Semil Shah, Founder at Haystack & Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, talks about his journey to becoming a successful Venture Capitalist.

Semil founded Haystack in 2013 (An Early Stage Investment Fund).

Some successful portfolio companies in Haystack include DoorDash, Instacart, Carta, Giphy, and Wag.

Some Questions answered by Semil in this Podcast –
1. What are his learnings for people who want to become a VC?
2. How to choose the kind of Investor you want to become? Do you want to sit on the Board or do you want to be Growth & Network Driven?
3. Is there any other path to become a VC other than an Ivy League college followed by some experience as a Consultant?
4. What should a 23-24 year old be doing fresh after college, to enter this Ecosystem?
5. What was his First Fund size? How did he convince his first 5 LPs to put in the money?
6. How did he happen to join Lightspeed Ventures?
7. What are the Key Elements he looks for while investing?
8. How much of his time does he dedicate to raise funds vs time spent on deploying it?
9. What habits does he attribute for his success as a VC in such a short time (which generally takes others 10-15 years to achieve)?

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