Hillside Announcements
ATTN: All Founders at CT Universities—Hillside Ventures, in collaboration with Dorm Room Fund (First Round Capital), will be hosting a pitch competition for CT University students on April 5, from 6:00-8:00pm. Founders are encouraged to apply here by 3/29. Those interested in attending can RSVP here.
Interested in Joining the Hillside Team? Click here to learn more information about the fund, its associated course, and recruitment for Fall 2021. Applications are due by 4/2.
Reflecting on VCIC
On February 29th, 2020, a team of UConn students from Storrs, Connecticut headed down to NYU to compete in the Northeast Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), a regional section of the international competition hosted by UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Although the UConn team started off well during the due diligence sessions, it became clear that it was the school’s first time competing when an in-depth term sheet was required.
Flash-forward a year later to February 27th, 2021. Hillside Ventures sent a team of six students consisting of Alex Candow, Brandon Milich, Devin McNamara, Karolina Tarnacki, Melvin Andre, and Zach Zambuto back to the VCIC for redemption. This year, the competition was hosted by Dartmouth, and coming in as an underdog, our group finished in a proud second place!
Hillside’s team was just inches away from Miami University of Ohio—a powerhouse—who finished first. Although we did not win first place, this was a defining accomplishment for the developing VC ecosystem at UConn. Our success stands testament to how quickly our Hillside team is learning and growing into the next generation of venture capitalists.
What is VCIC?
VCIC is the world’s largest venture capital competition: a highly competitive event where budding venture capitalists around the globe face off and take on the role of real venture capitalists. Two days in advance of the competition, we signed NDAs and were given the pitch decks of three startups who are actively raising early-stage venture capital. The day of, we heard pitches from the three founders and engaged in 14-minute due diligence sessions with each startup, where we questioned the entrepreneurs. Following this, we had to pick one of the companies to invest in. Our diligence and questions asked to the entrepreneurs helped in determining the most investable business among the three alternatives. Once the team agreed upon a startup, we put together materials with an executive summary and a term sheet, outlining the details of the deal. We, then, had to present (and defend) our ideas at two “partner meetings” with two distinct panels of six venture capitalists. I would compare these meetings to ABC’s Shark Tank, where Kevin O’Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful) starts to turn up the heat. It was intimidating yet exhilarating to defend our ideas while being pushed and challenged by VCs. They had decades of experience and were intentionally trying to test the limits of our knowledge and composure. Luckily, our team was able to hold our own under the pressure.
What did we learn?
We learned a tremendous amount through this invaluable experience, acting as and receiving feedback from the venture capitalists. Here are some of the most important things we took away from the competition:
We will be thesis-driven and experts in our domains. VC firms with a clear and cohesive thesis are more adept in their verticals and able to wade through the surfeit of potential investments to identify the best options.
We will be value-added partners. When investing, we are engaging in a partnership, not just lending money and hoping for a return. This necessitates having a good relationship with the founder, with both sides of the table bringing value.
We will be thinking about the entire life of an investment. In the early stages, it is important to assess the founder and product-market fit while analyzing their long-term vision and the type of company they seek to build. However, there are many steps between a seed investment and an exit, so we must be conscientious of the milestones along the way.
We will be deliberate with our term sheets. The details of a term sheet are integral to the outcome of a deal. For early-stage investments, we are trying to maximize the upside potential against the risk undertaken. By garnering as much equity as possible, guarding against dilution, and digging deep into the valuation, we will increase our chances for success in this risk-laden business.
We will be strong communicators. In all communication, we will be deliberate and thoughtful about the words we use and the message we are trying to convey. It is important to be cognizant of how we ask questions to founders and explain the reasons or reservations for an investment.
We will be a cohesive and diverse team. Building a diverse team with various backgrounds and areas of expertise will add unique value and cultivate a spirit of leadership within the VC space.
We were also impressed by the incredible strength of Dartmouth’s VC community. They were able to corral 12 alumni, who are busy venture capitalists with varying levels of seniority, to spend 9 hours judging on a Saturday. This served as an inspiration for us as we continue to develop UConn’s talented students and engage our experienced alumni. We are confident that our work at Hillside Ventures is fostering a powerful VC presence at UConn and building the next generation of venture capitalists.
I would like to conclude by thanking UNC and Dartmouth for organizing and hosting the competition as well as all of the teams we competed against.
Thank you for being a part of our community and for following along in our journey!
By Brandon Milich, Analyst at Hillside Ventures
UConntrepreneurship Highlights:
Bryan Rosenblatt (BUS ‘11) is a principal at Craft Ventures, which just led the $2.9M round of CopyAI, an AI-powered copywriting startup
Are we missing any exciting #UConntrepreneurship activity? Comment below or email noah.sobel-pressman@uconn.edu or karolina.tarnacki@uconn.edu to be featured in the next newsletter.