By far one of my favorite experiences since arriving in Cambridge has been …leaving Cambridge! Coming to MIT Sloan, I had 3 primary goals (i) build skills to make me a better entrepreneur (ii) develop an understanding of the latest technologies in Cleantech (as well as broadly in other areas, such as digital media) and (iii) understand the VC landscape better. Fortunately there are enough stellar classes and extracurricular activities which have helped me make great strides in the first two areas (let me know if you’d like pointers), but for achieving the third objective I’ve spent a lot of time off campus trying to get my head around venture capital.
Since the start of the school year I’ve been on treks to meet Venture Capital (and Private Equity) firms in London, Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, and India. If there was an award for going on the most VC/PE treks ...I would definitely be the top contender. Not something to be particularly proud of since this basically means that I’ve used every break and long weekend being a nerd and meeting with firms rather than lying on a beach somewhere. I also spent the month of January interning at a VC firm in Boston, while many other classmates traveled the world. Although the exotic photos from classmates do look enticing, I definitely have no regrets since I feel that these treks present once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to hear insights about business trends around the world from industry leaders. I not only understand the Venture Capitalists perspective better, but also understand the business landscape in different regions better. Fortunately the nature of venture capital is so tight-knit, that once you have a few connections in any region it makes it easier to connect with others. Since I wanted to be a little selfless and share some of the insights I’ve been learning with others, the next few blog posts are dedicated to my takeaways from my most recent India VC/PE Trek over Spring Break. Hope these allow you to relive the experience a little – Enjoy!
Group Picture from London VC/PE Trek – Thanksgiving 2009