VC & Growth Equity
Interview Prep Guide
Updated Interview Guide Coming Soon
Common Behavioral Questions
- Story
- Tell me about yourself and why this firm
- Why not return to X?
- Why ND and why your major?
- Strengths
- In what areas do you “outshine” your peers
- Tell me about something/a project you’re proud of
- What are you an expert in?
- Weaknesses
- In what areas do your peers “outshine” you
- What are your blind spots
- Time you failed
- Time you had grit
- Time you felt embarrassed
- Resume
- Talk to me more about… (anything on your resume)
- Make yourself interesting in the interests section! A good way to stand out
VC Specific Questions
- What sparked your interest in VC
- Tell me about a time you’ve been persistent
- Tell me about a time you’ve faced rejection
- Tell me about a time where you’ve been valuable to a founder
- What do you like to read about in the news
- Summarize the most recent news article you read
- Who are your favorite investors
- Tell me about your experience with…
- Sales
- Product management
- Journalism
- Investing
- Sourcing
- Personality
- What do you like to do for fun
- What are you passionate about
- The Role
- What are your goals/ what do you hope to accomplish as an intern
- What’s so special about our firm
- Where else are you recruiting?
Common “Technical” Questions
- Tell me about a category you are interested in
- Similar questions
- Do you have a strong interest in a specific sector?
- What horizontals or verticals excite you?
- What geographies are you interested in?
- How to answer
- Pick something specific
- Describe the market, industry, trends, incumbents, and any relevant data points
- How is your category segmented
- Prepare ~3 companies to talk about
- Your delivery matters just as much as the content
- Have a couple of categories ready to talk about
- Have a balanced answer… don’t forget about the risks!
- Describe your framework for how you would analyze if a company is a good investment
- Finance
- Tell me about your experience with financial modeling
- Walk through an income statement
- Walk through a DCF
- How do you think about valuing a company
- What are your favorite metrics for an X company
- Take a look at merger models in the guide since M&A is a common strategy for portcos
- Market sizing
- Know the paper LBO so you understand returns math
- Portfolio
- Which of our portfolio companies are you interested in and why
- What’s something strategic you think this company should pursue
- Which one of our portfolio companies are you NOT interested in/ you think it wasn’t a great investment and why?
- Trends
- Tell me about a couple of trends that would be relevant as a tech-investor
- Public Markets
- Which company do you think will be the best investment if you were to buy today and hold for 20 years
- Which public tech company would you say is the “smartest”
- If you mention a company… What multiple is X trading at? What do you think of that?
- What’s in the S1?
- Deals
- Tell me about a deal you’ve been following (IPO, acquisition, spin off…)
- What are the pros and cons of an IPO
- Fundraising
- Why do companies choose equity capital? When would other sources of financing make more sense?
- How VC Works
- Explain to your grandma how a VC fund works
- How do you calculate the returns in a fund
- Calculate the return if…
- Mock Founder Call
Growth Equity Questions
- Why is debt not used in most growth investments?
- Unpredictable cash flows from company so can’t raise debt on attractive terms
- Cost of capital - investing in the business itself generates higher returns than paying off debt
- Evaluating Business Model of a Growth Deal
- Profitable (unit economics) or viable path to profitability
- Capital efficient (working capital needs)
- Good margins
- Enduring value
- Risks to Evaluate in a Deal
- No business model risk, No management team risk
- Some market risk and execution risk
- How Would You Convince an Entrepreneur to Take Your Investment?
- Unique capabilities of the firm
- Track record with other companies
- Unique story, history, and mission
- Optimizing for long term value over highest bidder
- Being most enjoyable to work with, likable
- How Would You Approach Sourcing?
- Source leads
- Cold call or warm intros
- Preparation
- On the call
- Debrief the team
Other Resources
Past Interview Questions
- Bessemer Venture Partners
- Round 1:
- Tell me about yourself
- Walk me through your resume
- Tell me about a space you’re interested in
- What are some companies in the space that you like
- Case study: mock sourcing call (10–15 min)
- Would you invest in the company from case?
Some Questions to Ask Your Interviewer
- What was most surprising to you when you first started working here, or just as a tech investor in general
- What’s a deal that you didn’t end up doing and what was your reasoning?
- Which company in the company’s portfolio would you have also personally invested in, if you could?
- What’s your take on X trend?
- Have you ever thought about taking the founder route – why did you decide to go straight into investing?
- How do investment decisions get made here/ what’s the structure of the investment committee?
- Fun founder conversation or story to share?
- What’s something you wish you knew when you were starting out as an investor?
- What is your favorite thing about working here?
- Where do you like to get your news? Or creative ways to source?
- What are you most excited about what you are working on now and why?
- What’s been most challenging about the job?
- Is there anything else you think I should have asked?
List of Firms
- M33
- Co-founded by ND alums Mike Anello and Tom Guilfoile
- Volition Capital
- Insight Partners
- On Handshake
- Very early timeline
- Need to network to get on their “hot applicants” tracker
- 6th Street
- Recruits through WSC, application drop in the summer
- General Atlantic
- Very early timeline (interviews in early summer)
- Summit
- Application drop in the summer, interviews in the fall
- Bessemer Venture Partners
- More info here (talk to Libbie Frost!)
- Accel
- Fall application drop and interviews
- Katie Brown runs all ND recruiting
- Stripes
- Get connected with Courtney in HR
- Bain Capital Tech Opps
- Structured recruiting events in alignment with Bain PE, Credit, etc – loops into WSC
- Irish Angels
- Tech Nexus
- Battery Ventures
- Vista
- Apax Digital
- Golden Gate
- Level Equity
- Spectrum Equity
- General Catalyst
- Blackstone Growth
- Goldman Growth
More Resources
- Other ways to break into VC…
- Found your own startup!
- Join NDVC club at ND
- Join a fast growing startup
- Big tech – PM, sales, business operations
- Corporate venture
- Tech IB or consulting
- Anything interesting that shows you like to take a risk and initiative