Yet Another (ex-)VC Blog

But a phone call for a first meeting is SO under optimized. You MUST be there in person. It’s a cost of doing business. It’s a learning process. It’s how you build long-term relationships.

via To Be Successful You’ll Need to Shake Hands and Kiss Babies..

Great idea, huge pain point, and huge market…obviously it is early days for this type of solution, but over the long term I think someone will end up a big winner in this space.

Healthcare in the United States is broken. Costs are spiraling out of control and consumers are feeling the pain. Even if you are lucky enough to receive health insurance through your employers, most people are experiencing higher costs for their healthcare in several ways. Greater cost sharing may come in the form of higher monthly insurance premiums, larger co-payments and deductibles or even greater financial responsibility in the form of co-insurance. And don’t even get us started on what happens to the uninsured …While all patients, regardless of insurance status, are being asked to pay more out-of-pocket, few tools exist to help them manage this new world. Patients receive bills that are hard to comprehend and often contain errors, but few resources exist to resolve these issues.CoPatient was created to give patients the knowledge and insight they need to effectively understand and manage their medical bills. We leverage technology – automation and analytics – as well as knowledge generated from the broader community to reach our goal of giving patients a stronger voice in the financing of their healthcare.

via About | CoPatient.

ff Venture Capital is hiring an analyst. Sounds like they don’t care if you are pre- or post-MBA, but you’ll need some good research and financial modeling chops.

Interested in these kinds of jobs or venture capital careers? Sign up for my mailing list below which is exclusively focused on Venture Capital Careers.

Looking for seed funding for your startup? Cfund backs driven, talented startup founders from the greater Columbia community (alums, students, faculty). The principals and advisors are all Columbia alumni/faculty as well as tech founders and investors.

Cfund is specifically looking for its first class of companies to back, with an application deadline of May 1 for this initial wave.

The best applicants thus far had:

- a record of achievement,

- some experience having worked for a venture backed startup,

- technical skills to build their product,

- an idea in the tech/software area, and

- built something with no previous money raised.

They are eager to see more folks apply, perhaps without a well-developed company idea.

To learn more, or to apply for funding from Cfund, visit: http://www.cfund.co/apply

Looking for a copy editor for my upcoming VC careers eBook.  It’s drafted, just need the editing.  11k words and 27 pages.  Let me know if you have any recommendations for good folks to work with on this.

If you would like to be notified when I release the eBook and receive a significant discount on your purchase, please join my mailing list by putting your email address in the field below (and click ‘Submit’). I will not spam you and will only send items of relevance to venture capital and venture capital careers. Promise!

Ordinarily, when someone criticizes me for only making 312 times my money, I let the logic of their statement speak for itself. 

via Ben’s blog.

Kind of obvious, but surprised at how many people don’t heed this advice…

When meeting with clients or potential business partners off-site, don’t discuss your impressions of the meeting with your colleagues until the elevator has reached the bottom floor and you’re walking out of the building. That’s true even if you’re the only ones in the elevator.

Call it superstitious or call it polite—but either way, don’t risk damaging your reputation by rehashing the conversation as soon as you walk away.

via Business Etiquette: 5 Rules That Matter Now | Inc.com.

Had I left it there, this would have seemed like a collection of well-oiled, talented superstars living comfortably at the top of their professions. But as I delved deeper, I found out that they weren’t comfortable at all, and their flashy affiliations were no guarantee that they’d actually accomplish more than anyone else. One said, “I promised myself I’d move overseas, but the Blackstone brand in New York is just so strong. I had to sign.” Said another, “The work is meaningless compared to the policy think tank I wanted to join. But everyone knows Morgan Stanley, and it’ll open up so many doors later on in life.” The same patterns surfaced: exciting visions sabotaged by the desire to be associated with well-known institutions.

via Be Proud of Your Accomplishments, Not Your Affiliations – Daniel Gulati – Harvard Business Review.

Who says there are no jobs in venture capital? ;). Looks like venture capital firm Greycroft in NYC is hiring a pre-MBA associate for their NYC office, according to Ellie Wheeler’s blog. These guys have backed some solid companies including Buddy Media, Huffington Post, and Joyent. They mostly focus on digital media companies although they have done some deals outside of that main area.

If you are interested in this role, or careers in venture capital, would encourage you to check out my venture capital careers page. Tons of tips for job hunting in VC land from myself and other former and current VCs.

I’d also encourage you to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to spam you and will only send information related to venture capital jobs and careers. Please input your email address in the field (and click ‘Submit’) below if you would like to subscribe.

Looks like Bessemer is looking for an Associate to join their team. Sarah Tavel provides detailed instructions in the blog post about how to apply. If you’re thinking of applying, or are simply interested in the world of venture capital, I’d encourage you to check out my venture capital careers page – lots of tips and information related to the role of a junior VC plus tips for interviewing and job searching.

I’d also encourage you to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to spam you and will only send information related to venture capital jobs and careers. Please input your email address in the field (and click ‘Submit’) below if you would like to subscribe.