2nd year vc analyst, fund closed down, what now?
I live in Asia. I worked in a VC for a year, then the partner I worked for there decided to leave to start his own VC fund. I joined him because he brought in exciting deals, was a good mentor, and was offering to pay me much more. He assured me the funds had already been raised, and it was in the hundreds of millions of USD. So I took the leap of faith and joined him. I moved to a different country to do this. Little did I know, his funding had not officially arrived, meaning we had no office space to work out of. But there were exciting deals I was able to work on, so I learned a lot by evaluating all of these deals. The deal areas are high-tech B2B Saas, seed to series C. There was some modeling involved, valuation was just comps, lots of memo writing, reading legal documents, evaluating the markets, interviewing management and experts, etc. A year later, funding hasn't hit, and I've been told just today that the boss is giving up.
I know I should have been networking my butt off during this time, but I was very convinced that this was going to work out, the funds always seemed just a week away, and I really enjoyed the work, and enjoyed working for this boss. So I unfortunately did not do much networking.
Other background info: I'm in my late 20s, from the US, a non-target, did internships in some Asia based companies-- a mutual fund, and a L/S fund, but otherwise no banking or consulting background. I have 2 years of VC deal execution experience now.
I'm very bummed out about this, but after having a good cry, I realize I need to move forward.
Any advice on what to do next? I am still very interested in tech and in investment, but not sure of what types of opportunities might be out there for someone with my background. Open to all suggestions.
Thank you!
Where are you based out of currently?
Hong Kong
Overall I am sure you will find that your story is not a negative (as long as you bring the skillset). Funds shut down all the time (or don't get fully raised). On a junior level this shouldn't affect you too much. Taking a bet on a new fund can always be spun into a good story.
However, recruiters are unfortunately not understanding these dynamics very well most of the time so reaching out directly is, IMO, the best bet. Tell them the honest and full story and ideally get a reference from the guy.
Cold email, call and network and make sure you have the story right that stresses all the learning but also explains that it was the fundraising not your performance that brought you in this position.
Your boss is probably going to work somewhere for someone, see if you can hitch a ride there
Ask your boss to tap into his network to find you a gig.
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