Mission Report #12

gen z, recruiting and due diligence 💻

Mission Report is a bi-weekly newsletter brought to you by me, Uma Patel, Head of Content here at UndercoverVC. We’ll be bringing you the latest updates about our fellowship, events and partnerships, as well as a curated set of internships, jobs, reading, and resources for students aspiring to careers in venture. We’ll also be spotlighting the very best of our community, including our fellows, alumni, and team. Our goal is to provide you with a handbook of tools and resources so–regardless of school–the world of venture and startups is accessible.

⛺UndercoverVC HQ

what we're up to behind the scenes.

• Intelligence Briefing #1, Could the Metaverse Save Small Businesses from Amazon? was published last week and written by our Cohort II fellow Varoon Enjeti. Check it out!

🗞️ News

VC, startups, entrepreneurship and everything in between.

• WIRED article by Arielle Pardes reveals Latino Founders Have a Hard Time Raising Money From VCs.

Some VCs have earmarked “diversity funds” to increase their investments to underrepresented founders. But those programs haven’t fundamentally changed anything about the access or capital flowing to Latino founders.

• Sifted article by Julius Bachmann argues How founder diligence in venture capital is falling short.

Despite the great thinking out there, many VCs still use imprecise, overly simplistic evaluation methods that apply better to corporate than entrepreneurial contexts.

• TechCrunch article by Lucas Matney says Hundreds of Y Combinator alumni join crypto collective to back web3 startups.

The group, called Orange DAO, is an effort to build out a venture structure which can scout out and back young crypto startups. It was formed this fall with a few dozen YC alums, but has grown in recent weeks to attract more than 1,000 YC founders.

• Entrepreneur article by Nico Barawid covers Startups and the Gen Z Worker: A Match Made in Tech Heaven.

This convergence of generational characteristics and shifting market dynamics accelerated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which upended the traditional corporate workplace model puts startups in a strong position to vie for Gen Z talent.

💼 Opportunities

Curating the latest fellowships, internships, and new-grad roles in venture. Internships + Fellowships

• Fellow @ Susa Ventures (Remote)

• Analyst @ Insight Partners (New York)

• Intern @ Handmade Ventures (San Francisco)

• Intern @ Lerer Hippeau (New York)

• Intern @ Hivemind Capital (New York)

New-Grad

• Analyst @ Insight Partners (New York)

• Associate @ Clerisy (Miami)

• Associate @ Equal Ventures (New York)

• Associate @ North Island Ventures (New York)

• Associate @ Night Ventures (Austin)

• Associate @ Pillar VC (Boston)

• Associate @ Contrary (Remote)

📚 Resources to Check Out

What we've been reading, watching, and listening to...

• UVC Bookshelf: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers argues you don’t need to think big; in fact, it’s better if you don’t. Start with what you have, care about your customers more than yourself, and run your business like you don’t need the money. Derek started CD Baby in 1998 by helping his friends sell their CDs. In 2000, he hired his first employee. Eight years later, he sold CD Baby for $22 million.

  • “If you think revolution needs to feel like war, you’ll overlook the importance of simply serving people better... When you’re onto something great, it won’t feel like revolution. It will feel like uncommon sense.”

• Currently applying for VC jobs? Justine Moore, the author of Accelerated, created the ultimate VC Recruiting Guide for students and grads. The information packed notion page is organized into major questions we all have about landing a job in the industry such as:

  • What are the different types of VC firms?

  • How do I do due diligence on VC funds and investors?

  • Which firms regularly hire analysts/associates?

  • What resources can I use to learn about VC jobs / find jobs?

• Twitter Spotlight: Nicole DiTommaso (she/her) from Harlem Capital has a twitter page worth following. She posts job openings, tips for starting in VC, exit models and so much more content all with the goal to demystify the venture industry.

📆 Events

Mark your calendars!

• Radical Candor Author Kim Scott : Stanford d.school Masters of Creativity is a free online event on February 17th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM EST. Best-selling author Kim Scott shares practical tips on how to become cognitively open to unlock yourself and others. She co-founded two companies that help organizations put the ideas in her books into practice. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. Kim previously held leadership roles at Apple and Google.

• INSEAD Workshop: Venture Capital, Business Angels, and Starts Ups is a free virtual event on February 22nd from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM CET or 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM CET. If you are (or want to be) an venture capitalist or a business angel, you learn how to identify high-performing start-ups and how to help them to become successful. If you work (or want to work) in a startup, you learn how to get offers from venture capitalists, how to choose among these, and how to ensure you get the most out of the relationship with your investor.

• Mindset Over Motivation: A Founder’s Guide to Focus is a free event on February 7th from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST. This workshop will be led by Dr. Nathaniel Mills, Founder & Clinical Director of Sacramento Institute for Psychotherapy. Dr. Mills will discuss how you can leverage a new mindset to create focus and clarity in the midst of adversity and chaos. He will provide you with practical and actionable steps to gain better focus and succeed in moving your business forward.

• Crypto, CBDC, and Web3: Blockchain technologies for a sustainable future? is a free event on January 29thfrom 8:00 – 9:30 AM EST. The Cambridge Blockchain Society and the Global Engineering Futures Network are jointly hosting a panel discussion inviting experts from the field to shine light on applications and discuss pitfalls and chances blockchain technologies present for a transition into a sustainable future. They will also discuss how engineers can get involved in developing these technologies and the desired skillsets for those wanting to pursue this career.

📓VC Term of the Week

Let's learn some industry terminology.

• due diligence involves asking and answering a series of questions to evaluate the business and legal aspects of the opportunity before making an investment.

  There are three stages of due diligence:

  1. screening due diligence - funds flag the business opportunities that fit and indicate that they will spend more time and money evaluating.

  2. business due diligence - once the deal is determined to “fit” it is assigned to a junior and senior member of the team who will investigate further to determine the viability of the deal.

  3. legal due diligence - once the fund has reached the stage of moving toward a favorable decision, their lawyer will complete a legal review.

🧠 How you can help us

• If you’ve been through or helped run a student or university-run accelerator, shoot us an email at platform@undercover.vc

• If you’re a founder or early-career venture professional interested in mentoring our fellows, shoot wade an email at wade@undercover.vc

Thanks for reading!

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