What is your name? William N.
What is your profession? I’m an analyst at a venture capital and media production company.
What company do you work for? Archer Gray
How long have you been in this role? 1 year.
What did you study in college? History and political science.
Why did you choose this job? I liked the idea of operating at the intersection of several evolving industries I cared a lot about – film, venture capital, media, and tech.
What is an average day like in your role? I spend a good portion of my day meeting with bold and inventive entrepreneurs, and another good portion reading and writing about their companies and the worlds they are trying to change.
What’s the most challenging part of your job? Balancing the different aspects of a VC’s portfolio: sourcing and reviewing our pipeline of potential investments, coaching and assisting portfolio companies, getting to know other investors, and doing the reading and listening that’s essential to success in this field.
What’s your favorite part of the job? How much it satisfies my intellectual curiosity. Every day I get to talk with smart, daring people – entrepreneurs, investors, my colleagues – about the brightest ideas in media and technology.
What’s a common misconception about your job? One is, to paraphrase an old adage, “those who can, do; those who can’t, invest.” In fact, I’ve found that so-called lifers are rare in venture capital. Most investors bring experience(s) in a different field to bear, to the benefit of their colleagues and portfolio companies.
Any tips for current college students who aspire to have your job? Don’t worry about acquiring a certain set of vocational or technical skills. It’s relatively easy to learn the basics of Ruby or Excel. It takes a lot longer to learn how to size up an entrepreneur, ask the right questions, or make smart bets about the future of a certain vertical. Leave time in your schedule for art, literature, philosophy, and history. You’ll be surprised what winds up informing (or defining) your work.
If you had a time machine and could travel back to visit yourself in college, what’s the #1 piece of advice you would have given yourself? It’s amazing how irrelevant majors and minors become the moment you walk off a college campus. Focus on developing the tools you’ll use to think about the world, not on earning a series of certificates.
What is a fun perk of your job? I like having apps before you do.
