The VC/PE Apprenticeship Program includes...

The VC/PE Apprenticeship:

Overview: Join the investment team of VU Venture Partners as part of the VC/PE apprenticeship program. VU Venture Partners is a multi-stage investment fund focused on Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Healthcare, and Frontier tech. During the VC/PE apprenticeship program individuals focus on deal sourcing, due diligence, investment evaluation, presenting at weekly Partners Meetings, presenting and participating on Investment Committees, making 2-5 investments per quarter, and sharing in the financial upside on the investments made via a Profit Sharing Agreement.

Individuals can join the VC/PE Investment Apprenticeship Program for 1-4 quarters (~3-12 months) to gain high quality investment experience, and build out a portfolio and track record of ~3-20 companies.

Time: ~10-12 weeks, Mon-Fri, 9:00am-5:00pm.

Location: VU's San Francisco or NYC office, and is also available for individuals to join virtually via Zoom.

Profit Sharing Agreement:

Overview: Cohort members in the VC/PE Apprenticeship Program share in the financial upside across the companies invested in during the quarter. The future value of the profit sharing of the portfolio may be worth none, some, all, or more than the total cost of participating in the program.

Career Planning & Strategy Support:

Overview: VU works one-on-one with each individual within the VC/PE Apprenticeship Program to update their resume, LinkedIn profile, and plan a career strategy for landing targeted roles within the VC/PE funds, accelerators, and the startup ecosystem, or launching their own fund. Additional support is provided to help create a personal brand within the industry via blog articles, attending and speaking at events, and building out a personal network.

VU consistently gets requests from VC/PE funds and accelerators to recommend top cohort candidates for jobs, and also works closely with individuals to leverage VU's network to setup interviews. VU supports candidates with interview prep and also can act as a reference.

Executive Education: The VC/PE Apprenticeship Program includes two Executive Education courses, The VC/PE Masterclass and The Advanced VC/PE Modules

The VC/PE Masterclass:

Overview: The VC/PE Masterclass is a one week intensive investment course that covers the critical concepts of venture capital and private equity, with a number of case studies and group discussions.

Instructors: The investment team and General Partners of VU Venture Partners.

Time: One week, Mon-Fri, 9:00am-5:00pm, happens during the first week of each program. See quarterly schedule above.

Location: VU's San Francisco or NYC office, and is also available for individuals to join virtually via Zoom.

The Advanced VC/PE Modules:

Overview: The Advanced VC/PE Modules includes advanced coursework, exercises, and insights on deal sourcing, due diligence, financial modeling, investment term sheets and docs, valuation, cap tables, waterfall analysis, M&A / IPO, raising a VC/PE fund, corporate VC, managing a board of directors, etc.

Instructors: VU's General Partners, VC Investors, and industry experts.

Time: 9 Weeks, Tuesdays (6:30pm-8:30pm PST) & Thursdays (3:30pm-5:30pm PST).

Location: Join in-person in VU's San Francisco or NYC office, and/or virtually from anywhere via Zoom.

Quarterly Events:

Fireside Chats: VU has weekly fireside chats both in the San Francisco and NYC office with VC and PE investors, corporate VCs, angels, family offices, entrepreneurs, and strategics. Participants also get access to previous fireside chat videos that have been recorded.

Investor Only Networking Event: VU hosts a quarterly Investor-Only Networking Event in San Francisco and NYC bringing together the VC, family office, and angel ecosystem.

VU Alumni Reunion: VU hosts a quarterly VU Alumni Reunion event which introduces VU's investor alumni to the incoming cohort in San Francisco and NYC.

Startup / VC Events: VU gets access to a number of startup / VC events each quarter, from demo days at accelerators, to drink and networking events, to pitch competitions, to startup and VC speaker panels, etc., and shares this internal event calendar with each cohort.

Fun Cohort Bonding Activities: VU plans a number of fun cohort bonding activities each quarter, such as: a Welcome dinner, an escape room, a startup / VC board game night, a startup / VC movie nights, billiards, bowling, ping-pong, weekly happy hours, and a Napa wine trip, etc.

REVERSE DEMO DAY: At the end of each quarter, the cohort presents their 2-6 investments at REVERSE DEMO DAY to share their investment thesis on each company. REVERSE DEMO DAY happens both in San Francisco and NYC each quarter.

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