We are diligent in our selection process to admit only the most exceptional up-and-coming VCs and angel investors from all around the world. This means that our alumni community is filled with high-caliber investors – get to know some of them here.
How has VC Unlocked impacted your career?
I was guided through my investment thesis and fund thesis by the 500 Global Investment Team, Stanford Professors, legendary VCs, and Partners to raise a new fund from scratch. I learned how to tackle future challenges, including complex legal matters, I needed to consider in advance. The startup investment program was an indispensable experience for my professional career.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterward?
I’d have to say theoretical advice and practical insights were my most important takeaways. In particular, the experiment with other emerging fund managers and my fund thesis allowed me to grow with peers and build a global network.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
After the program, I understood that every fund has a unique approach based on the fund managers’ backgrounds, networks, visions, and missions. I also grew with confidence in order to mentor others, something that comes naturally to me but which I was hesitant to do. Since I became an AI founder in Silicon Valley, I have been supporting global AI startups. Building on my experience and proven track record as an investor, I am committed to supporting emerging founders like myself.
How did VC Unlocked help you achieve some of your goals as an investor / VC?
The guidance and education I received during the program inspired me to the point where I knew I wanted to pay forward the lessons I learned in Silicon Valley and VC Unlocked to those who resembled my earlier self. I grew a passion for mentorship which then led me to refine my ideas, my thesis, and support the next generation of founders, especially in Asia. Anyone that sees themselves in my story, please consider joining the program in order to build a global network, involve yourself with other investors, and work on your next ten year investment thesis. With my thesis, I managed to achieve my goal of supporting founders and startups worldwide.
How has VC Unlocked impacted your career?
VC Unlocked has impacted my career in a variety of ways. First, it helped me in the more technical aspects of being a VC, like portfolio construction, valuation, negotiating terms, etc. It also helped me formalize my investment thesis for our second fund, which I had been working on with my team for a while. But I think that the biggest impact came as a result of the group of people that I met and built long lasting relationships with. My fellow VCU grads are absolutely amazing and are doing incredible things around the world. I feel blessed to have such an incredible group of people that I can rely on for advice, support, and collaboration.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
Immediately after the program I was able to implement several things like modifying our investment thesis and presentation, improving our portfolio construction strategy, and thinking through the structure of our firm. But I think the real value of the program was to be able to hear from several different successful investors and realize that each one does things differently. There are multiple investment strategies and you have to find one that fits your philosophy as an investor as well as the reality of the capital markets in which you operate.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
I have to be honest here. The week following the program I felt overwhelmed and full of doubts. I think the magnitude of the task at hand hit me after the program. However, armed with the new knowledge and tools I acquired during the program, and knowing that there is a great group of people who are willing to help, guide and support you has made me a much more confident investor.
How did VC Unlocked help you achieve some of your goals as an investor / VC?
I raised my first prototype fund during the pandemic and was unable to travel and network. I was also learning on my own how to be a successful investor. My primary goal was to learn the nitty gritty of venture capital investing from the best, and I clearly achieved that during the program. But just as importantly, I wanted to be able to meet other emerging managers that were going through similar experiences as me. I’m so glad I took two weeks off from my day-to-day work because meeting and connecting with other VCU fellows has been the most rewarding part of this experience.
How has VC Unlocked impacted your career?
The VC Unlocked program gave me the confidence that I could have a career in venture capital. I brought a number of insecurities coming into this program. I didn’t come with much prior work experience in venture or private equity, I was older, and I had spent a good deal of my adult life raising kids rather than building my career. Did I really belong here in this esteemed program?
Yet it was precisely being in the room that helped me see I was perfectly suited – in my own way – to be in the group and to pursue my goal of launching a VC fund.
While the VCU team hasn’t confirmed it, I’m sure my assigned seat the first week was very deliberate. Sitting in the center of the front row, I realized I couldn’t hide, so I had better jump in and participate.
After the program, I returned to my business partners with not only a much greater sense of self but also a greater willingness to participate fully in what we were building. The shift in and expansion of my thinking were palpable.
The unlocking of incredible relationships via the program has been another major gift to me and my career. The benefits from the network for business are easy to illustrate. Shared deal flow, introductions made, best practice tips discussed, important conferences highlighted, and more. On the personal side, I feel like I have found my “crowd” of super curious, smart, slightly quirky, and passionate people who want to both impact the world and make some money. They’ve been there when I’ve needed a shot of whiskey to unwind, a kind word and sunflowers to uplift, and a caring ear to listen.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
Lots of important takeaways from the program. I’m still trying to rework my pitch to better fit the hero’s story. Trevor Loy, when is the next Master Class?! Very important to me was to realize I did have a good base of knowledge and business experience to rely on.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
Funny, it may have undermined my confidence. I have always known that venture is a risky investment; during the program, I became even more aware of ways a deal could go sideways. Yet, I also feel like I gained more tools, processes, and strategies to de-risk investments, making me more confident in my abilities and less concerned about the way things could go wrong because I know I can handle it.
I also realized I needed to adjust my former investor mindset. In venture, one needs to think big and play big with each investment. This mindset is something I’ve been wanting to incorporate in all aspects of my life. Grateful to have the opportunity to put it in practice.
How did VC Unlocked help you achieve some of your goals as an investor / VC?
I believe strongly in education and I extend the concept of “vet and verify” to all aspects of my life, not only financial investments. The VC Unlocked program gave me the validation I wanted to declare I am a venture capitalist.
How has VC Unlocked impacted your career?
VC Unlocked has truly transformed my investing career, providing me with a solid foundation for early-stage investing and a deep understanding of the importance of building an ecosystem that is what makes Silicon Valley a hub for entrepreneurs. I believe that VC is the most effective way to drive inclusive and sustainable growth to my region, and the sessions, discussions and exercises that we did during the program have provided me with the tools to be closer to achieving that goal. Overall, VC Unlocked has been an invaluable resource that has significantly enhanced my knowledge and skills as a venture capitalist, and connected me to a strong network of VCs globally.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
One thing that sets VC Unlocked apart from other courses is its focus on providing actionable tools for investors. While other courses may be more geared towards founders, VC Unlocked equips investors with the tools they need to improve their investment decision-making process and understand fund structure and returns. This practical approach has been invaluable to me, and I feel much more confident in my ability to make informed investment decisions as a result of completing the program.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
One of the most valuable takeaways from VC Unlocked for me was the realization that there is no one-size-fits-all path to becoming a successful investor. Hearing the stories of notable investors from diverse backgrounds was a confidence booster, as it helped me to see that my unique background and perspective are actually a competitive advantage in this industry. As a result, I no longer feel like an imposter in the VC world. The program also provided an opportunity to connect with over 50 investors from around the world, each with their own diverse backgrounds and challenges. This was both inspiring and humbling, as it showed me the power of bringing diverse perspectives to the decision-making table.
How did VC Unlocked help you achieve some of your goals as an investor / VC?
As investors in a first-time fund, we face many of the same challenges as entrepreneurs: raising capital, defining and improving processes, and attracting investors and entrepreneurs. VC Unlocked helped me understand that these are common hurdles for first-time funds and provided me with a treasure map for finding startups that are disrupting industries with great exit potential while positively impacting the world. The program accelerated my learning process and gave me the tools I need to succeed as an investor.
My mission as an investor is to increase the participation of women in the VC ecosystem on both the entrepreneur and investor sides. I believe that diversity is crucial to driving innovation and creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. Thank you, VC Unlocked, for providing me with the knowledge and skills to make a positive impact in the industry.
How has VC Unlocked impacted your career?
Beyond providing me with incredible material, in-class experiences and insight that make me a stronger investor, VC Unlocked has provided me a truly authentic community of other investors and VC’s where I’m comfortable sharing my thoughts and asking for support, advice and answers to questions, both big and small.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
The importance of your investment thesis as an investor. We’ve become really intentional, clear and consistently focused on why we do what we do as investors.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor
Meeting people from around the world through VC Unlocked who are on a similar journey to me – who also come from non-traditional VC backgrounds – inspired me to believe, even more, that there is room in VC for investors like me and the African founders I’m so passionate about…
How did VC Unlocked help you achieve some of your goals as an investor / VC?
I am a better investor and fund manager following my participation in VC Unlocked. Coming from a non-traditional VC background, the program helped plug and highlight gaps in my knowledge and experience. More important, it gave me access to a community of world-class Stanford professors, VC’s at the top of the game, a 500 Global Team that understands my journey and classmates that have quickly become like family and old friends; a community that now helps me to shape and support my goals.
Marieme currently serves as a CVC investor in early stage African startups at Orange Digital Ventures Africa – Orange Group’s 50m€ VC fund. Her focus over 7 years has been technology and innovation and she has occupied different roles of responsibility with a team leadership role and an international exposure, solving strategic, operational, and financial issues for a variety of companies.
I already had started my VC career when I was admitted to the VC Unlocked program at Stanford. VC is a solo job, most of the time we learn by ourselves. VC Unlocked provided me with insights about fund structures and management and broadened my perspective through exposure to investors from different backgrounds and experiences. I’m still in touch with several classmates with whom I share deals, and exchange views on the industry on a regular basis.
How (and why) to use (more often) SAFE notes!
Forget any preconceived ideas about venture capital. Build relationships with fellow investors. You won’t regret it!
Carlos Alberto Ochoa Valencia is an Investment Manager at Bancolombia. Carlos is a Colombian, born in Medellín and has been with Bancolombia since 2011. He started with Bancolombia as a Legal Associate in the Corporate and International Division. He then was promoted to Senior Legal Associate in the Investment and Banking M&A team and then he helped créate Bancolombia Ventures as Investment Manager and now he is principal for Bancolombia´s CVC Bancolombia Ventures.
When I arrived at VCU, I had a big challenge within my organization to consolidate Bancolombia Ventures CVC as a tool that would really positively impact the organization’s strategy and serve as an innovation accelerator.
When I arrived in my country to continue with my responsibilities within the company with all the tools and knowledge necessary to structure an investment thesis that could serve my organization and avoiding errors. Specifically, I focused on geography, ticket size, fund size, etc. But at the same time, it could be as simple and clear that the innovation ecosystem could understand my thesis and refer me as an interesting investor that can contribute to the growth of the companies.
It is the best way to obtain the basic knowledge in Venture Capital from the hand of expert investors with the world-class methodology of Ivy League Universities.
Anjani was a member of the IFC’s Venture Capital Group, which invests $100-150M/year in early stage tech-enabled companies and venture capital funds across emerging markets with the mission of promoting economic development. She has worked on transactions in e-commerce, e-logistics, edtech and venture capital funds and conducted global industry mappings on agtech, online furniture retail, property portals, and non-fintech applications of blockchain.
VC Unlocked helped me grow my confidence in evaluating early stage startups because most of my investments at IFC were later stage startups (Series B and beyond). I learned about the importance of investing in teams with relevant “superpowers” and in products with a large addressable market. I also became more confident in my own “superpower” as an investor, and was able to hone my personal Investment thesis.
I loved learning about the decision analysis process to investing in early stage startups that Ulu Ventures presented because it recognized that venture investing decisions often incorporate cognitive biases and attempted to reduce the impact of those biases. I hope to continue to learn about alternative ways to evaluate early stage deals and incorporate these strategies into my own investment process.
The content of the program is wonderful, but don’t underestimate the quality of the people you will meet. Try to spend as much time as possible mingling with the others in the program, because this will be a wonderful way to grow your network globally.
Sofia Garrido is a Senior Associate at General Atlantic, a leading investment firm with a singular focus on global growth equity, and focuses on the firm’s investments in Latin America. Before joining General Atlantic in 2017, Sofia was a Principal at ALLVP, a Mexican venture capital fund, where she oversaw the healthcare portfolio. From 2011 to 2013, she was CFO at salaUno, a healthcare start-up. She started her career at Credit Suisse in Equity Research where she covered the construction and infrastructure sectors. She is a Kauffman Fellow at the Center for Venture Education in Palo Alto, California. Sofia is based in Mexico City.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
The program highly impacted my confidence as the network that I was able to build enabled me to see best-in-class practices from investors from all around the globe and made me realize both the things we were doing correctly and where we could improve in our fund going forward. Accessing a global network allowed me to compare what we were doing to global standards, not just local or regional standards.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
There is a lot to learn about how to become a better VC. You can learn how to make better investment decisions, improve your investment processes etc, but at the end of the day my most important takeaway is that venture capital it more of an art than a science. There is no booklet or pamphlet you can read on how to be the best VC in the world. There are however certain aspects of how you invest that you can get better at and I think I got those from the program.
Do you have any advice for aspiring early stage investors considering the program?
I highly recommend the program because it gives you the basis of what you need to know and understand to be a good investor. More than anything, it gives you a global perspective which is super valuable in this day and age. You never make an investment decision based on your understanding of just your local ecosystem. You need to understand global trends, both on the consumer side and on the investor side, so I would say the program is a great option for aspiring early stage investors who want to jump start their careers.
The venture capital industry can be intimidating and not transparent from an outside perspective. Fifty percent of the program participants were female and my classmates were from 15 different countries. I actually resonated with other VCs, for the first time. It felt as if we were a think tank creating new ideas with a diverse and global perspective. My now business partner Elizabeth Galbut and I met at the program, and were inspired by the experience to build a venture capital firm that helps diverse millennial entrepreneurs grow billion-dollar global businesses.
Some great advice we took from the program includes:
Don’t wait in vain for the VC industry to change for you. If you want to see change happen, lead the change and be a pioneer yourself.
Blog about venture capital! You’ll stand out because so few women are writing about the topic. Instead of putting $50,000 into your first deal, convince 10 founders to let you invest $5,000 each. This is how you get the most experience at the smallest check size.
It validated my previous learnings about venture capital and gave Elizabeth and I the idea to start a fund of our dream from scratch. It’s definitely a much tougher path than working for someone else’s VC firm, but it’s the best thing we’ve ever done.
Dia Martin is the Managing Director of the Social Enterprise Finance team at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), formerly the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). The DFC is America’s development bank, partnering with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. Dia is based in Washington, D.C.
Three words describe what I gained from my VC Unlocked experience – network, knowledge, and perspective.
The importance of viewing the investment as a partnership and engaging with the founders and management team as partners.
I would encourage them to take the program. The information gained and materials shared are phenomenal. The course provides you with an opportunity to learn directly from experienced investors with real life examples and build a global network with other participants in the course.
Mariano has over twenty years of experience leading growth strategy initiatives for Fortune 500 companies and Private Equity/Venture Capital firms. His career includes a decade of strategy and operations consulting with Booz & Company and several years’ industry experience in information technology. As a Founder, he has launched several startups in professional services, retail, technology, and gaming. As an Investor, he focuses on early-stage technology companies.
Mariano holds an MBA with Distinction (Finance, Strategy, Marketing) from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and Private Equity and Venture Capital Certifications from Stanford University, Harvard Business School and EGADE Business School.
Mariano’s global perspective is based on engagements in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Germany, Peru, Colombia, and South Korea. He has authored multiple publications on M&A, technology, and gaming and has won the Booz Allen Hamilton Professional Excellence Award, the EKI Leadership Award, and others.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as a VC?
Tremendously. All of a sudden I had a peer group of extremely talented emerging fund managers with whom to compare notes, strategize and even go to market, as well as a magnificent set of world-renowned mentors, with the knowledge, experience and desire to help me grow as a VC.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
The validation and refinement of our core strategy and Investment thesis, and how best to communicate It to Investors. Learning to model and ultimately create a portfolio construction strategy that not only aligns with our skillset, but also maximizes our chances of success, has been Incredibly helpful In our ability to execute.
What advice do you have for Corporate VCs who are considering the program?
First of all, to apply as soon as possible. This is a fantastic program, and as such, it fills up quickly. Once in the program, It Is very Important to put In the time, so that you can make the most of It. It Is a demanding program, but extremely rewarding.
Hema is an engineer, turned entrepreneur, turned investor. She is the founding GP at Five35 Ventures, a $30m Pan-African female-focused VC fund that will invest in early-stage (Seed & Series A) tech start-ups solving the most meaningful challenges in Africa. She is also the co-founder & CEO of WomHub, a boutique pan-African incubator and the first co-working space for female-founders in STEM in Africa. WomHub is a spin-out of her global, award-winning non-profit WomEng which provides interventions for girls and women at every stage of the engineering skills pipeline.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as a VC?
As a first-time fund-manager, really just getting my feet wet into the world of VC, the programme was an incredible springboard. Everything from the content and learning, the practical application of principles in designing and affirming my fund thesis and structures, exposure to world-class experts and leaders in the industry, and arguably most importantly the network of peer VC’s in the cohort has really set such a strong foundation and grounding for me to build up from here. I felt like the programme significantly catalyzed my “readiness” – confidence and otherwise – to establish myself as a trailblazing VC, in the gender-focused Africa landscape in particular.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
Other than the excellent core content learnings, the community the programme provided. Subsequent to the program, I have collaborated with a number of cohort members in various ways ranging from sharing and assessing pipeline, to comparing best-practices, to hosting live social media sessions on Instagram and Clubhouse focused on providing advisory, thought-leadership and overall spotlighting gender-lens investing in particular.
What advice do you have for Corporate VCs who are considering the program?
Don’t second guess it – just go for it!! I will always look back to VC Unlocked as one of the key milestones in kick-starting my VC journey. It’s a unique opportunity to be exposed to such incredible experts who are genuinely passionate and committed to developing the next generation of leading VCs. But most importantly, be ready to commit, put in the time and be present for the program. Like anything in life, what you put in is what you get out.
How did VC Unlocked help you break into the industry?
By the time I was admitted into the VC Unlocked program I had already built an asset manager and launched our first consumer-focused fund called Domo Ventures and was selected by the National Development Bank to run Brazil’s angel fund, the idea was to launch a new B2B fund (later called Domo Enterprise). But, like many things in venture, I’d never formally learned how to build a fund – I just did it and figured it out along the way. VC Unlocked really helped me deeply develop my knowledge and helped add structure to my ideas. VC Unlocked helped me develop my own personal thesis and helped me paint a clear picture of who I wanted to be as an investor.
What was the most important takeaway from the program that you implemented afterwards?
There were two things that really helped me understand my role as an investor. First was the understanding I gained of the history of the American venture market. It really helped me to see how venture grew into its own asset class, with its own identity and rules, and how venture fits into the overall market. Second was that I walked away with a strong investment thesis that I was confident in. You develop your own personal strategy and thesis and you must be faithful to it. That requires a high level of conviction and confidence – I gained that confidence in VC Unlocked.
How did VC Unlocked impact your confidence as an investor?
VC Unlocked had a big impact on my confidence. I ended the program far stronger than I entered and that had an immediate and lasting impact on my level of confidence. The program was amazing, lasting connections made, lots of learning.
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