I got a tech VC job at 20 without waiting for a job opening using these tips
Ibrahim Noon, 20, an associate at venture capital firm Forerunner, shared how he got into the VC industry with no prior connections.
Ibrahim Noon, a 20-year-old associate at venture capital firm Forerunner in San Francisco, shares his journey of breaking into the industry without prior experience. Raised on a farm in Pakistan, Noon was fascinated by influential historical figures and Silicon Valley personalities. He pursued economics and data science at UC Berkeley, interning at KPMG, a brokerage firm, and Morgan Stanley, where he honed his people skills.
After college, Noon worked on two startups, learning valuable lessons from customer discovery calls and product development. He built relationships with investors informally and began connecting founders with potential firms. Noon graduated from UC Berkeley and was offered a position at Morgan Stanley but decided to pursue a role at Forerunner, a tech VC firm.
He saw an opening late in July and crafted a personalized email, thesis, and résumé to apply. The interview process involved networking with Forerunner's investment team, emphasizing relationship-building over quantity of connections. Noon suggests attending events, hackathons, and conferences to connect with industry players and keep relationships warm, even if it means reaching out to those who may not respond.
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