Venture Capitalist?

Question

I am actually writing this for my brother. He is currently a freshman in high school with dreams of becoming a venture capitalist. What sorts of things could prepare him for this demanding career? (eg finance club, business major (in college), investing club...

Answer 1

He's got a long way to go, so maybe I'll just work backwards --

VC firms tend to hire only MBAs as getting that degree tends to involve lots of fundamental analysis of businesses, situations, and management decisions.

To get an MBA... well, lots of ways to do it.  One is go to a good undergrad college, get good grades and then get one or two years of work experience.  Some people go straight from undergrad.  Those that didn't go to a great undergrad, or have very good grades, can get into an MBA program by having very good work experience.

So, the path to an MBA means doing well in high school so that one can get into a good undergrad program.

Excluding the MBA track... VC's also hire people who have work in investment banks, hedge funds, or private equity firms.  To get into those, again, you have to do exceptionally well in undergrad.  They also do hire people with direct industry experience - i.e. I worked for a biotech company, and would be attractive to a VC that focuses on biotech.

Major - finance / accounting

Clubs - all an important part of doing well / looking good when applying to jobs after undergrad / looking good on MBA applications