Why I’d Hire a Kauffman Fellow

I received my best professional break with the Kauffman Fellowship. It was early 2003 when I was a budding but anxious venture capitalist. Then, as now, the industry was in contraction and VCs were concerned about industry overhang, bloated portfolios, and stagnating economy. Had I not been invited by VIMAC Ventures to join its team as a Kauffman Fellow, it is unlikely my career as a venture capitalist would have survived the tumultuous years that followed.

As it is, finding an entry level position in the VC industry is tough. In an earlier blog, ( You the Venture Capitalist ? I cautioned those targeting a VC career that it should be treated as a long term project that offers scant success. As the industry shrinks from about a 1,000 firms to about 600 today, entry level positions are declining. Firms hire irregularly and almost never through campus interviews or career offices. When firms do hire someone as Analysts or Associates, they often expect ask them to leave after two-year tenures. As a result, the proportion of Associates that get on the partnership tracks is relatively small.

Consider the Kauffman Fellowship (www.kauffmanfellows.org) program.

Fellowship:The fellowship is perhaps the best qualification you can obtain to gain entry and ensure long-term success in the venture industry.