Ride it Out_LBS

Seb - ex MBB consultant, joined a hyper growth mobility start up, Circ which later sold to Bird and now jumped ship to Balderton, VC - what a career journey so far!

What start up trend is Seb currently excited about? Future of ecommerce! He explores the bifurcation of ecommerce, D2C, purpose brands and ecommerce infrastructure. If you're recruiting for a B2C VC - these are some golden nuggets!

VC recruiting advice? Seb has got you covered with some of these tips on charting a path to stand out: 1) Learning to have confidence to have strong views on spaces; 2) Get on top of an ecosystem; 3) Do your own marketing and sales - blogging, twitting and even podcasting!

Check out the latest Balderton portfolio investments: https://www.balderton.com/companies/ 

Nina (LBS MBA'19) started Cult Mia during her MBA. She won the LBS Launchpad competition in 2019 and thereafter joined the LBS Incubator, 'The House'.

Cult Mia is a fashion platform bringing unique designer styles from across the globe. Working with over 100 designers from over 26 countries, serving over 20,000 customers. Cult Mia supports local businesses at an international scale. During COVID, Cult Mia's agile business model was in full force allowing for an authentic destination shopping experience without the international travel!

Thinking about co-founding a start up with a friend or joining an early stage start up? Nina gives advice on how to vet those important relationships as you're hitting the ground running

How does one prepare for a VC interview? In the fourth episode of the ‘Breaking into VC’ series, Kathryn and Anjum discuss the typical structure of a VC interview, advice for pitching a start up, and the main competencies VCs are screening for in an interview. This episode wraps up with some helpful tips on motivational and technical questions as well as general interview advice.

1:30 - 3:00: What should you expect from a VC interview?

3:00 - 7:15: What are VCs looking for in candidates?

7:15 - 14:30: What should you research and prepare before the interview?

14:30 - 25:20: How to pitch an interesting start up and talk about industry trends

25:20 - 44:20: Motivational questions questions and tips for answering them

44:20 - 51:55: How to prepare for the technical questions

51:55 - 56:46: Key takeaways and interview tips

Now that we have covered what VCs actually do and how firms make money, the next step is landing the coveted interview. In the third episode of the ‘Breaking into VC’ series, Kathryn and Anjum talk about how to articulate an interest in VC and how to stand out as a thoughtful and opinionated applicant. They also discuss VC recruitment channels, leveraging your network, and the dos and don'ts of coffee chats.

2:45 - 4:10: What are the different roles at a VC firm?

4:15 - 7:00: What is a typical VC background?

7:15 - 13:30: How to articulate interest in VC

13:30 - 15:30: How does your skill set position you for a role in VC?

15:30 - 20:30: How to educate yourself about VC

20:30 - 27:40: How to differentiate yourself

28:30 - 33:20: Next steps and VC recruitment channels

33:20 - 52:15: Coffee chats, networking, and follow ups

52:15 - 55:00: Key takeaways

Are you looking to gain basic knowledge about the world of venture capital to see if it’s a career you want to pursue? Or are you trying to land your dream job in venture capital? Either way, you’ve come to the right place for a crash course in VC 101.

In the first episode of the ‘Breaking into VC’ series, Kathryn and Anjum discuss how VC is different from other asset classes, different types of VC firms and funding stages, VC fund structure, and how VCs make money.

Check out some of Anjum’s thoughts on venture capital, entrepreneurship, and interviews with founders on her blog: https://medium.com/@anjumr27

Episode Cheat Sheet:

3:00 - 8:40: What’s the difference between VC and PE?

8:40 - 10:30: What are the different types of VC firms?

10:30 - 22:00: What are the different funding stages?

22:40 - 28:30: Overview of VC fund structure

28:30 - 35:30: How do VCs make money?

35:30 - 38:40: What are some of the drawbacks of VC?

40:30 - 43:45: Lifetime of a VC fund

44:00 - 45:30: Term sheets

45:30 - 48:00 : Key takeaways

Elisabeth (LBS MBA'18) started her company Skwire, straight out of LBS MBA. Skwire is scaling residential investment using the latest AI technology - Lizzie reveals all the secrets in this episode as well as the hottest proptech trends

Ever thoughts about intrapreneurship? Lizzie explains how this could be an alternative route to entrepreneurship and why employers are loving the start up vibe even within a bigger company

Farhan (LBS MBA'07) started his career at Yahoo where the founders of Slack, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, Etsy were sitting alongside him in office.

Learn more why Athemis is excited about the latest investment - Wollit, perfect blend of fintech and social impact business. Looking to pursue a career with a venture builder? Or even want to find out what a venture builder does? Tune in to this episode

Nolan (LBS MBA'18) shares his views on the medtech space as a frontline CEO running a ventilator business. Stuck in the dilemma of whether to join a start up or a VC post B school? Nolan unpacks this conundrum. He's been on both sides of the table multiple times. "What MBBs are to Fortune 500 Companies, VCs are to scale ups" - tune in to hear Nolan's take on this

Talis Capital has backed the most LBS businesses from any VC fund in Europe. Vasile explains the main investment themes of Talis Capital: 1) Tech infra; 2) Tech reshaping the way we live; 3) The next generation. 

Have you heard of the death valley? We're not talking about Harry Potter and dementors here! Tune in to find how it relates to Series B funding

Juliet discusses future trends in logistics AI and latest investment in Keelvar, leading the 5th industrial revolution in procurement. Are you struggling to break into VC? This episode will be a game changer for you. Are you reading Benedict Evans newsletter? You should be as every VC investor does

Tickitto is the Stripe for Travel and Dana is disrupting the market big time even as the travel sector is being reshaped by the pandemic. Did you know that failure is a noun not a verb? Dana explains how she draws inspiration during turbulent times. Have a heard of the Monk who sold his Ferrari? Tune in to find out

Akriti discusses the massive boom in the gaming industry, fuelled by non gamers reaching for the console as a way to stay connected in a lockdown world. What do Travis Scott and UC Berkeley have in common? (hint: virtual reality game). Bonus: tips on how to get most of your VC coffee chats

Check out the full Octopus Ventures portfolio: https://octopusventures.com/portfolio/ 

The ex founder & CEO of Hummus Bros, discusses the Tenzo journey so far and the future of restaurant tech industry. Are you a non conformist? This episode is for you. From a computer science major at Cambridge to restaurateur to tech entrepreneur, Chris shares insights into his career journey.

Want to hear more about the restaurant space: head to 'In the Soup', the podcast hosted by Chris.

Alex explains why amidst the pandemic is the right time to grow the franchise side of his business. An idea a day - keeps the corporate at bay? Practical tips on how to ideate if you're stuck for ideas

Sarah discusses ESG and social enterprise trends - why they should matter to us and what the future holds. Career advice - don't underestimate the importance of side hustles!

Jenny discusses how AI is shaking up the VC sourcing model. Can AI driven investments be the answer to finding more diverse founders & companies? Meet the smartest team member at EQT - the 'Mother brain'

John explains why you should care about geopolitics if you're interested in supply chain management. Many people care about Fairtrade but now everyone will care about where products are made. Who is 'vaccinating ' their supply chain? (hint: one of the FANGS)

Jon Smith discusses how the pandemic has facilitated Edtech adoption in the classroom and why that's not good news for everyone. Career advice for future entrepreneurs- just start!

Coral discusses some of the bright spots in the travel industry and the top 3 travel trends to watch out for: Contactless check ins, the end of over tourism and digital tour operator packages

Ariadna explains what are hallmarks of top performing e-commerce businesses and why now is a good time to launch a consumer brand

Susie discusses the hot trend of Product Led Growth and why VCs, consumers and founders need to be paying attention to this. She gives practical advice on how to approach VC coffee chats (no coffee please!)

Santiago explains how the 3 pillars of the PE industry: fundraising, investing and portfolio management have been impacted by the pandemic

George explains why video dating is here to stay even post lockdown. Career advice: don't fall into the VC-entrepreneur career trap and the best way to ideate is to look at your own pain points

Alonso explains why VCs are bullish on the logistics market and how it benefits consumers around the world. Ultimate win - no toilet paper queues!

Chris explains why he's bullish on the point of sale market and gives career advice to MBA students

Nadim Kapadia explains why the real estate market downturn is actually a hidden blessing for proptech to flourish. Virtual flat viewings anyone? Yes, please!

Lucy Bowers explains why now is the best time to pump cash into advertising and marketing. Counterintuitive? Tune in to understand why it makes perfect sense

Filipa Pinto, Co-founder of Voila and Meraki Food stories shares insights on food cooking apps and the future of food delivery

Andrew Hadad explains how COVID19 is impacting the Caribbean island, Trinidad and Tobago and what are the recent trends in the food sector

Julien Trost explains how COVID19 is the silver lining for 'Mobtech' (mobility sector) and why regulation would need to change to support its growth

Victor Mallet discusses trends in the media industry, fake news, burning 5G masts and why good journalism matters

Rumi (Mitra) Waite discusses how the music artists are adapting to Instagram Live age and is VDR the future of music

Tune in to Ride it Out podcast to hear Brooke Freeman discuss the future of of the fitness sector - instagram live workouts, Digme's innovative business model pivot and what is the fitness sector going to look like post COVID19 

Tune in to Ride it Out to hear Ed Boyanoski discuss the future of insuretech and why the big insurance companies are likely to come out fairly unscattered from the crisis

Tune in to Ride it Out to hear Eishan's insights into the future of remote working and why you should be applying for an internship at Zoom

Tune in to hear Chloe talk about how the current crisis is impacting sustainability and food supply chains in Europe