Brittani Brown

What happened in mental health last week? ⏺ Anise Health raised $3 million to deliver culturally-responsive mental health care for the Asian American community ⏺ Goldman Sachs acquired autism therapy provider Center for Social Dynamics, a care provider to over 4,700 clients across 20 locations. ⏺ Lyra Health CEO David Ebersman announced that he will be stepping back from his role to care for his mental health. Ebersman will take on a new role as Board Chairman. ⏺ Substance use disorder (SUD) treatment provider BrightView is closing nine facilities in Massachusetts and Arizona citing challenging operating environments. ⏺ California introduced a bill that would require mental health warning labels on social media sites. It would be the first U.S. state to do so if the bill is passed. ⏺ The Australian Medical Association issued a position statement warning that chronic underfunding and increasingly complex patient presentations are pushing the mental health system to a crisis point. ⏺ Ukrainian startup Healthy Mind raised $1 million to launch an AI platform for mental health in the workplace. ⏺ Indian mental health platform GoodLives raised $129,000 in a pre-seed round, offering AI-driven self-directed exercises alongside expert-led therapy sessions. ⏺ We (The Hemingway Report) launched our 2024 founder survey. Link in comments to contribute. (All links below) __ If you liked this and want insights on the mental health industry in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Hemingway Report newsletter and follow me Steve Duke 📩 #MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth

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Someone broke down the estimated costs of a $15 Sweetgreen salad. We need these cost graphics for digital health to help future founders. Especially for tech enabled cos, the greatest cost is labor. Much of the "value created" is in curation and matching, which means the gross margins are reliant on labor arbitrage. Pay someone $X, but get paid $X+Y% per visit. The challenge with healthcare is that you often have to pick one of two business models: 1. specialized, low volume, high cost, low gross margin % 2. generalized, high volume, low cost, high gross margin % I'd argue founders should focus on gross dollars over the lifetime of the customer (like Jeff Bezos said) instead of gross margin %'s, but we'll leave that for another time. The challenge is that many tech enabled digital health cos have high cost of goods sold (labor) and moderately high product, design, and engineering budgets. We must build differentiated solutions for patients, clinicians, and clients to be out incumbents, however, we're realizing that companies are ultimately valued on the discounted value of future cash flows. And the high SG&A costs at most organizations might be inbalanced to the unit economics of the business. I'm not sure the math pencils out for everyone unfortunately. But I'm just a guy on the internet, would love to hear the thoughts from those smarter than I (you!). Comment below. --- p.s. I have no idea the accuracy of the graphic and not an investor in Sweetgreen. Cheers. Credit: David Crowther

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What happened in mental health last week? ⏺ The Biden administration announced a rule to strengthen mental health parity, ensuring equal coverage with physical health care ⏺ Wundrsight Health raises $400k from Inflection Point Ventures for their VR digital therapeutics ⏺ Lyra Health expand their Lyra Complex Care program by offering nationwide access to Lyra Renew for alcohol and substance use disorders and Lyra DBT (Dialectical Behvioural Therapy) ⏺ The Digital Therapeutics Alliance issues their comment letter in response to the CMS’ 2025 proposed physician fee schedule. If you are in the DTx space, you need to be on top of this. ⏺ Doctorpresso, a Korean company, launched REDI, a voice-based diary app designed to detect depression by analyzing voice characteristics ⏺ maze impact announced their funding of Miinta, a Whatsapp based psychological support for Gen Z ⏺ The Australian government has committed to imposing an age limit on social media (despite push back from many major mental health research organisations) ⏺ Mindset Health published the results of their RCT, showing very impressive results for their app-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy (not quite mental health but super interesting) (Links in the comments) __ If you liked this and want insights on the mental health industry in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Hemingway Report newsletter and follow me Steve Duke 📩 #mentalhealth #behaviouralhealth

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Create Health Ventures Launches Inaugural $21M Fund for Early-Stage Digital Health Startups  Create Health Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage digital health companies, has closed its debut fund, raising $21 million, surpassing its initial target. Launched in 2024, Create Health Ventures is based in Austin, TX, and Chicago, IL. The firm focuses on technologies that enhance healthcare access, improve patient experiences, and deliver value across payers, providers, and pharmaceutical companies. *Its primary focus includes:   1. Payer-Facing Technologies: Solutions that improve member experiences, enable seamless data and workflow integration, and scale technology across geographies.   2. Clinical Trial Enablement: Tools to help pharmaceutical companies recruit and retain participants for late-stage clinical trials as demand increases. *Founders and Approach:   Create Health Ventures was co-founded by Emma Cartmell and Amit Aysola, healthcare veterans with over 45 years of combined experience. They bring operational expertise, regulatory insight, and an extensive network to portfolio companies. The firm exclusively invests in startups led by healthcare industry founders, leveraging its unique value-added platform for scaling businesses.  *The platform includes: - Business development support   - Access to executive coaches   - Connections to healthcare leaders   - Cross-selling opportunities among portfolio companies  *Key Quotes by GPs:  - Emma Cartmell: “Founders from the healthcare industry understand the challenges and opportunities to improve patient outcomes. Supporting them is the most impactful way we can positively transform healthcare.”   - Amit Aysola: “Payers and pharmaceutical companies are driving demand for connected, scalable solutions, and we are investing in companies to meet these needs.”  *Investments and Impact:  The firm has made five investments so far and partners with foundations, impact investors, and strategic healthcare veterans to mentor portfolio companies.  *Portfolio CEO Feedback:   - Dr. Chip Grant (Watershed Health): “Create Health Ventures has been invaluable in scaling operations and fundraising.”   - Shara Cohen (Carallel): “They are the most collaborative and active investor team I’ve worked with.”   - Neil Batlivala (Pair Team): “They’ve helped us manage growth and reach underserved communities.” If you are experiencing difficulties in raising fresh capital and would require warm introductions to new LPs, contact G+QUANT     ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send your inquiry directly to [email protected] #VentureCapital #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #Startups #ClinicalTrials #PatientCare #HealthTech #HealthEquity #CreateHealthVentures

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Thanks Chinenye. I couldn't agree with you more. However while we work on this, we also have to be mindful of the fact that bias isn't just the problem in this data rather a combination of poor economy and bias. Of all these regions mentioned, Africa is the least performing market. therefore Davidson, naturally you would expect investors to do less there. They are not charity organisations but a venture set up for outsized returns.Therefore the major issue we should be discussing is, which sectors are receiving this funding in Africa? Are the investments coming to sectors that will lift the other sectors up fundamentally or to sectors that will window dress the issues? or Worst still the ones that will reap-off on the people and distort rather than disrupt the system. (eg Nigeria POS fintech and the real banking system. a discussion for another day). Until strong investments are made in the technology sectors powering manufacturing strong job growth in Africa be it REAL B2B eCommerce not repeating what is already being done, or B2C eCommerce that is truly efficient and cost effective. Equally important is the improvement in the purchasing power of the consumers via credit card system. in as much as Sub-Sahara Africa lacks good credit system that captures the average citizens and residents, B2C will continue to struggle. in as much as our logistics investments are predominantly in the last mile delivery rather than efficient crosborder logistics, both B2B abd B2C eCommerce will struggle to scale efficiently and profitability. So, it's time for the investors to do away with the low hanging fruits and start tackling the real issues that will empower and propel Africa economies. That's where the main bias lies.

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LAUNCHING A VC FIRM AS AN UNDERREPRESENTED MANAGER: COURAGEOUS, CRAZY, OR BOTH? 🤔 I read that only 2%-3% of all VC funds are led by Black General Partners (GPs). Maybe that’s why people keep calling me courageous for launching a VC firm as a new Black fund manager. Truthfully though, my whole life feels like one big exercise in doing the hardest $h!t imaginable. But here’s the thing: If you want to make a real dent in the universe, you can’t expect the path to be easy, right? For me, launching Kabila Ventures isn’t just about building a firm—it’s about leveling the playing field for overlooked founder teams worldwide. 🌎 It’s a calling, not a choice. So, to answer the question: Is it courageous? Maybe not. But I’ll admit... I’m definitely a little crazy. Here’s to the crazy ones—the ones who dare to do what others won’t. 🙌🏾 If you’re bold (or crazy) enough to consider launching your own VC firm as an underrepresented manager, check out my video for three tips to help you get started. Let’s build something that matters. 💪🏾 Together. Tally ho! 🤠 #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #DiversityInVC #VCtips #VC

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"In my final year of medical school, I lost my uncle to addiction." 💔 This week I sit down to have an incredibly meaningful conversation on Digital Health Heavyweights Podcast with Maroof Ahmed MD the COO and Co-founder of Pelago ( Formerly known as QuitGenius) We cover a LOT of ground, from what inspired him to found the business, raising Series C funding, Y combinator and guiding principles, clinical outcomes and the future of ROI in Digital Health and MUCH MORE. Discover about the member experience at Pelago, which focuses on judgment-free, stigma-free messaging and tailored support for substance use management. We talk through the highlights the challenges and successes of the early years, including the rebranding from QuitGenius to Pelago. The conversation explores the shift in mindset around substance use management and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maroof and I discuss the company's expansion into the B2B market and the onboarding process for large employee populations. We even chat my favorite subject- the importance of hiring strong talent and maintaining a high talent density as a company scales. 💪 Looking to start a business? Take it from Maroof- he explains someone needs to have passion and commitment when starting a business, as success takes time and perseverance. ✨✨✨ Pelago has an outstanding 62% reduction in alcohol use and a 67% success rate in helping members become opioid-free. If you need help, they are accomplishing incredible things, and doing such good in this world. Tune in to hear Maroof and Pelago's story, and learn about all things Digital Health!! Check it out and let me know your thoughts below!! 👇 https://lnkd.in/d5hwQC_g

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Couple of weeks ago had the pleasure of sharing my story to Alexander Benkendorf about starting CastPrint and later moving on to join Verge HealthTech Fund and the learning along the way. Some topics we discussed: 💡What does it take to bring innvation in healthcare 💡How did my startup background help me better prepare for VC work 💡How founders can better engage with VCs and what are the tips and tricks from the "other side" Thanks Alexander for having me!

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Two of healthcare’s most-funded startups raised well over half a billion dollars—then shut down this year. So, does raising big bucks really lead to success? 🤑 SignalFire‎ teamed up with FierceHealthcare‎ to take a closer look at the 20 most-funded #HealthTech startups and the 20 largest recent HealthTech funding rounds. The top 20 #HealthTech startups raised $16.8B+ collectively. Where’s the money going? We unpacked: 📈 How #AI is driving a surge in funding for improving efficiency and outcomes. 💣 Lessons learned from flameouts like Olive and Forward Health. 🚀 From telehealth to value-based care, see how these startups are transforming healthcare—and what it takes to thrive. Check out the article from Heather Landi at Fierce Healthcare‎, who covers insights from YY at SignalFire's Health & PharmaTech practice below, and Danielle Z. on our data science team👇 Congrats to my former team at Devoted Health, who is at the top of this list, and our portfolio companies Ro, Grow Therapy, Color, PayZen on raising successful rounds!💸🎉 #Healthech #VentureCapital #Startups #AI #PharmaTech #Healthcare

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According to a recent Yale University article, global life expectancy has notably increased from 48 years in the 1950s to 72.6 years in 2021, reflecting advancements in healthcare and public health. I link it in the comments. But the same article cites that the global population over 60 is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, which is crazy if you think about it from the socio-economic point of view. So, it is clear that progress in life extension has been made already. However, the rapidly aging population is what pushes the need for breakthroughs in aging research and practical advances in preventive and lifestyle longevity interventions en masse. One of my personal dreams and goals of my professional activity is to push the boundaries of the longevity industry, I would say, it is certainly above anything else. And this is reflected in LongeVC strategy, as we back companies that either directly or indirectly help fight aging and live healthier. One conference that I think is currently the global leader in helping shape the longevity industry is Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting which is traditionally held at the University of Copenhagen. I am happy to share that the Longevity Biotechnology Association, where I participate, has just joined as Tier 3 Sponsor of ARDD 2024, to be held on Aug 26-30 in beautiful Copenhagen. Join the fight for aging! #agingresearch #longevity #longevityindustry #ageing Morten Scheibye-Knudsen Alex Zhavoronkov Evelyne Bischof, MD, PhD Daniela Bakula

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What happened in mental health last week? ⏺ KHP Ventures announced the Innovations in Mental Health Fund, a £20m fund to invest in mental health startups ⏺ Amae Health raised $6m from Cedars-Sinai for psychiatrist-led integrated care and wraparound mental health services for severe mental illness ⏺ Warsaw-based Britenet, received a £1m grant from the EIT - European Institute of Innovation and Technology for Moodmon, an AI driven tool for management and treatment of chronic affective disorders ⏺ Pulvinar Neuro received FDA breakthrough device designation for its closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to treat major depressive disorder ⏺ Czech startup Elin.ai closed a €1m pre-seed round for a mental health app for Gen Z and Gen alpha users ⏺ MindMed announced that their first patient has been dosed in their phase 3 study for MM120, an optimised form of LSD for generalised anxiety disorder after being granted ‘breakthrough therapy’ status by the FDA in March ⏺ Isar Mazer from Tacklit and Jacinta Pollard from Caraniche published an intersting article on how to digitally transform mental health services ⏺ Autism therapy provider Proven Behavior Solutions, LLC acquired Prism Autism Education & Consultation Education and Consultation, expanding into a second state. ⏺ Redesign Health raised a $175m fund to back health-tech startups. Whilst not a mental health specific fund, Redesign have a track record of backing businesses in this space. (All links below) __ If you liked this and want insights on the mental health industry in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Hemingway Report newsletter and follow me Steve Duke 📩 #MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth

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1% and 2% of VC funding go to Black and Women founders. Since money is hard to come by, we try to make it last by doing things ourselves. A word of advice: spend the money. We tried to do everything ourselves in the early days of working on Chezie. - I learned Webflow and Bubble to build our landing page and product and avoid hiring developers. - We spent hours onboarding every customer instead of buying a product to automate the process. - We constantly updated our email subscriber count so we didn’t have to upgrade to the next plan for an extra $30/month. I thought I was being scrappy, but I was actually holding the company back because it distracted me from higher-priority tasks. If you’re struggling to think about what to do yourself and what to spend money on, here’s a simple framework to help you decide: Put a price tag on your time. Early on, set your time at $50 or $100 an hour. If the time a tool or service saves you is more than that hourly rate, spend the money. As your company grows and your responsibilities pile up, the value of your time will rise, too. It might be $250/hour when you have ten employees and $1M in revenue, then $1000/hour at 25 employees and $3-5M in revenue. This isn’t about being reckless with your spending. It’s about freeing yourself to focus on the things that only you, as the founder, can do. Don’t let a $20 decision hold you back when it could be the key to moving faster and growing smarter. If it saves you time and mental energy, spend the money.

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Funding down dramatically to Black founders in 2023 across early stages - Sign the Community Development Investment Tax Credit Act and Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act before 5 PM TODAY. Peter Walker of Carta shared this on the state of funding to Black Founders -"2023 was the lowest share of fundraising for Black founders in our Carta dataset since 2020. The declines were consistent across pre-priced, Seed, and Series A rounds. One underreported thesis is that as VCs sought to reduce risk in the venture downturn of the last year or two, they funded repeat founders to an even larger degree than in prior timeframes. And Black founders are less represented among repeat founders (who would have had to found their companies in a less diverse VC ecosystem) than they are among founders as a whole." This is critical and all hands are required to advocate for Black Founders and reverse the anemic numbers around funding. The Center for American Entrepreneurship & Engine | Advocacy & Foundation are asking founders and ecosystem builders of color to sign a letter urging US Congress to pass: Community Development Investment Tax Credit Act: Boosts investment in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). "The legislation would create a new tax credit for private sector investors that make hashtag equity or equity equivalent investments in, or that provide long-term patient capital (i.e., loans with a minimum term of at least 10 years) to CDFIs." Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act: "The legislation would raise the cap on funds organized under a 2018 sub-category of section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 from $10 million to $50 million, and double the number of permitted investors from 250 to 500. Together, these changes will enable emerging fundmanagers to raise larger funds." Thanks to John Dearie for your tireless efforts and advocacy. Please add your your name to this letter before 5pm ET Today 🔗https://lnkd.in/grrzAeWG Samantha Katz Dominic-Madori Davis

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Today was a big win for consumer health, with Flo Health Inc.'s valuation at $1 billion. We're hearing talk about the market becoming frothy again, but I’d argue—without seeing the detailed financials—that this valuation could be entirely warranted. Flo has built an impressive business, with 5 million paid subscribers and 70 million monthly active users. At $60 per year for users to access the product, this business has hundreds of millions in revenue and plenty of room to grow. It's increasingly clear to me that innovators focused on healthcare have been wildly underestimating consumer business models for years, believing that patients would only opt for solutions covered by their health plans and prescribed or recommended by their doctors. That thesis needs updating, particularly given high deductible plans and soaring co-pays. Innovators building solutions that users genuinely love will win - even in healthcare. These businesses also have the potential to move into B2B channels, which is far easier to do when you have an engaged, loyal user base. I expect we’ll see many more consumer health businesses “pop” in the years to come, further proving that consumers are ready and willing to pay for such solutions. We're watching closely at Cherish Kudos to the team at Flo for this impressive milestone. Lainie Muller Charlotte Yeh Aashima Gupta Avanlee Christine Esther Dyson Alexandra Drane Jessica Kamada Vin Gupta, MD MPA Asheesh Saksena Paul Crnkovich Josh Kampel Steve Chazin Lee Wagner #agingwithattitude #independentliving #consumerdrivencare

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✨ Breaking: Redesign Health Announces New Fund.- Redesign Health Redesign Health has closed a $175 million fund to create dozens of healthcare startups over the next few years. The fund focuses on addressing key areas such as healthcare labor solutions, value-based care, and data interoperability, supporting innovation in these critical healthcare sectors. https://lnkd.in/dGavkab4 Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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2 things are universally true about the US’s mental health crisis: 1) its growing urgency, and 2) its enormous access barrier, with the price untenable for most due to the prevalence of out-of-pocket practices. Today, ~1:4 Americans have a treatable mental health condition, but most don’t get care. Accessibility is the primary culprit — finding a therapist that’s a great fit is a notoriously painful process of trial and error, let alone the added layer of trying to find someone who accepts insurance. Historically, therapists have been forced to make the painful trade-off of building their practice efficiently on their own terms or go the cumbersome, costly route of accepting insurance. The upshot is that only a third accept it, hence the cost hurdle keeping countless consumers from care. Exhausted by his own search for a therapist that accepted his insurance in San Francisco and then all over again in New York City, Andrew Adams built Headway to eliminate this bottleneck. The company’s business-in-a-box offering leads with the ability for providers to accept insurance, and in doing so builds a mental healthcare system that everyone can access. At Forerunner, we’ve been doubling down on opportunities that reshape small business growth for SMBs & solopreneurs historically late to benefit from modern commerce tools—e.g., independent retailers (Faire), independent travel agents (Fora Travel), restauranteurs (Table22), local home service pros (Topline Pro), registered dietitians (Fay)—and Headway has proven therapists to be a highly consequential class of small business owners to build for. The platform’s value to consumers, therapists and insurance providers is abundantly clear. In the burgeoning market it pioneered in 2019, Headway has scaled its network to a market-leading 34K providers leveraging its platform to run their private practices, and is in-network today with 40+ commercial health plans across 50 states. Next up: Medicare Advantage and Medicaid. Andrew & the Headway team are building to win in a category of the utmost consequence to society. Forerunner and I couldn’t be more motivated by the vision, nor happier to back the next chapter alongside William R. and Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, a16z Bio + Health and Accel. CC Forerunner & good ole Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

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A really great and well timed updated highlights on European Femtech (health tech and female health) referencing the H2 2024 trailblazing Sie Ventures report. Thanks for flagging Ida Tin and sharing as additive data to my "Femtech series". - report focuses predominantly on the "femtech" market size and opportunity, but brings in some broader "female health" data points (some only as at H2 2023). - Also lists the recent momentum in regulatory/governmental initiatives in the EU that focus on female health (the US has seen the same trend). -Luckily we have seen continued momentum of late stage fundings since this dataset/H2 2024. How did technology/femtech trigger female health momentum? - technology "femtech" has been the driver of this regulatory momentum. - It has taken digital biomarkers to focus in on how female cycles affect disease characteristics, drug efficacy and dosing and that "pain" has been normalised for female interventions - Now translational therapeutics focused pharmaceutical companies are partnering with femtech firms and wearables are providing the diagnostics! - We are at an intersection! What has biotech/translational therapeutics struggled with? - Biotech and drug development has therapeutic trends around well known potential drug targets i.e. translational medicine. - The general VC rule of "large market" holds, or a "niche/orphan disease" with lower BTE to get a drug to market faster - Even female oncology indications such as breast or ovarian cancer have been heavily developed for - with mixed success. - Other female diseases have seen no innovation for decades (e.g. endometriosis) - Female biased or female differentiated diseases, have therapeutic regimens dosed for men with seldom sub-population efficacy analysis (or parity representation) in clinical trials. BIAS v. Market Opportunity/Category leadership -We still need to address investment bias such as mirroring in male dominated investment firms with predominantly male deal funnels -Terminology bias i.e. "femtech" can create the perception that gender lens investing is impact or charitable - But series C funded unicorns seen over the last quarter have provided exits for early stage VCs validating the commercial market potential is! Here's to half the population getting served! #femtech #femalehealth #Sieventures #VCinvesting #VCgrowth #femalebias #investmentbias

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Severe mental illness remains one of the most underserved areas in mental health, possibly because it is difficult to address with the type of virtual, easy-to-scale models that VCs love to back. We're so excited that Sonia Priscilla García and Stas Sokolin at Amae Health have been able to break the mold, bringing better in-person solutions for patients and families dealing with SMI, and attracting strong venture partners to do so cc: Lisa Jacobs Blau, Alison Ryu, Claire Akkan Quiet Capital, Healthier Capital, Jan Ellison Baszucki, Karin Kissane, Mike Volpi

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Thinking About Breaking Into Venture Capital? Here is something I learned at the Included VC fellowship: Breaking into VC is a dream for many – the allure of working with innovative founders, shaping industries, and being at the forefront of change is compelling. But here’s an important reality check, especially for those targeting early-stage or small funds. If the fund is managing less than $10M to $20M in assets (AUM), their capacity to hire is often extremely limited. Most small funds have lean teams – think one full-time associate, or maybe one full-time and one part-time hire. This means that even if you land a role, you’re likely wearing multiple hats, juggling deal flow, due diligence, portfolio support, and fund operations. Does this mean you shouldn’t aim for these opportunities? Absolutely not. But it does mean you need to do your homework. • Understand the fund’s structure and strategy. Does it align with your career goals? • Ask about the team and hiring capacity. How many people are on the team now? Is there room to grow? • Clarify expectations. What will your role look like day-to-day? Breaking into VC is not just about landing a job – it’s about finding the right fit with a fund where you can thrive and grow. Doing your due diligence on the fund is as important as preparing for the interview. VC is a rewarding but competitive space. Make sure you’re walking into the right opportunity, not just any opportunity. What other advice would you share with those looking to break into VC? Let’s discuss below!

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