If you've pondered working for a venture capital firm, you've probably learned that becoming an investment analyst is a difficult task. I've recently been pondering whether or not this is the career path for me. I opted to interview Aakar Vachhani, a Senior Analyst at Fairview Capital, before expending all of my efforts to secure a position in this very competitive and interesting area.
In 2008, Aakar joined the Fairview team, where he works on research, due diligence, investment monitoring, and business growth. Prior to joining Fairview, he worked at Cambridge Associates as an analyst in the alternative asset performance group, where he was in charge of tracking fund and company performance metrics for private equity, venture capital, and real estate funds, as well as analyzing and producing due diligence reports for a select group of funds. Aakar has also collaborated with consulting teams to provide endowments, foundations, colleges/universities, public pensions, and family offices with portfolio performance reports. He also conducted quantitative research and analytical studies on private equity and venture capital benchmarks at Cambridge Associates. Aakar attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bentley College with a B.S. in Economics - Finance.
I wanted to know how to get a job in venture capital, so I questioned Aakar about how he got his jobs at Cambridge Associates and Fairview Capital. He explained to me that the industry is limited and that there aren't many opportunities for younger people. It is difficult to obtain work with a company, especially if you are fresh out of school and have no relevant experience. Bentley's career service department, according to Aakar, assisted him in connecting with Cambridge Associates, one of the most well-known consulting firms that specializes in advising pension funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices on private equity and venture capital investment portfolios. They just so happened to have an internship position in their performance reporting group. Unfortunately, getting this job was a challenge. Aakar went through two rounds of interviews before being rejected. Cambridge Associates advertised a full-time position the next year. Aakar applied during the fall semester, went through three rounds of interviews, and was eventually turned down. He applied again in the spring, and after three rounds of interviews and a tremendous lot of perseverance, he was ultimately offered the job.
Aakar learned a lot about the venture capital market while working at Cambridge Associates. He stated that he was always seeking for new ways to become involved and learn more. Aakar chose to explore for other options after two years of experience. He saw that Fairview Capital had a post open for a research analyst and decided to apply. He has been elevated to a Senior Analyst on the investment team since taking the job.
I inquired about Aakar's everyday activities after learning about how he became interested in venture finance. He works on a range of various parts of the firm on any given day. He meets with venture investors, analyzes performance, and formulates recommendations while completing due diligence on potential investments. He creates presentations for clients or potential new investors, as well as marketing materials for new funds, in terms of business development. Aakar also helps with annual and semi-annual reporting and provides fund activity and performance reports. He investigates investment themes in conjunction with research and writes about them in newsletters and research reports. Aakar has also worked with venture capitalists to organize symposiums, web conferences, and even podcasts.
Aakar has a lot of responsibilities, so it was necessary for me to learn about them. Having the desire to work in venture capital is not something that most people have. I went on to question Aakar when he first realized he wanted to work in the sector. He stated he became interested in the subject when he was in his third year at Bentley. He grew interested in venture capital during his senior year, but he had no idea that working for a fund of funds would be a good fit. The venture capital sector, according to Aakar, is more of an evolutionary process.
I had a lot of fun putting together the interview and discovered that if you want to work in venture capital, you have to be persistent.
Reviewed by Linfinity
on
February 22, 2022
Rating:
