20 VC 038: How Make Connections with VCs and Maximise Employability with Angela Tran Kingyens @ Version One Ventures
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2015
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
Angela Tran Kingyens is an associate at Version One Ventures, where Angela manages the day to day activities of the fund from identifying new startups to advising portfolio companies on product. Prior to Version One, Angela Co-Launched Insight Data Science, a Y Combinator backed startup, helping academics transition into a career in industry. In today's episode, Angela describes the best ways to network with VCs, how you can increase employability instantly and the most effective ways to conduct market research!
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In Today's Episode you will Learn:
1.) How Angela made the transition from a career in academia to a YC backed startup to a Palo Alto Venture Fund?
2.) What can individuals do to network effectively with VCs, even if they have no existing VC contacts?
3.) What advice Angela would give to someone looking to leave the academic path for a career in tech? How can they maximise employability?
4.) What should individuals look for when considering incubators? Do they increase the validity of a startup, from the Version One perspective?
5.) Version One specialise in Marketplaces. Why is that? Is it normal for VC funds to specialise? What Angela thinks the future of marketplaces will look like?
6.) How to identify where there are up and coming areas for disruption? What resources are most effective for this market research?
We then finish today's episode with a lightning round where we hear Angela's thoughts on what industry she would never invest in, whether Uber will be a $trillion company, how VCs measure their own success, Angela's favourite business book and her most recent investment and why she said yes?
You can follow Harry, Angela and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to episode 38 of the 20 minute VC with your host Harry Stebbings. |
| 0:06.3 | Now I'm so thrilled to welcome Angela Tran King Yens to the show today. |
| 0:11.1 | Angela is associate at version 1 Ventures where she manages the day-to-day activities of the fund. |
| 0:17.8 | Prior to version 1, Angela co-launched Insight Data Science, a YC-backed startup, helping academics |
| 0:25.4 | transition into careers in industry. We have an incredible interview today, and we had a huge |
| 0:31.1 | amount of fun recording it. We can't wait to hear what you think. |
| 0:37.8 | You have now arrived at your destination. think. Three, two, one, zero. |
| 0:41.8 | You have now arrived at your destination. |
| 0:45.1 | Angela, thank you so much coming on the 20 minute VC. |
| 0:46.6 | I'm so pleased to have you here. |
| 0:48.2 | Thanks for having me. |
| 0:49.4 | I'm glad that we can make it happen. |
| 0:54.3 | Now, I'd really love to hear about how you got into the technology industry and then later made your transition into the world of venture capital. |
| 0:57.3 | Could you share that with us? |
| 0:59.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:59.4 | I think my transition from academia to working at a startup all the way to becoming a VC has |
| 1:06.6 | actually been quite serendipitous, but it all started with exposure to tech and engineering |
| 1:11.9 | through my parents. I was constantly encouraged to look or to study in the math and sciences, |
| 1:16.5 | and fortunately, it was something that it was good at. So being in tech is pretty much the only |
| 1:22.4 | thing that I had ever known. And I had great examples as my dad's a professor. So I went to |
| 1:27.4 | University in Toronto, did my bachelor's a professor. So I went to university in Toronto, |
| 1:28.6 | did my bachelor's in engineering science, and then went on to do a master's in PhD in financial |
... |
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