By Pragya Jhunjhunwala
The world of entrepreneurs and investors has seen an upsurge in recent years. The path of an entrepreneur has become pretty well known to many by hearing about the success stories and the bumps along the way of startups like Flipkart and Amazon, however, that of an investor is not. One of the most common ways for a startup to finance themselves is through a Venture Capital fund.
Venture Capital firms raise capital and invest them in various early-stage companies in exchange for equity. The job of a Venture Capitalist is to raise funds, find startups to invest in, negotiate deal terms, and help these startups grow
We spoke to a Venture Capitalist to help understand the job better
Manish Kheterpal is a managing partner with WaterBridge Ventures. He has graduated from IIT Delhi and received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has over 15 years of knowledge in venture capital. His investments cover a wide range from DoubtNut to 9Stacks to MagicPin and his exited investments are Unacademy and BlueJack. He is an active member of Stanford Angels and TiE, two of the most entrepreneurship based networks.
(edited by Nipun Dham)
The field investing has grown so much so that colleges even offer courses(majors and minors) related to them! For a professional investing career one will most likely need a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field. A “business degree” is a broad term. It contains a wide number of degrees. One can expect a lot of analysis of actual businesses as business degrees use many case studies as a teaching tool. Students will learn in-depth analysis and even the formulation of business strategies and theories. The entry requirements for these types of courses vary from country to country. However, the student must have some sort of leadership skill and even display a keen interest in the field in their Statement of Purpose(SoP).
The following are a few popular business undergraduate courses:
Finance Degrees:
A finance degree will teach you how wealth influences the world and the working of various companies. Economics and Statistics will be covered in finance degrees since these are important topics to learn and are complementary to finance. Other important finance topics are- accounting, mathematical methods, and information technology.
During the later stage of the course, the students are able to choose a specific direction they want to pursue and take classes in fields like taxation, risk management, and business strategy.
Economics Degrees:
Economics is a part of the social sciences and explores the impact of issues on financial situations and decisions. This involves studying areas like sociology, law, and politics. Economics can be in a BA(bachelor of arts) or BSc(bachelor of science) form. A BA is more likely to focus on mathematics, statistical theory, and its application on economic theory. Whether a BA or BSc, students will be required to combine economic theory with data to formulate or give their conclusions on policies. They will also be made to analyze problems related to current affairs.
Management Degrees:
Management degrees give students a broad foundation in topics relating to business, economics, and marketing. The demand for management professionals in almost every sector of human activity and therefore you’ll find a vast range of management degree programs available, including many taught as combined honors or joint programs. Management degrees may be offered either as a BA or BSc. Teaching is typically a combination of lectures, seminars, and classes, with students expected to deliver presentations, prepare reports, write essays, complete problem sets, and take part in group discussions.
If you find yourself interested in anything business-related, be it becoming an entrepreneur, an investor, or a similar occupation, do thorough research on the various degrees available and go after your dreams!
Comments