Bench to Boardroom: Scientists in VC Summary
Panelists:
Aimee Raleigh - Principal at Atlas Ventures
After finishing her PhD in bioengineering, Aimee worked as a life science consultant which she feels prepared her extremely well for working in venture creation.
Julie Wolf - Principal at 2048
After finishing her PhD and postdoc in microbiology, she was a founding member of the NYC IndieBio incubator, which prepared her well for a role at 2048.
Andrew Gottesdiener - Partner at Venrock
During medical school he completed an MBA and felt this prepared him very well for his role.
Find the firm that’s right for you
Atlas is about 2/3 venture creation/company building and 1/3 deal flow.
Aimee spends much of her time acting as an operator in early stage companies and in-house builds.
2048 is focused mostly on deal flow, but also for very early stage companies.
Julie spends a lot of time on startup operations, working with founders, and sourcing new opportunities from academic institutions and incubators.
Venrock does everything from early stage to public markets investing, focused on deal flow and not in-house venture creation.
Andrew works primarily on the public market side and spends much of his time reading literature and attending conferences to stay up to date on latest advances in tech and clinical trials, as well as paying attention to the overall market.
Words of advice
Don’t rush into VC, it’s often a good idea to gain experience outside of academia before going to a VC firm. No matter how you prepare, the job will be overwhelming at first.
Consulting can prepare you for operator roles in venture creation, banking prepares you best for later stage VC/public markets, etc.
If you thrive while “drinking from the firehose” and are comfortable with being uncomfortable VC may be for you.
Connect with as many people as possible, VC is a small ecosystem and the more people who know you the more likely you are to land interviews and get jobs.
Common stepping stones: consulting, equity research, biotech, entrepreneurship, banking, incubators/accelerators. There is no “best path”, but some prepare you better for certain aspects of VC.