How to Find a Job as a VC Scout: Compensation and Which Firms Are Recruiting

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time “scout”, getting paid for sourcing investments, as well as for other work of value to the fund. But how do you do that?  

This is part of a series on building your career in venture capital:

At Versatile VC, we’ve been studying VC scout programs, not just to improve our deal sourcing, but for four broader reasons: 

  1.  To help our founders in transition, some of which are interested in becoming scouts. Versatile VC runs a no-cost community for founders in transition, “Founders Next Move“. We have collected a wide range of resources for founders who may be considering launching a new company; angel investing/becoming a VC; buying a company; joining boards; consulting; serving as an interim executive, or just getting a job. Our goal is to invest in, coinvest with, and/or recruit founders in transition.
  2. Monetizing our deal flow. All VCs, including us, regularly see investment opportunities which don’t fit our mandate. We may as well get compensated for referring them to others. There are a number of VC funds (e.g., Alpha Partners, Proof VC) which share the carry earned in their coinvest to the referring party. Another option is our becoming a formal scout for other VCs, through programs like those we list below.
  3. We’re soon launching our own scout program, and want to benchmark economics and structure against our peers. We already have a senior team of Venture Partners who help us in origination and diligence. Venture Partners may also consult with companies directly or serve on boards, in which case we’ll expedite their being compensated directly by the relevant company. Scouts are intended to be a lighter-touch relationship. We envision we can have an unlimited number of scouts, but only a small number of Venture Partners. 
  4. Scouts help promote diversity in VC, both on the investor side and also among portfolio company management. 

We’ve identified a number of VCs besides us which have publicly discussed their scout programs, and in some cases publicly shared their economics. We found these by looking through firms’ websites, social media, blog posts, etc. We list all of them below. I worked with my colleague Akshat Dixit to co-write this research. 

In addition to formal scout programs, note that many VCs will structure one-off arrangements with “friends of the firm” to compensate them for sourcing and other services. You can’t normally “apply” for those relationships unless you have a pre-existing relationship with the VC. 

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU EARN?

Scouts are typically paid based on success of companies in which they’re involved, not with a retainer or salary. Any cash you get is normally paid out when startups exit, which is typically 3-12 years from first check in. So your cash compensation is based on:

# companies you source
* (% of companies the VC invests in)
* (average VC check size)
* (average multiple generated, minus 1)
* (your share of the carry generated,
* (any adjustment for your value-add/other services)

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Some permutations I’m familiar with:

  • Pay a percentage of the carry pool, typically 2.5% – 10% of the fund’s carry pool on a given investment, i.e., of the typical 20% that the fund earns. If you’re paid on a per-deal basis, your contract may have adjustments for netting of carry. For example, if the overall fund is a 0.9X multiple, you may get paid zero even if you source a winning investment for that particular fund.
  • Pay a cash bounty to scouts, typically 1% of the amount invested into the company.
  • Pay a fixed percentage of total fund carry per deal sourced, i.e., if you source 1 company out of a planned 30 companies in a fund, you might get 10%*(1/30) = 0.33333% of the carry pool. This structure has the advantage of simpler accounting, and it motivates the scout to be a resource for the entire portfolio, not just the one company she sourced.

Certain late-stage VCs have invested in some of my past funds, partly to motivate us to refer future investment opportunities to them. A few funds (e.g., Accel, Sequoia) give the Scout a small pool of capital. Effectively the scout is then managing a tiny pocket of that VC fund. Typically the backing VC will have some ability to veto the scout’s investments in this structure. 

That said, a generous carry percentage is irrelevant, if the fund’s metrics for the other components of the formula above are low. What really matters is scout-fund fit. You’re not going to earn any money if the sort of investments you source are not a fit for the VC you’re scouting for, because they just won’t put money to work.

Some scouts also have the opportunity (or expectation) to  help raise money for the fund by seeking fund commitments from potential LPs. Check with counsel to make sure that any associated compensation structure is compliant. See Should Small Emerging Managers Use Placement Agents?

OTHER INVESTORS WHICH PAY SOURCING FEES

Our focus here is venture capital, but the private equity industry employs origination-focused team members also. These are primarily full-time team members, but PE funds also employ investment banks as well as freelance “finders”. Nevin Raj, cofounder of Grata, said, “A typical business development associate at a PE firm earns <$100k with cash bonuses. Independent sponsors (groups seeking to acquire a company which do not have the equity financing needed in advance) earn nothing upfront, but earn 20% of the deals they facilitate. Methods in between are a tradeoff of compensation and carry.” Certain private equity funds, e.g., Bloom Equity and Permanent Equity, publicly advertise rewards for anyone referring them an investment. 

Similarly, certain Revenue-Based Finance investors also have open-access scouting programs. Stephane Nasser, CEO, OpenVC, observes, “Given the instant nature of RBF, the payout is immediate: a successful affiliation typically generates up to 1% of the amount raised to the finder. If you have access to post-revenue SAAS or ecommerce companies, you can easily make $1k to $10k per company within a few days.” 

Most scouts get paid only on a success basis, without a retainer. You can make an argument for a retainer (or an investment in your fund, if you’re a VC yourself) if some combination of the following applies:

  • You’re going to spend significant time marketing, sourcing, and filtering investments, beyond your normal business activities. If you’re going to work for an hour a week, most people are comfortable knowing they may get paid, if at all, only a decade from now. But if you’re doing more than an hour a week, ask for more certainty of cash and/or equity compensation. I suggest getting clarity on the number of hours/week you’re expected to work, and multiply it by what you consider a reasonable hourly rate.
  • You’re involved in other aspects of the fund’s activities: due diligence, portfolio acceleration, board service, etc.
  • You’re prominent enough that your affiliation with the firm generates brand value.

HOW TO GET A SCOUT ROLE

Scouts are typically hired because they are well-networked and credible in an industry, geography, and/or community that a VC is focusing on. Dr. Joel Palathinkal, CEO of Sutton Capital, observes that scouts usually fall into one of three categories: 

  • The Part-Time Practitioner. E.g., senior executives or lawyers who want to be exposed to the ecosystem, education, and the upside of potential carry. However, they do not have an interest in leaving their full-time profession. 
  • Aspiring Full-time VC. For this type of candidate, the intended outcome of the scout role is to pivot into a full-time role in VC or PE. This role helps augment the candidate’s profile with personal branding, networks, track record, dealflow, and industry best practices.
  • Solo GP Training. A common trend that we are seeing now is emerging GPs which become scouts to solidify their foundation and serve as a catalyst to help raise a fund.

I suggest you ask the following questions of an investor who’s interested in your becoming a scout: 

  • “So that I understand how to source the most relevant investments: Could you tell me as much detail as possible about your filter beyond what’s on your website?” (Pet peeve: it’s amazing to me how many VCs don’t provide basic information about their filter, check size, etc. on their site.)
  • “So that I can estimate my economics: How many companies/year are you investing in?  What is your typical check size? What percentage of companies that apply do you invest in? How often do you lead rounds?”
  • “So I can use your and my time efficiently: In my normal business activities, I typically come across __ companies/week that I think fit your mandate. Do you want me to forward you everything that I think fits your mandate, or do you expect me to take a meeting first to do an initial screen?”
  • “Is there any additional diligence or involvement you would want from me,  beyond just making an introduction?”

Samer Yousif, Chief of Staff, BLCK VC, said, “Successful founders that have raised VC funding typically have the relationships and reputation to be a scout, but individuals can raise their profile to catch the attention of firms through developing content (podcasts, strategically positioned thought pieces, joining panels focused on specific verticals, etc); angel investing into the sector to develop their track record; and embedding themselves into the startup ecosystem (mentors and EIRs at incubators/accelerators, attending industry events, etc).” At the same time, to respect founders’ time, scouts should mention their real ability to make an investment happen. Brian Brackeen, General Partner, Lightship Capital, tweeted, “Not loving what I’m seeing from scout programs. Just confusing minority founders even more. Can’t write checks, can’t do meaningful rounds, can’t make the VC fund lead a deal. Just noise & wasted meetings. I heard that from THREE founders today.”

In the startup funding landscape, I would compare AngelList and Gust to dating sites. In the dating industry, I’ve seen the emergence of sites with professional matchmakers who serve as intermediaries, e.g., JRetroMatch. The parallel in startup fundraising are firms like Superscout and Landscape Openscout. David Haddad, CEO of Superscout, said that the main challenges mentioned to him by VC firms with a direct scout program are that the scouts need recruiting; training; and constant feedback to reinforce the VC’s specific filter. Superscout provides learning resources for current and upcoming VC scouts, a community forum, and tools to help scouts present their deals and find the right investors to send them to. 

Besides sourcing relevant investments, scouts also improve the investability of a firm. Dr. Dan Aks, Managing Partner at IBI Tech Fund, said, “During the fundraising of our first fund, we signed contracts with a list of private investors (scouts). Those contracts allowed us to bridge the reputation gap of a first time fund, in the first year of the fund. However, now that we’re more established, it’s clear that the quality of deal flow that we, as a fund, see exceeds the quality of the deal flow that individual scouts (private investors/angels) typically see.” 

DATABASE OF VENTURE CAPITALISTS WITH SCOUT PROGRAMS

We built below a list of all VCs with public-facing scout programs. The first group below publicly discusses economics, and typically have larger scout programs. The second group does not (to our knowledge) publicly discuss economics. Please contact us if we’re missing any.

VC Firms With Scout Programs Which Publicly Share Some Details on Economics

Firm Brief summary Economics (if publicly shared)
Accel Accel brings more than three decades of experience backing companies including Atlassian, Braintree, Cloudera, DJI, Dropbox, Dropcam, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, Lookout Security, MoPub, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, Vox Media, and others. Provides some capital to scouts to invest
Ada Ventures “We are there at the start, which is usually post-product, pre-revenue. We are a pre-Series A investor with a first cheque of £250,000-£500,000. We invest in UK technology companies with global ambitions.” “These scouts are rewarded for both finding those investments – with an upfront fee – and if those investments do well, with a longer term, carry linked incentive.” (Source)
Allied Venture Partners Our mission is to grow and diversify Western Canada’s technology startup ecosystem.  “If we invest, you’ll receive 20% of our carry on the first investment in exchange for your assistance & expertise in identifying, assessing, and negotiating the investment.”
Atomico Atomico is an international investment firm that focuses on helping disruptive technology companies scale globally. It partners with technology founders at Series A and beyond. Atomico was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in London, England. “Angels get a share of the upside when the founders they back succeed, in the same way that Atomico would. If one company takes off, all the angels benefit: in order to promote collaboration, we have allocated some carry per investment to an ‘Angel Pool’, from which all the angels share. In this way, one company’s success benefits all the Atomico Angels as a group, not just the Angel that partnered with that company.”
Calm Company “We’re building the pre-eminent ecosystem for founders and funders of “calm” companies, while catalyzing the opportunity for more funds, services, and partners focused on serving these businesses.” “There are two tiers of compensation, contingent on whether the scout submits a viable investment memo.

Cash: No Memo: $2,000; With Memo: $5,000

Carry Share: No Memo: not available; With Memo: 10% of our carry on the deal.”

Catapult VC Catapult is a global venture capital platform serving entrepreneurs and investors committed to building transformational companies addressing fundamental human needs. We are product and geographically agnostic and have the experience to creatively and thoughtfully structure the right investment product–equity, debt, or a combination thereof–regardless of stage, timing or circumstance.  “We bring them onto our platform, provide more capital for them to deploy on our behalf, and share economics with them on investment on which we collaborate. It’s a win-win.” (source)
Chapter One Chapter One – the product people on your cap table. “​​In a true partnership, partners split carry — we want you to feel the same way. As such, Chapter One shares economic upside with our scouts (scouts will receive half of Chapter One’s carry on each investment they make).”
Consilience Ventures Our greatest strength is our exclusive network of entrepreneurs, hands-on investors and functional experts. Through this community, we accelerate value creation and align incentives, leading to attractive rewards shared equitably among all stakeholders. “Become a member of Consilience Ventures and whether you refer an investor or a startup we invest in, you’ll earn a 3% success fee in cash or in shares of the portfolio. The entire portfolio is tokenized – no paperwork – accredited investors only.” 
Female Founded Club The Female Founded Club is a sourcing platform that investors use to find top female founded startups in need of capital. High performers will be recognised on the Female Founded Club website / newsletter. Free entry to Club events.
G. Ventures “Who is it for: It’s for students who want to learn about, practice, and discover venture capital.

 

What Scouts do: Scouts look for discounts on campuses all throughout France.”

Scouts will receive training on best practices in venture capital, as well as access to a network of diverse young leaders and money (1 percent carried interest).
Hawke Ventures Hawke Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests $100k-$250k in consumer companies and technology that powers consumer companies. The firm focuses on growing US-based companies earning $20-$100k in monthly revenue, are in the pre-seed or seed stage, and have gained quantifiable traction in their market.  “Hawke Ventures Scout Program teaches and trains postgraduate students interested in breaking into venture capital through critical discussions, readings, and community building activities.”
Microtransaction “Today we are announcing the launch of Microtraction Scout Program — an initiative that empowers venture-backed founders and operators to identify and invest in high potential startups across the African continent.” “Carried interest on the deals shared and made.”
On Deck Catalyst Scouts On Deck is a platform serving the many strands of identity that unite ambitious people around the globe. Their ever-growing community and action-oriented programming will help the people to get there—fast. On Deck will up-level career, launch, and scale big ideas, or make lifelong friends. Unpaid. “Catalyst Scouts is a 6-8 hour/week time commitment, designed to be completed alongside a full-time job or school. You should expect to meet with founders, attend a partner meeting, attend a workshop, and engage with the community each week…. Catalyst Scouts is a free program with a commitment to find and refer founders to On Deck.”
Republic* Republic is a financial technology firm that allows everyone to invest in private markets. “Refer a startup, get $2,500”
Saison Capital They invest in Seed to Series A companies across South East Asia and India. Although they have a sector agnostic fund mandate, they particularly like to work with founders that are building ecosystems with the potential to distribute financial services to the unbanked. “The scout is compensated through non-financial means. The scout will receive hands-on mentorship, attend Saison Capital events, and join our network of advisors, venture partners, and industry experts.”
SHL Capital (Sahil Lavingia) Open to anything “but especially B2B SaaS, future of work, consumer social, and developer tools.” “If I invest, I’ll give you 25% of my carry. The rough math: If I invest $100K into a company that you help me source, then you’ll get 25% of my carry (about 20%), or 5%–as if you had invested $5K into the company yourself.”
Spearhead ​​Backed by AngelList. “​​Founders start with a $2M fund. If they make great investments, they’re eligible for a second fund up to $10M. There’s also follow-on capital available for breakout companies in their portfolios.” “You earn carry on the fund, which means you get a share of the fund’s profit.”
TheSyndicate Open Scouting The Syndicate is an investment group led by Jason Calacanis that invests in world-class founders. “You get $5,000 cash or 10% of our carry in that investment (your choice!) if you are the first person to refer the company to us and we invest.”
Venture University Venture University is a multi-stage investment fund and a trade school for venture capital, private equity, and angel investing. Venture University’s investment fund, VU Venture Partners, invests in seed through growth stage companies, initially investing up to $1M per company and up to $10M in follow-on rounds. Each quarter the investment team makes 3-6 investments. “We provide ~2% carry per person on the cohort capital we invest across the deals; 5% carry (or 25% of carry) on LPs sourced by the scouts as if it’s their own fund entity; and after the program we give 1% carry on deals they source that we invest in as scouts.”

 

VC Firms With Scout Programs Which Do Not Publicly Discuss Scout Economics (i.e., most of them)
7BC We back innovative founders solving society’s biggest challenges.
100X VC 100X.VC is the first VC to invest in early stage startups using India SAFE Notes.
10K “Industry agnostic. Geographically opportunistic. Founder-centric. Investing fast and early as possible. We aim to reach conviction to back founders within days, with sweet spot on stages in ideation / pre-product to Series A.”
500 Global 500 Startups is a global venture capital firm with a network of startup programs headquartered in Silicon Valley with over $454M in committed capital across 4 main funds and 15 thematic funds. The team of 150 people based in 20 countries manage venture investments across 74 countries and speak over 25 languages.
Accelerator Centre Accelerator Centre provides an essential combination of in-house mentorship, educational programming, facilities, networking, and access to funding and facility services with a goal of building successful companies. Accelerator Centre is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada.
Adapt Ventures We come in as early as the Family & Friends round and follow-on in subsequent rounds. Our firm has a presence in San Francisco, London, and Mexico.
AeraVC investing in the next generation of start-ups that will transform the world. We are remote-first with partners, operations and scouts around the globe.
AI.fund Interested in advanced AI in Europe
AirTree Ventures AirTree is a venture capital fund with a mission to support the most ambitious Australian and Kiwi technology entrepreneurs. As one of the largest VC funds in the region with over half a billion dollars under management, AirTree aims to back startups from the earliest moments in their first funding round, often pre-revenue.
Alicorn Ventures Investing in the future of AI in the USA, Israel, EMEA, and APAC.
Alter Alter Global is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups within emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. 
Amadeo Helps daring companies with innovative consumer-facing solutions expand to new markets. We crafted an expansion toolkit that combines capital, local operations and cutting-edge technology to power the expansion of early-growth stage brands.
Andreesen Horowitz We are stage agnostic: We invest in seed to late-stage technology companies, across the consumer, enterprise, bio/healthcare, crypto, and fintech spaces.
Anonymous Ventures We invest in early-stage startup companies run by underrepresented founders. We typically do micro-investments ranging from $1,000-$5,000 across various sectors.
Anthos Capital The firm supports dynamic entrepreneurs building disruptive companies in a broad range of industries, including consumer services and products, technology, healthcare, business services, education, and financial services. The firm was founded in 2007 by Goldman Sachs professionals and manages $400 million across multiple funds.
Antler Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. The firm has offices globally across most major entrepreneurial hubs, including in London, Berlin, Stockholm, New York, Singapore and Sydney. 
Apollo Health Ventures Apollo Health Ventures is an Early Stage Investment Firm interested in accelerating breakthrough scientific discoveries to the clinic by building life science companies around new therapeutic technologies. Apollo invests in early stage companies, works with scientists and entrepreneurs to create new ventures, and engages in hypothesis-driven company building.
APX APX is Europe’s leading very-early-stage VC. Based in Berlin and backed by Axel Springer and Porsche, we support and partner with the most ambitious founding teams from Europe and beyond – often as their first investor. We invest up to EUR 500K in startups until a series A starting with a quick EUR 50K investment, and within a few months, we can invest further.
ASIF Ventures ASIF Ventures empowers young entrepreneurs in the metropolitan area of Amsterdam to rapidly develop their bold and bright ideas by providing both financial and social investment. We invest in student- or recent graduate-run start-ups, ranging from B2C products to SaaS and everything in between.
BackedVC We invest in exceptional founders, at Seed, in Europe. We invest across sectors including BioTech, Entertainment, Financial Services, Industry 4.0 and more.
Backstage Capital Backstage Capital is a venture capital fund investing in the best startups led by underrepresented founders in the U.S. 
Bessemer Venture Partners With more than 135 IPOs and 200 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Boston, Beijing and Bangalore.
Beyond Capital Joint partnership between Endeavor Jordan and Silicon Badia. BeyondCapital supports start-ups and asset managers build high growth ventures, accelerate job creation, advance and develop the investment eco-system, and encourage increased equity investment in early and growth stage businesses in Jordan. 
Blackbird Ventures Blackbird Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in inherently global Internet businesses formed by Australians.
BLCK VC Scout Network BLCK VC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that equips Black investors with the access, education, and community they need to accelerate their careers in venture capital. Scouts are paid by the VC firm, not by BLCK VC.
Blossom We lead the Series As of the courageous. We’ve been investors and operators in unicorns across the US and Europe, so we know what it takes to build for hyper-growth.
Blue Collective We are people-first, values-driven, multi-strategy, always-accessible
Bonfire Ventures Bonfire Ventures leads Seed rounds for business software solutions company founders transforming the industries they target. 
Campus Founders Fund The Campus Founders Fund is the first entirely student-run venture fund in Utah, established with the specific goal of providing seed funding to student entrepreneurs. 
Cancer Fund The Cancer Fund (CF) is the first early stage impact venture capital fund designed to impact cancer by commercializing promising cancer research for preventions, therapies, cures, and enabling technologies.
Class Global We hope to build the best capital partner for emerging market startups. 
Clearco Clearco is a suite of performance financing products & services tailor-made to help founders win. Clearco’s portfolio spans small businesses across the United States, Canada, UK, Australia, and the Netherlands to some of the biggest brands today, like unTUCKit, Vanity Planet, Andie Swim, Haus, and Farmgirl Flowers.
Clearvision Ventures Clearvision Ventures is a venture capital firm that helps other entrepreneurs build category leading companies. The company invest as little as one million dollars to as much as ten million in a single company at any stage, from early to expansion to late stage growth. 
Contrary Capital Contrary is a venture fund that identifies and invests in the world’s top talent. 
Costanoa Ventures Costanoa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in b2b startups. The firm helps startups go to market, achieve product-market-fit, and become successful. 
Cowboy Ventures Cowboy Ventures is a seed-stage focused fund investing in digital startups. We seek to back exceptional founders who are building products that “re-imagine” work and personal life in large and growing markets. 
Craft Ventures The firm consists of a team of 15 investors and operators that are united by a quest to find the next generation of world-changing companies and deep respect for the founders who create them.
Crescent Fund For students from SoCal universities
Crosscut Crosscut Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles. The firm invests $1,000,000 to $3,500,000 in start-ups. 
D4 Ventures London-based early-stage firm investing in companies with a technology focus
Deniz Ventures Our goal is to be the investment and growth platform of innovative technology startups with global growth potential in the EMEA region.
Depo Ventures Our regional focus is mainly CEE and early-stage technology startups with global ambition.
Dorm Room Fund We back student founders with a network of investors, mentors, and their first check. 
Draper Scouts “Operates out of Harvard, Stanford, MIT, USC, and various business schools” and seeking to invest at pre-seed and seed stage. Sponsored by Draper Associates.
Earlybird Earlybird is a venture capital investor focused on European technology companies. Founded in 1997, Earlybird invests in all growth and development phases of a company. 
Eatable Adventures We believe startups are leading the way creating solutions to transform how FOOD is produced, transformed and consumed.
EDP Ventures EDP Ventures is a venture capital investment arm of EDP – Energias de Portugal, S.A. specializing in seed, series A and early stage investments. It seeks to invest in,energy efficiency solution, energy storage, smart grids, electric mobility, and information technology sectors. 
Elevation Capital Early stage venture capital firm, based in India and Utah.
Evolution VC Partners New York-based “culture-tech” venture investment firm. We are stage agnostic but prefer to see a developed and market-ready or launched product. 
First Momentum Ventures As a “first money in”-investor, we help your startup to gain its first momentum by backing you with a first check as well as a broad industry network, world-class mentoring, a strong community and access to further financing. 
First Round Capital First Round is a seed-stage venture firm focused on building a vibrant community of technology entrepreneurs and companies, including Uber, Square, and Warby Parker. 
Firstminute Capital Firstminute Capital is a European seed fund based in London. 
Flare Capital Partners Flare Capital Partners provides capital for early-stage and emerging healthcare technology companies. 
Flat6Labs Flat6Labs is the MENA region’s leading seed and early stage venture capital firm, currently running the most renowned startup programs in the region. Flat6Labs provides a wide range of investment ticket sizes ranging from $50K to $500k.
Flyer One Ventures We invest in future-proof businesses founded by exceptional teams, help them polish their Digital Marketing and Product strategy, and act as a reliable Talent Acquisition partner. Genesis Investments is an early-stage venture capital fund, investing in Ukraine, Belarus, and Baltic countries. 
Gen Z Scouts A startup-scouting platform and fellowship program that leverages student networks to identify and vet startup founders for accelerators, angels, and venture capital firms.
German Accelerator German Accelerator empowers German startups to scale globally. We don’t take any equity and our programs are free of charge with the exception of “Next Step,” a market discovery program for the Asian region.
GGV Capital GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm focused on multi-stage, sector-focused investments. Founded in 2000 with roots in Singapore and Silicon Valley, GGV has expanded with additional offices in San Francisco, Shanghai, and Beijing.
GoAhead Ventures GoAhead Ventures is a Venture Capital fund based in Silicon Valley managing over $100M in AUM. 
Index Index Ventures is a venture capital firm based in London, San Francisco and Geneva. 
Kleiner Perkins American venture capital firm specializing in investing in early-stage, growth, and incubation companies. 
Laconia Capital “If anyone introduces us to a company within Laconia’s investment scope, we include them in all investment meetings so they can participate in the process end-to-end, and if we end up investing, we give them some fund-level upside (effectively carried interest).”
Lightspeed Focuses on seed, early-stage, later stage, expansion stage, start-up, growth companies, and incubation and specializes in debt financing for start-up and growth companies. 
Monk’s Hill Ventures Monk’s Hill Ventures (‘MHV’) is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology startups in Southeast Asia. 
Mucker Capital Mucker Capital invests in seed and “pre-seed” stage companies powering a software-enabled world.
Open Water Accelerator Open Water is a new type of startup accelerator. Open Water provides selected startups with $125k in cloud credits and a dedicated team of engineers, designers, and growth hackers.
Potential Climate Ventures We’re funding 120 early-stage UK-based climate startups to unlock crazy innovations to help save our planet & improve life for every human.
Privilège Ventures Privilège Ventures SA is a seed and early stage venture capital firm. We proudly launched our CEO Scouting Program involving some of the best entrepreneurs we met over the years.
Rebel One Rebel One is a global community of founders innovating to make the world a better place. 
Score 3 Ventures We engage with entrepreneurs with varied life experiences that have made it their mission to solve big problems. 
Sequoia Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies from idea to IPO and beyond. In aggregate, Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 25% of NASDAQ’s total value. 
True Ventures Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early stage technology startups. More than $2.8 billion under management.
Turn8 TURN8 is Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS). 
UpHonest Capital Early-stage VC in Silicon Valley, with focus on Chinese-language community. This is a large scale scout program, which does not mention compensation.
Upfront VC We invest about half of our capital in the fast-growing Southern California ecosystem, with the balance across the country as well as investments in Europe and Israel.
Vamos Ventures VamosVentures is a venture capital fund focused on Latinx and diverse founders leading early-stage tech-enabled companies in the United States. 
Versatile VC Versatile Venture Capital invests in companies which help investors generate alpha. We are an aggressive user of technology internally to manage the firm and make better investments.
Village Global Village Global is an early stage venture capital firm backed by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. 

 Other career resources:

For further reading:

Methodology

Sources for compensation benchmarks are my industry experience; Julius Bachmann’s How to hire a venture partner and how much to pay?; and John Gannon’s 2021 Venture Capital Scout Compensation Survey

We built our database through a combination of: Versatile VC intern Akshat Dixit manually researching the ecosystem; SuperScout’s helpful database; and Grata’s automated search through their proprietary database. Grata provided the first draft of the VC fund descriptions above. Akshat is a senior at North Carolina State University, intern at Versatile VC, and past intern with the HBS Alumni Angels Association and the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, NC.  Thanks to Andrew Ackerman and Winston Waters II for very thoughtful feedback. 

Disclosures: I’m an investor in OpenDeal Inc (doing business as Republic ), the parent company of Republic Capital, which is a registered investment advisor. My investment is via HOF Capital, where I was formerly a Managing Partner.

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