The Bulletin #22: Lots of Layoffs, The Post-IC Diligence Process, & VWV Interview Tips
To all the seniors that are still looking for jobs right now, wishing you the best of luck š The market downturn and massive tech layoffs are not making it easy for you all.
š¤³Ā Lots and Lots of Layoffs
This weekās bulletin is all about the layoffs, how the VWV team conduct diligence post Investment Committee pitch, + some tips on interviewing with VWV.
If you submitted an application, congratulations! Thatās amazingā wait to hear back in the next week for a possible interview.
šĀ What Weāre Reading
Tech layoffs are only expected to worsen before it gets better š
Nolan Church, CEO and co-founder of Continuum gives his thoughts on the current tech layoffsā having also helped execute Cartaās layoffs 2 years ago in 2020. In this podcast, thereās a few main topics Church dives into:
Jackās silent on Twitterās recent layoffs after Muskās takeover
Stripeās recent layoffs
How to conduct a layoff
And much moreā read more and listen to the podcast here
Whatās happening with all the fintech layoffs? š„“
As mentioned above, Stripeās being laying off their workersā cutting 14% of their workforceā following by Chime at 12% and Brex at 11%. Spiros Margaris, fintech VC and founder of Margaris Ventures, explained that these layoffs are cause by ācaused by the challenging geopolitical market environment and inflationary pressures.ā Not much of a surprise there.
Read more perspectives from various VC investors here.
Swedenās EQT Ventures Closes ā¬1.1B Fund š¦
Despite the market downturn and all layoffs in the states, Swedenās massive fund EQT Ventures closes their third fund to double down on European early-stage startups just this past week. Their total raise since their launch in 2016 is ā¬2.3 billion and have since backed 100 companies, which includes 18 exits, and 9 unicorns. Their growth arm, EQT Growth, also raised $2.4B earlier this year.
Read more on the firmās raise here.
š§Ā What Weāre Listening To
Managing Director @ Insight Partners, Deven Parekh, talks about fintech investing
The Manager Director at Insight Partners, Anirudh Singh, discusses what makes the firm so successful, how fintech investing has changed over the past 10 years, and more.
Rashad Moore tells the story about his transition from engineer to founder of software consulting company
Listen to it here with a transcript, too
š„Ā Post-IC Diligence Process
If youāve been keeping up with our newsletters, you know that weāve wrapped up our first phase of the diligence process and just pitched to our Investment Committee.
Our IC is composed of 5 incredible members:
Bob Place ā75, Managing Direction @ Clean Energy Venture Group
Troy Henikoff ā86, prev Managing Director @ MATH Venture Partners
Deborah Mills-Scofield ā82, Mentoring Maven & Partner @ VC firm Glengary
Zachary Aarons ā05, Co-founder & General Partner @ MetaProp
Aneesha Mehta ā13, Partner @ Bain Capital Ventures
After pitching, the committee votes on whether or not our pitched investments go through. However, there are cases (like this time around) where we need to continue the diligence process just a little bit more before we come to a decision.
And the wonderful thing is, at the end of the day, the IC members are there to guide us and really listen to our own convictionsā even if it doesnāt necessarily align with theirs.
So what does some Post-IC Diligence look like?
Well for one, Troy is sitting down with the entire VWV team to really understand what a good valuation means. āGoodā is incredibly arbitrary here, because it can mean good for the founder or good for the investor. And the two look very different (read Venture Deals by Brad Feld for more!)
When a founder gives us a valuation and cap, we want to understand how much our own capital in the pool will look like 7 years down the road. When a dozen more investors join in on the rounds, dilution is something to heavily consider. Surely, a 150x growth sounds amazing but what do the actual returns look like for us?
More to come on this in next weekās newsletter after meeting with Troy!
Another post-IC diligence task is to speak to more investors or industry experts to get some answers. As we talked about how to back up gaming start-ups last week, we need more guidance and information on how to precisely evaluate the company at hand.
Thus, weāre hoping on more calls to get our answers!
āļøĀ VWV Interview Tips
As mentioned in our info sessions, you donāt need to know anything about VC to join VWV. Here is what we look for:
Do you operate like a founder? Do you go out of your way to get things down not because itās necessarily expected of you but you want to see something happen?
Weāre more interested in how you think through problems and challenging questionsā how well can you communicate your thought through to others?
What gets you excited? What are some of your passions? We want to get to know you as a person and how that fits into the startup and VC ecosystem.
Some little tips:
We donāt bite! We love chatting with other students and we want to set you up for success. Come in being yourself and having fun with the processā weāll definitely have more fun ourselves if you do.
If you receive an interview offer, be prompt to your interview and make you're in a well-lit, noiseless area. We don't expect a full business formal outfit but do make sure your background isnāt distracting.
Here are some resources, if youāre fresh to interviewing:
We recommend you take a read throughĀ the basics of VWVās operations and become familiar with our portfolio company. Try thinking like an investorā which ones get you excited and which ones would you not have invested in?
Here is a method in crafting good answers:Ā The Star MethodĀ (US News)
How to stand out in an interviewĀ (Harvard Business Review)
Some advice onĀ good questions to ask your interviewerĀ (HBR)
Best of luck during the interview process! Weāre all incredibly excited to meet you.
Thatās it for this week, feel free to email me atĀ jules_qian@brown.eduĀ for any inquiries
š”Ā Follow us!!
Instagram: @vanwickleventures
Twitter: @VanWickleV