Help for Students
“What is the best way to prepare for VCIC?”
Study the Industry
#1 – Take advantage of your school’s resources. Then: watch the videos, read the books, see other resources.
Learn the Game
Learn the agenda, see judging criteria, customize your written deliverables, know the rules.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Use VCIC as your excuse to network! Find startups to pitch to you. Practice 14-minute due diligence sessions. Put together a term sheet and other written VCIC deliverables. Reach out to alumni investors. Pitch the deal to them with a 10-minute clock running.
VCIC.org Resources for Teams
This worksheet can help your team communicate your return analysis to judges.
We take our startup’s confidentiality seriously! All students will need to consent to the
Recommended Books from the VCIC Community
co-authored by Jason Mendelson
Long-time VCIC judge and formerly with the Foundry Group.
by Patrick Vernon
VCIC global coordinator and professor of strategy.
by Scott Kupor
VCIC judge and partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
Other Suggested VC Resources
Axios Pro Rata emails: Daily industry emails from VCIC judge Dan Primack.
Fred Wilson’s Blog: One of the most prolific VC bloggers.
Feld’s Thoughts: Brad Feld of Foundry Group and Techstars, co-author Venture Deals.
Techcrunch: Keep current on technology trends.
Venturebeat: another chance to be current with industry affairs.
VC job blog: John Gannon’s blog has numerous helpful resources.
Crunchbase: an imperfect but largely free database of venture deals.
There are many, many more great free resources out there to learn about venture capital.