Breaking into Biotech VC
Biotech VC often requires at least a PhD and five to ten years of industry experience. If you’re very early into a biotech career, here’s how you can get your foot in. Build something that could yield immense value in one or all the ways that VCs care about which include connecting others to opportunities/jobs, creating network effects within your own network, access to high potential individuals and ability to pool knowledge.
Build something you want to see happen. If there is no community in a certain field, raise some money to support events or other community building initiatives related to that field. If no one is talking about a certain area you’re excited by, be the first person to generate some buzz. Don’t stay within the realms of your university network, tap into the broader ecosystem. If you’re in a city without a strong biotech ecosystem, be the person who brings people together. Start hosting meetups, events, panels. Make yourself known in the process. This could be in the form of a community, a successful slack group, newsletter, as long as you show your ability to build a strong community and can attract smart talented people.
Some of my favorite examples include Invite Health, BioML Lectures at Berkeley, DNA Deviants and Nucleate Dojo.
Building communities is not the only way to build something of value. You can build various tools and see if people use it. Some examples could be an easier way to track literature search, a database to automate reaching out to authors of top papers published that week, a tool to make due diligence process smoother, or a way to keep track of experts in a field such as a tool like PeopletoNotion. It could even be a living document of resources and guides such as Sana and Jenn’s Biotech in a Nutshell page.
Find interests and develop niches you are curious about
This is one of the easiest ways to build a network. When learning about a new subject or topic, reach out to all the experts in that area as a start, and ask them who are the next ten people you should meet or papers you should read. A large part of the job as a VC is to learn about new emerging fields as quickly as you can from the best in class. Make these people your mentors and champions as you advance your career as a young person.
Writing is the best way to learn. Tweet about things you learn, talk about it with others, and learn from others. Become really good about one or two areas that you think are interesting. Develop your own opinions and thoughts on different fields that VCs might be talking about, and produce something of your own that showcases independent thought.
It’s equally as important to make sure you regularly absorb information from various different fields as well alongside developing your own niche in one or two domains. Be opinionated about the states of different fields. Don’t be afraid to share your thoughts, even if you might not be the most knowledgeable. The most important thing is being okay that you don’t know everything and being open to learn from others.
How to find a role
Most people in VC naturally fell into it and found a fit. If you actively imbed yourself in your local founder community, have a desire to help as many people as you can, and learn niche subjects every week at depth, you’ll eventually find a role that’s best suited for your skillset and interests.
Most VCs never post about internal roles that they are hiring for. Make sure to apply to programs that are VC-led or backed, and then get to know every single person apart of the program including the program leads. VC platform teams are often the first to know if a VC is looking for someone, and the first place they go to is their internal communities or groups they have. They can hire by you convincing them to hire you by showcasing that you regularly tap into networks they don’t have access to, regularly be around high potential individuals or founders, or sending them high quality recommendations for companies and founders, or if you happen to be top of mind for them when they are actively recruiting for a role.
How to find the best firms to work with
Imbed yourself in core circles. Biotech is a small world. Once you get connected to enough people you’ll realize everyone knows everyone. Make friends and treat people with kindness, try to help others even if you feel like you might not have much to give yet. A good place to start: https://founderledbio.com/ecosystem/
Find good mentors. It’s easier to find mentors when you’re building something because they can actively give you feedback and see your growth overtime. Build relationships with people, or even investors over time. Once people get to watch you work overtime, they can help guide and direct you better, and even refer you or give internal references to funds that may be on the lookout.
VCs talk to each other, mostly never in a bad way. Always be kind with every interaction, be genuinely curious in the work they do, and never be afraid to reach out. Most people will say yes if they have the time to help. Use your age as an advantage to ask as many “dumb” questions as you can. Not being afraid to ask questions can sometimes put you 2-3 years ahead of everyone else.
Most importantly sell yourself well and your brand. Be excited about your own potential. Sound excited when you talk about yourself and your goals to others. Know your own potential and what value you can bring in the next 5-10 years. Show them that if they invest in you as a student, you can pay them back in a way by doing incredible things with the experience you gained afterwards.
Having a biology degree or some substantial exposure to research and foundational science can help during the role. When speaking with scientific founders, it’s good to be able to speak their language and ask good questions about the work they do rather than spending most of the time keeping up with scientific jargon or speech.
Reasons Biotech VC might not be for you
If you want to build companies. Although it depends on the fund, if they do venture creation you’ll be able to get a peak but won’t be the same as actively building one. Unfortunately being hands on building with founders at a biotech VC is hard as an undergrad because there is years of experience at play. Many founders hire chief of staff roles that could be perfect for someone still exploring biotech.
If you want to make investments in biotech companies. As a young undergrad, it’s highly unlikely at the first gig at a biotech firm you’ll get much say over the final yes or no to a deal however it doesn’t mean you can’t try. Learn what deals they are interested in and then go find them. Here’s a post by Shelby Newsad on finding biotech deals.
If you’re doing it for the name. Well known names can help only if you put in the work for it to help. Make your mark at the fund you join so you build your portfolio and reputation, and remember it’s really about what you make of that opportunity at the fund that is worth more.
If you don’t enjoy talking to people all day and struggle with emails. Being good at keeping up with your inbox and following up is important skill. Important to add that keeping up with an inbox and calls is not directly correlated with being a better investor, but as a young person this is one of the biggest ways to show you are trustworthy and responsible. Additionally, if you don’t like being on calls or talking to people, content/writing and developing platform tools might be better role for you.
Reasons why Biotech VC it might be for you
If you want to find your niche or key interest area. If you have deep knowledge on a handful of areas such a how the science works, general company landscape, new innovations, regulatory battles, top research labs and leaders, as well as regularly keep up with many different topics, you might find the volume of content and material in a VC role exciting. Being able to spend at least 4 months at a firm can be the best way to learn as much as you can. The first two months is getting accustomed to the world, and the next two months is when the actual learning starts to happen.
VC is a great way to be exposed the ways people are currently solving the problem that may not be known to the public, and what solutions are currently missing. By watching founders build at the cutting edge and hear experienced investors opinions on different approaches, it’s a great way to leave and feel inspired to build your own company or continue to do further education in a certain field or area you were exposed to.
If you want to expand your network. Depending on the role and how immersed you are, you can grow your network which is immensely valuable to a startup if you wish to join one after or start your own project. The people you meet while working at a VC can range from industry leaders with over twenty years of experience or founders that have three IPO biotech companies.
Types of VC roles
Community/platform roles: Easiest to break into as an undergrad. More and more biotech VCs are increasingly getting involved with active community building. Find those firms and convince them why you’d kill it at building a community.
Biotech investing: Very difficult. Almost every person doing full time investing has a masters at the minimum, or eventually pursuing graduate degrees. There is a shift these days though, but for now, especially at top large Series A+ biotech funds, it seems to be needed.
Scouting: Can be difficult if you don’t already have a deep network where people are starting companies. It’s still a good way to break in and start building a reputation.
Venture associate roles: Highly competitive. VCs usually don’t hire undergrads for VA roles and only PhDs. For undergrads, you likely have not spent as much time building a niche and it really comes down to the amount of years you have spent in a specific field. Potentially as an undergrad, spending a minimum four to five years doing highly specific research in lab and having a strong network could be a way to show capabilities and break in through a VA role.
Content / writing: One of the best ways to learn as much as you can is through writing. VCs often have dedicated content teams to push out pieces that they want founders to know or thesis on areas they want people to build in. Through this process you can start finding your own thesis to build. Highly recommend for those just starting out, and have written a handful of content before. An example is Carol & Alex, who are great writers in undergrad writing for Age1.
Note: This is advice for breaking into early stage biotech VC. Late stage biotech VC may be harder as they may not have much activity engaging with the general biotech community. They require deep expertise around clinical trials or later stage drug development, and lean towards experts who can understand complex data rooms.