If you had asked me last year what I’d be doing in a year, I would never have guessed that I’d be working as an analyst at a VC firm. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join the Haatch team and get involved in different aspects of the investment lifecycle, especially since my first contact with Haatch was actually as a founder. 

While there’s no specific formula for landing a job in VC, I hope this blog post will shed some light on how an investor event and a failed funding round helped me land this role. 

Fundraising for my startup

This time last year, I was busy raising a second investment round for the D2C startup I’d been running for five years. We were raising £800k, and while our existing investors could cover half that amount, we still needed a lead investor. So, the race was on to find a lead investor before we ran out of cash. Fundraising is tough, but I was optimistic; we’d been growing quarter-to-quarter, and things were looking good (or so I thought). 

Things didn’t go to plan. I reached out to as many investors as I could, but nothing made a difference. It probably didn’t help that our first funding round was oversubscribed or that we had managed to close it in a very short amount of time. Looking back, this definitely influenced my perception of how things would go the second time around. Most investors we contacted never replied, so even a No seemed better than no response. The most difficult responses, however, were the No’s disguised as Yes’s. 

We spent months engaging with investors who showed clear signs of interest, even though they never directly expressed it. Lured by the opportunity to close the round, we continued to engage with them and took their excitement and positive comments to mean that things were progressing. Looking back, I can see that if it’s not a clear yes, then it’s probably a no, and no number of compliments can change that. 

At this point, we were almost out of runway, which limited our options. After speaking to my investors and advisors (and after a lot of back and forth), we decided to dissolve the company. This was a difficult decision to make. I’d dedicated years of my life to building this business, starting with just £500 and an idea, before bootstrapping, raising VC investment and growing to over 22,000 customers. While things had not gone according to plan, I was immensely grateful for the experience and all the people who supported me and helped me get to this stage. Reflecting on my startup experience helped me see that while I’d gotten some things right, I’d also gotten many things wrong. I founded a startup straight out of university and that business ultimately failed, but what I wanted more than anything was the opportunity to learn more about the difference between good and great companies.

Meeting Haatch

Back when I was fundraising, I came across an investment event where one of the speakers was Charlie, an Associate at Haatch. I reached out to him years ago on LinkedIn when we were raising our first round, but they had just invested in one of our direct competitors and, therefore, declined. Still, I decided to attend the investor event to get a chance to speak to him in person and meet the other investors on the panel. I had nothing to lose; at the very least, I knew I’d get some good advice. 

One of the things that differentiates Haatch is that they are entrepreneurs who have scaled and sold businesses before becoming investors, and Charlie’s advice was invaluable. I learned a lot from that conversation and left wanting to learn more about what investors look for in great startups. At the time, joining a VC fund was not part of my plan, but speaking to Charlie helped shed some light on the gap that exists between founders and investors and helped cement the fact that Haatch brought more than just capital to the table.

Getting the job

My interest in the world of VC came from wanting to be a better founder in the future; I wanted to learn more about building great startups and what investors look for. After closing my company, I spent some time searching for roles where I could learn more about how the best founders grew and scaled their companies. I came across a post for Haatch’s Analyst role on LinkedIn, and I was fortunate enough to make it through their 5-step interview process along with Aini Hashim.  

The interview process was long but very enjoyable; it gave me a taste of what working at Haatch would be like, and I learned so much just by speaking to the team. If I were to share some advice about getting a role in VC, it would be this:

• Research the fund that you are applying for as much as you can and learn about their portfolio companies as if you already worked there. 
• Find something that gives you a competitive edge as an analyst, be it previous startup/fundraising experience, a strong understanding of the industry or an insatiable appetite for learning. 

Landing a role in VC is competitive, so make sure that you stand out. Continue to grow your network and knowledge so you’re already prepared when an analyst role becomes available.

My role at Haatch

My current role at Haatch involves sourcing and deal flow management. This means actively searching for founders building B2B SaaS startups, organising calls with them, aiding in due diligence and writing memos to help the best startups pass through our investment committee. 

One of my newfound interests is exploring the gap between founders and investors. As a founder, I was often frustrated by the amount of early-stage investors who told us that we were too early-stage, but even in my short time as an analyst, I am beginning to appreciate and understand both sides of the coin (but perhaps that’s a different topic for a separate blog post). Ultimately, my goal is to meet great founders and continue learning about what differentiates the good from the great.

Written by Marwa Ebrahim.