If you have explored working for a venture capital firm, you have probably learned that landing a position as an investment analyst is exceedingly tough. Recently, I have been in the process of assessing if this is the professional route that I would like to pursue. Before wasting all of my efforts to acquire a spot in this very competitive and fascinating atmosphere, I decided to interview Aakar Vachhani, a Senior Analyst at Fairview Capital.
Aakar joined Fairview's team in 2008, where he is active in research, due diligence, investment monitoring, and company growth. Before joining Fairview, he was an Analyst in the alternative asset performance group at Cambridge Associates where he was responsible for tracking fund and company performance metrics for private equity, venture capital, and real estate funds, as well as analyzing and producing due diligence reports for select funds. In addition, Aakar has also worked with consulting teams to deliver portfolio performance reports to endowments, foundations, colleges/universities, public pensions, and family offices. Furthermore, at Cambridge Associates, he led quantitative research and analysis initiatives on private equity and venture capital benchmarks. Aakar has studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia and earned Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Economics - Finance from Bentley College.
I wanted to discover the best approach to secure a job in the venture capital market, so I asked Aakar how he landed his position at Cambridge Associates and Fairview Capital. He told me that the industry is quite tiny and that there are not a lot of roles available for younger people. It is tough to acquire employment with a firm, especially right out of school without any relevant experience. Aakar claimed that Bentley's career service department helped him connect with Cambridge Associates, one of the most highly regarded consulting organizations that specialize in consulting pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices on private equity and venture capital investment portfolios. They occurred to have an opportunity for an internship in their performance reporting group. Unfortunately, getting this position was challenging. Aakar got through two rounds of interviews and was turned down. The next year, Cambridge Associates announced a full-time position. Aakar opted to apply during his fall semester, went through three rounds of interviews, and was ultimately refused. In the spring, he applied again and after another three rounds of interviews, and an extraordinary amount of effort, he was eventually offered the post.
Working at Cambridge Associates was a terrific method for Aakar to learn about the venture capital industry. He said that he was continually seeking for opportunities to become involved and enhance his expertise. After two years of experience, Aakar decided to explore for other options. He discovered that Fairview Capital had an opportunity for a research analyst and decided to apply for the role. Since earning the role, he has been promoted to a Senior Analyst on the investment team.
After learning about how Aakar got involved in venture capital, I questioned him about what he does on a daily basis. In any given day, he achieves a range of various parts of the firm. While he is completing due diligence on potential investments, he is meeting with venture investors, analyzing performance and developing suggestions. With regards to company growth, he prepares presentations for clients or possible new investors and puts together marketing material for new funds. Aakar also aids with yearly and semi-annual reporting and publishes reports on fund activity and performance. In correlation with research, he analyzes investment issues and writes about them in newsletters and research reports. Aakar has also aided developed hosting symposiums, web conferences and even podcasts with venture investors.
Aakar has a broad job and it was crucial for me to learn about his everyday responsibilities. Having the drive to get active in venture capital is surely not typical among most persons. I went on to ask Aakar about when he knew he wanted to be part in the sector. He mentioned that he started to acquire interest when he was in his third year at Bentley. In his senior year, he grew interested in venture capital, but he never imagined that working for a fund of funds would be a good fit. Aakar's defines his interest of the venture capital market to be more of an evolutionary process.
I enjoyed putting together the interview and realized that persistence is key while seeking to be employed in the venture capital field.
