#98: Here’s how to get a job in venture capital

5 bullets on climate tech, better habits, and deep work

Dr. Chris Wedding

Feb 21, 2023

Good morning, folks.

In today’s 3-minute read, we’ll cover these 5 juicy nuggets below — as satisfying as helping underdogs win.

Climate Startups & Investment

#1 — 💪🏽 Here’s how to get a job in venture capital.
#2 — 📈 How to size a market in 30 minutes.
#3 — 💵 All investments can have a climate impact, including cash.

Better Habits & Deep Work

#4 — 👏🏾 38 Black environmental leaders you should know.
#5 — 😩 Make time for this or suffer.

Onward and upward,

Chris

#1 — 💪🏽 Here’s how to get hired in venture capital.

Do I have some tips on this? Sure.

But today, I want to pass the microphone to Nicole DeTommaso.

She’s an investor at Harlem Capital — a venture capital firm on “a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over 20 years.” 👏🏽

One of her goals is to “demystify the VC industry,” so let it begin right now.

Here are video snippets of her answering questions for aspiring VC investors.

Q: What’s one thing you MUST know in all VC interviews?
▶https://t.co/OrdQUMAj8V

Q: What would I have done differently while going through VC recruiting?
▶https://t.co/mvwZ8oPTsK

Q: Do you need investment banking experience for VC? And what do you do if don’t have it?
▶https://t.co/xyV0lrCXD3

Q: How can you participate in VC while not being full-time?
▶https://t.co/CGTRIg2zer

Q: How can you get started building your network in VC when you don’t know many people in the industry?
▶https://t.co/p5lnF5rXyg

Q: How do you make yourself known in the VC ecosystem, especially as a newcomer?
▶https://t.co/jvYECU4GUn

Q: How should a junior VC approach building their thesis & choosing their focus areas?
▶https://t.co/XiQLqNrRFV

—

Want more info?

“7 Steps To Land A Venture Capital Job” — VC Factory
“How to Get a Job in Venture Capital” — Haje Jan Kamps

#2 — 📈 How to size a market in 30 minutes.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

“The market size for our startup is $100 gazillion, and we plan to capture 25% of that market in year 5, so we’ll be a unicorn, yo.”

Everybody loves a good top-down market sizing sound bite.

But, unfortunately, those are not very accurate. Or convincing to an investor.

Bling Capital, a seed-stage investor, can help you properly estimate a startup’s market size in half an hour in this short tutorial.

As a teaser, avoid these mistakes:

Don’t focus on top-down total market size alone.
Make sure to segment your bottoms-up market sizing analysis.
Don’t use static growth estimates and unrealistic market penetration numbers.
Don’t rely on top-line revenue or GMV (Gross Merchandise Value); instead estimate gross profit.

🙏 // Quick favor //

I want more people to get to know, support, and learn from the 100+ climate CEOs, founders, and investors that I’ve interviewed on my Entrepreneurs for Impact podcast.

So…

I’d LOVE it if you could rate or review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.

If you’re feeling generous, you can do so here:

Apple Podcast — Scroll down to the “Ratings & Reviews” section
Spotify — Tap the star icon underneath the podcast description

Many thanks! They will appreciate your gift. 🎁

#3 — 💵 All investments can have a climate impact, including cash.

Wait…cash is an investment?!

Yep.

Here are two examples:

You like to lose money to inflation so you keep too much of your assets in cash 😨
The cash you keep at your bank is lent out to finance fossil fuel exploration or carbon-emitting power plants

And when the GHG contribution from cash is added onto a corporate’s carbon footprint, the numbers can get much larger than previously expected.

Here are three examples from the report showing that the cumulative GHG emissions for Paypal, Google, and Netflix could be 55x, 38x, and 10x larger, respectively, than previously thought.

Is this math perfect?

No.

Is it worth reconsidering where you keep your cash?

Yep.

Want to engage your bank on this?

Here’s your guide.

#4 — 👏🏾 38 Black environmental leaders you should know.

As part of Black History Month, I’d like to draw attention to dozens of Black innovators in the arena of environment and climate. Here are two lists to get things started. #NotComprehensive

29 leaders profiled by the City of San Francisco, including:

Will Allen — Former professional basketball player, ex-corporate executive, Founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., and winner of the McArthur Foundation Fellow “genius grant” for his work on agriculture and food policy
Dr. Robert Bullard — The “father of the environmental justice movement” and one of Newsweek’s 13 “Environmental Leaders of the Century”
John Francis — After the 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, he gave up all motorized transportation, took a vow of silence for 17 years to listen better to others, and stated that “Part of the mystery of walking is that the destination is inside us and we really don't know when we arrive until we arrive”

9 leaders profiled by the Yale Office of Sustainability, including:

Haile Thomas — Founder (at age 12) of HAPPY (Healthy, Active, Positive, Purposeful, Youth) to “empower youth to view wellness holistically and advocate for access to plant-forward nutrition in disadvantaged communities,” author of an award-winning vegan cookbook called Living Lively
Leah Thomas — “Founded the platform ‘Intersectional Environmentalist’ which shines light on how environmentalism intersects with not only Black lives, but also the Latinx, South Asian, East Asian, US Indigenous, South East Asian, and LGBTQ communities”
Majora Carter — “Urban revitalization strategist who founded and led the environmental justice solutions non-profit Sustainable South Bronx,” winner of the McArthur Foundation Fellow “genius grant”

#5 — 😩 Make time for this or suffer.

“When we fail to make time for personal development, we are forced to make time for pain and struggle.”

This line didn’t come from a relaxed yogi chillin’ in a green oasis in Asia.

Instead, this quote came from Hal Elrod, best-selling author of The Miracle Morning and survivor of two near-death situations:

A near-fatal car accident, where he was told that he might never walk again (since then he’s completed a 52-hour ultramarathon)
Diagnosis with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with a survival rate of 30% (he’s now cancer free)

So, I guess I should quit worrying about how busy I am. (#TailBetweenLegs) 🐕

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That’s all, y’all.

Make it a great week, because it’s usually a choice.

Cheers,