash. Think: Stripe, for cash economies.
Founder and CEO Anna Merzi grew up in Texas, but was always fascinated with the Middle East. In middle school she became engrossed with online refugee activism and later started learning Arabic. Once at USC, she pursued a degree in Middle East Studies and Political Science. …
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: Fly By Jing
Fly By Jing's modern, bold chinese flavors are exciting taste buds and gaining buzz from the media including Thrillist, Food and Wine, New York Times, Taste, and Esquire.
Fly By Jing's Kickstarter campaign video, which was one of the highest performing food projects on Kickstarter.
Fly By Jing is redefining Chinese flavors, with high quality ingredients sourced from Chengdu, China that go well on everything. Food lovers have put the fan favorite Sichuan Chili Crisp, which is the first 100% all natural Sichuan chili sauce packed with complex umami flavors, on everything from dumplings to ice cream to eating it straight out of the jar. And customers can't get enough Fly By Jing, with repeat customers buying one jar every 29 days on average. …
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: Finli
Finli launches fintech platform that provides financial security for families and streamlines payment processes for schools.
Founder and CEO Lori Shao with her husband Derek and children Ed (5) and Ryan (4).
After 16 years in corporate life, Lori Shao left her job as Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase & Co. on April 1st in order to solve a pain point in the payment space, launching Finli. As the mother of two children, she noticed an increase in her own child care expenses and a rise among her friends with relatives contributing to their family expenses. In fact 20% of child-related expenses are paid by people other than parents. …
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: LunarCRUSH
LunarCRUSH launches AI-backed cryptocurrency tool and nabs partnership with major exchange CoinDeal.
LunarCRUSH draws inspiration for its company name from the saying that the value of cryptocurrencies are "going to the moon" and one is "crushing it" in the market.
LunarCRUSH uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to give investors confidence in their crypto investments. The startup analyzes data on social trends, search behavior, and internet buzz to deliver real-time insights to investors. The founders' mission is to democratize data so emerging players and veterans investors have access to make informed decisions.
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: findSisterhood
Social media app findSisterhood gets thousands of engaged users across 32 countries within nine months of launching. @findsisterhood
Founder and CEO Ana Pompa Alarcón Rawls (second to left) at findSisterhood's launch party in May 2019
findSisterhood is an app created by a woman for everyone identifying as a woman across the globe to share stories anonymously. Its mission is to disrupt the way women use social media. Instead of typical social media that prompts users to share the rose-colored, filtered version of their lives, findSisterhood focuses on digging into the real life experiences of women.
The founder Ana Pompa Alarcón Rawls is a Mexican-Austrian immigrant who started findSisterhood after the birth of her second child. With no family in the US, Ana felt isolated and wanted a place to connect to other women in a safe environment. …
#TractionTuesday with Techstars LA: Riders Share
Riders Share reaches a record $2.5 million in booking requests, has several customers turn into investors, and recruits a *surprising* high-powered CFO.
Riders Share CEO and Co-Founder Guillermo Cornejo and his Harley Davidson motorcycle
Co-Founder and CEO Guillermo Cornejo starts every day the same way: Speeding through traffic as he hits the open road to the Techstars LA office to work on his startup Riders Share. Riders Share is the AirBnB of the motorcycle rental space. The platform currently has the largest variety of motorcycles available for rent in the world.
Riders Share is a win-win situation in the peer-to-peer space: Customers can rent from a wide array of motorcycle brands and motorcycle owners can set their own daily rate. …
VP of Platform at GSV Ventures investing in the globe's top EdTech startups.