A Seat on the Other Side of the Table
McCombs Venture Fellows program offers students real-world experience in exclusive venture capital industry
by Amy E. Lemen << previous | 1 |
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Tight Field, Few Jobs
Although their desired career paths after business school vary, the Venture Fellows have one thing in common: They are all interested in learning more about the fiercely competitive world of venture capital.
Venture capital is a field so tight-knit that only a few cities around the country are considered industry hotbeds: Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin. In fact, total venture capital investment in Austin companies was up 11 percent in 2004 over the previous year. The industry is also off to a strong start this year. As of the first quarter in 2006, venture firms invested more than $148 million in 20 Austin-based companies.
Some of the top VC firms in the country are also headquartered in Austin, and the city has recently seen firms from well-known venture capital cities like Silicon Valley making visits here to gain insights, network and scope out the hottest deals. That combination means these McCombs students are well positioned for successful careers.
“Most of these firms are small, with about two or three partners, and most get there through experience and apprenticeship,” says Robert Parrino, director of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance in the McCombs School and former advisor to the Venture Fellows program. “It’s very difficult to come straight out of school into a job like that.”
Yet the McCombs School places about 6 to 10 students in venture capital or private equity firms each year, and Parrino says that’s on par with top business schools like Wharton and Harvard. “We hold our own very well in terms of placement, but the numbers are small,” he says. “It’s just the nature of the business.”
Even the Venture Fellows program itself is competitive. Two years ago, there were about 400 full-time MBA students accepted to McCombs. Of those, about 65 applied to the Venture Fellows program and 20 were selected—almost one in three.
Since then, the school has scaled back the size of the full-time MBA program; the entering full-time class size is about 260. Although Venture Fellows is still getting the same number of applications, this year’s program was capped at 19.
Valuable Real-World Experience
It’s the competitive nature that students like Newham thrive on, and it’s experience employers seek. For Newham, who spent five years as a senior development architect for Houston-based SolArc, Inc., Venture Fellows was a way to round out his chemical engineering background with solid business experience.
“I wanted to be involved in a student-run organization at McCombs, and I saw Venture Fellows as the premiere choice,” he says. “The two-semester internship was the most valuable experience for me.”
Students are placed in internships in the fall semester of their first year and the spring semester of their second and can request to work with certain firms, depending on their interests. Despite that, it’s a tough decision, especially for the firm principals who must choose from a smattering of stellar resumes.
“It’s very hard to differentiate these folks because they all went to very good schools and have substantial degrees and work experience,” says Campion. “In the end, I look for a combination of fit, qualifications and their extracurricular activities.”
In the Trenches
Once students are on board, their responsibilities depend on what the firm’s needs are, and much of it involves reviewing business plans and offering feedback.
Newham spent both semesters at Access Venture Partners, a firm that specializes in early-stage investing. His responsibilities ranged from writing whitepapers on certain technologies to determining an appropriate valuation for a potential portfolio company. He also handled investment memorandums that summarized a company’s market, competition, technology and other factors, as well as meeting with companies to hear pitches.
Campion, Newham’s supervisor, says the program is all about getting the students involved.
“They review business plans, set up meetings and really see [companies] at the first shot,” he says. “They are just as involved as I am in the company.”
That level of involvement has wide appeal for many. Laura Haggerty, MBA ’07, earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and worked in investment banking for Citigroup in New York for several years. She says the Venture Fellows program is the reason she chose McCombs for her MBA education.
“I wanted to go to a different [kind of] business school—one that was more entrepreneurial-focused with a deep interest in venture capital and the early-stage funding community—and Austin has that,” she says.
Haggerty, who is in the 2006-2007 class of Venture Fellows, did her first internship at Austin Ventures—the gorilla in the room when it comes to venture capital firms in not just Austin, but in the entire Southwest. With $3 billion under management across nine funds, Austin Ventures is the largest venture capital firm in Texas and the Southwest.
“We have a student-first mentality—this is very much about mentorship and guidance for us,” says Craig Milius, principal of growth equity at Austin Ventures. “We try to teach the interns at a very high level, see them as associates and expose them to a traditional associate role.”
Established 25 years ago, the “elder statesman of the industry” in Austin is a recent participant in the Venture Fellows program—an affiliation that Haggerty has already benefited from professionally. “The internship has already opened so many doors,” she says. “People are so impressed with Austin Ventures, and I’m already getting calls about other internship possibilities because of them.”
At Austin Ventures, Haggerty is involved in due diligence, looking at business plans and identifying new industries to target. It’s an experience that she says sends a good message to potential employers.
“I’m still plugged into the workforce, and it looks good on my resumé to show that I’m interning and going to school,” she says. “It’s easy to lose sight of what you’re in business school for. I wanted to have a work experience while in school to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry—especially in venture capital where things change very quickly.”
Although their desired career paths after business school vary, the Venture Fellows have one thing in common: They are all interested in learning more about the fiercely competitive world of venture capital.
Venture capital is a field so tight-knit that only a few cities around the country are considered industry hotbeds: Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin. In fact, total venture capital investment in Austin companies was up 11 percent in 2004 over the previous year. The industry is also off to a strong start this year. As of the first quarter in 2006, venture firms invested more than $148 million in 20 Austin-based companies.
Some of the top VC firms in the country are also headquartered in Austin, and the city has recently seen firms from well-known venture capital cities like Silicon Valley making visits here to gain insights, network and scope out the hottest deals. That combination means these McCombs students are well positioned for successful careers.
“Most of these firms are small, with about two or three partners, and most get there through experience and apprenticeship,” says Robert Parrino, director of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance in the McCombs School and former advisor to the Venture Fellows program. “It’s very difficult to come straight out of school into a job like that.”
Yet the McCombs School places about 6 to 10 students in venture capital or private equity firms each year, and Parrino says that’s on par with top business schools like Wharton and Harvard. “We hold our own very well in terms of placement, but the numbers are small,” he says. “It’s just the nature of the business.”
Even the Venture Fellows program itself is competitive. Two years ago, there were about 400 full-time MBA students accepted to McCombs. Of those, about 65 applied to the Venture Fellows program and 20 were selected—almost one in three.
Since then, the school has scaled back the size of the full-time MBA program; the entering full-time class size is about 260. Although Venture Fellows is still getting the same number of applications, this year’s program was capped at 19.
Valuable Real-World Experience
It’s the competitive nature that students like Newham thrive on, and it’s experience employers seek. For Newham, who spent five years as a senior development architect for Houston-based SolArc, Inc., Venture Fellows was a way to round out his chemical engineering background with solid business experience.
“I wanted to be involved in a student-run organization at McCombs, and I saw Venture Fellows as the premiere choice,” he says. “The two-semester internship was the most valuable experience for me.”
Students are placed in internships in the fall semester of their first year and the spring semester of their second and can request to work with certain firms, depending on their interests. Despite that, it’s a tough decision, especially for the firm principals who must choose from a smattering of stellar resumes.
“It’s very hard to differentiate these folks because they all went to very good schools and have substantial degrees and work experience,” says Campion. “In the end, I look for a combination of fit, qualifications and their extracurricular activities.”
In the Trenches
Once students are on board, their responsibilities depend on what the firm’s needs are, and much of it involves reviewing business plans and offering feedback.
Newham spent both semesters at Access Venture Partners, a firm that specializes in early-stage investing. His responsibilities ranged from writing whitepapers on certain technologies to determining an appropriate valuation for a potential portfolio company. He also handled investment memorandums that summarized a company’s market, competition, technology and other factors, as well as meeting with companies to hear pitches.
Campion, Newham’s supervisor, says the program is all about getting the students involved.
“They review business plans, set up meetings and really see [companies] at the first shot,” he says. “They are just as involved as I am in the company.”
That level of involvement has wide appeal for many. Laura Haggerty, MBA ’07, earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and worked in investment banking for Citigroup in New York for several years. She says the Venture Fellows program is the reason she chose McCombs for her MBA education.
“I wanted to go to a different [kind of] business school—one that was more entrepreneurial-focused with a deep interest in venture capital and the early-stage funding community—and Austin has that,” she says.
Haggerty, who is in the 2006-2007 class of Venture Fellows, did her first internship at Austin Ventures—the gorilla in the room when it comes to venture capital firms in not just Austin, but in the entire Southwest. With $3 billion under management across nine funds, Austin Ventures is the largest venture capital firm in Texas and the Southwest.
“We have a student-first mentality—this is very much about mentorship and guidance for us,” says Craig Milius, principal of growth equity at Austin Ventures. “We try to teach the interns at a very high level, see them as associates and expose them to a traditional associate role.”
Established 25 years ago, the “elder statesman of the industry” in Austin is a recent participant in the Venture Fellows program—an affiliation that Haggerty has already benefited from professionally. “The internship has already opened so many doors,” she says. “People are so impressed with Austin Ventures, and I’m already getting calls about other internship possibilities because of them.”
At Austin Ventures, Haggerty is involved in due diligence, looking at business plans and identifying new industries to target. It’s an experience that she says sends a good message to potential employers.
“I’m still plugged into the workforce, and it looks good on my resumé to show that I’m interning and going to school,” she says. “It’s easy to lose sight of what you’re in business school for. I wanted to have a work experience while in school to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry—especially in venture capital where things change very quickly.”
