Your Chances of Getting a Venture Job
I get asked all the time: How do you actually break into venture?
Getting an early-stage VC job — analyst, associate, whatever the title — is incredibly competitive. The hardest part isn’t just breaking in—it’s the level-setting. Figuring out where you actually stand compared to everyone else requires the kind of bird’s eye view that you get when you’re actually on the other side of the table.
As a coach to venture professionals (and a few aspirational folks in the community), as well as someone who spent over 20 years at all levels, from the institutional LP side, to being an associate, principal and then partner at my own firm, here’s my best thinking on how candidates get “force-ranked” and what you can do if you’re not as strong as you want to be.
Before that, make sure you check out some of our upcoming webinars for VCs:
How to Recover Value from Stragglers: Extracting value from soft landings, acqui-hires, asset sales, and strategic shutdowns.
Can AI Replace VCs or Just Find Their Next Unicorn?: Will algorithms outcompete human investors—sourcing, screening, and selecting founders with unmatched precision?
The First Mindset Shift
Getting any job in venture isn’t just about this particular process. It’s about collecting information for the next one.
If you’re interviewing now and don’t make it through, the goal should be to walk away knowing exactly what you need to work on so that when a similar job opens up six or twelve months from now, you’re a far better candidate.
That’s especially true if you know you’re not in the top 5% right now. Treat every rejection as data.
Let’s Talk About Levels
The Venture Hiring Scale
Let’s imagine we’re ranking candidates from 1 to 10. (There’s an 11, too. That’s like a 10, but one better.)
1–4: Not Yet Relevant
Below a five, most candidates have resumes that don’t map to what the job actually requires.
The basics of the job are things like:
Bulk screening: evaluating cold inbound deals, pitch competition lists, accelerator cohorts, and demo day decks to figure out which 5–10% are worth a deeper look.
Ecosystem awareness: staying plugged into what’s buzzing — who’s getting talked about by peers at other firms, who just closed an interesting round, what’s trending among later-stage investors.
Research and memo support: helping partners diligence active deals and fill in the blanks on competitive landscapes, metrics, and company materials.
If your background doesn’t connect to any of that, you’re not relevant yet. The fix isn’t magic — you just need exposure. Go work in a startup, volunteer for an accelerator, join a scout program. Do something where you get to see live deal flow and practice filtering it.
5: The Baseline Candidate
This is the replacement-level player — someone competent, smart, and capable of doing the job but not yet bringing much extra.
Typically:
Business or finance background.
Understands how to build a basic model, read a P&L, and interpret cap tables.
Can talk about industry dynamics at a general level.
They can execute tasks but don’t yet have founder empathy or sourcing intuition.
If that’s you, the path forward is about motion. Start showing signs you’re in the startup orbit — side projects, venture clubs, community events, substack writing, or even just helping friends fundraise. Anything that puts you closer to the founder experience.
6: Pedigree + Early Exposure
Now we’re seeing pedigree — maybe McKinsey, Goldman, Bain, or a top MBA. You’ve done the “hard thing” and proven you can grind. Plus, there’s a good chance that your network over time will produce startups even if they haven’t started yet. At minimum, they’ll take jobs at Big Tech acquirers and they’ll populate other venture firms.
What also separates a 6 from a 5 is proximity to startups. You at least know where the community is, even if you’re not the center of it.
Maybe you:
Interned at a startup.
Took part in an entrepreneurship or venture club.
Worked with founders on a summer project.
That combination — credible training plus some startup exposure — shows you can handle the analysis and have at least sniffed what real company-building feels like.
7: Quality Startup Experience
This is where the experience starts to get meaningful. You didn’t just intern; you worked at a high-growth, top-tier startup during a key phase of its trajectory.
You’ve seen velocity. You’ve seen what “great” looks like. You know what it feels like to work for a world-class founder who’s scaling something fast.
And because of that, your network now includes other high-caliber people — classmates and coworkers who might one day be founders themselves. That’s a built-in sourcing advantage.
At this level, you start to bring more than just ability; you bring context.
8: Network + Visibility
You’ve got the same background as a 7, but you’ve shown leadership inside your network. You’re not just a participant; you’re a connector.
Maybe you:
Organized your YC cohort’s Slack or WhatsApp group.
Run a small founder meetup.
Are the one your classmates go to when they want intros.
It’s not about being loud — it’s about being visible and trusted. Venture firms buy access, and if your network is active and curated, that’s part of your value.
9: Operator With Specialized Expertise
You’ve built something. You’ve owned a product, growth channel, or company. You’ve had to make decisions and live with them.
At this level, a partner can send you into a conversation with a top 1% founder and expect that you’ll add value — not just take notes. You’ve got independent gravity.
Example:
You’re a growth or product person who understands funnels, virality, and pricing.
You’re a technical person who can talk dev tools, AI models, or scaling challenges.
If a founder walks away from a conversation thinking, “That was actually helpful,” you’ve crossed into the range where you make the firm look better by association.
10: Recognized Connector
Now you’re embedded. You’re not just attending events — you’re shaping them. You run a community, host a newsletter, or coordinate a curated founder chat group, not just because you’re good at organizing, but because you leaned in on something special you brought to the table. Think Lenny Rachitsky before he started investing.
People in the ecosystem know your name. They share opportunities with you organically. You’re someone others want to keep in the loop.
This is the level where your personal platform drives inbound deal flow, whether you mean to or not.
11: Proprietary Deal Flow + Angel Portfolio
The rarest tier. You’re not just plugged in — you’re producing your own pipeline.
Maybe you’ve angel invested, advised startups for equity, or sold a company and now have access to the exited-founder community. You’ve built real pattern recognition and the relationships to back it up.
If a firm hires you, they’re instantly plugged into live deal flow they otherwise wouldn’t see. That’s day-one ROI.
Where This Leaves You
Most people reading this are somewhere between a 5 and a 7 — capable but not yet differentiated. That’s fine. The key is to identify your next rung.
Ask yourself: what would actually move me up one level? More startup experience? A stronger network? What can I build that creates value for founders that also levels me up in the eyes of a firm hiring?
If you think I can be helpful, happy to walk through this in a couple of coaching sessions.