A New Beginning

This week marked the start of my new job at Chicago Ventures.  Chicago Ventures is an outgrowth/re-brand of the I2A Fund, where I interned for over a year.  I'm officially joining as a Senior Associate, a fair promotion from intern, I suppose :) It's really extraordinarily exciting for me, having worked hard for two years in business school to find my dream job and improve my skills.  For me, it was most important that I work at a firm which allowed me to spend time with my wife and new baby boy.  It was also highly important to me that I keep growing - and getting to shadow and apprentice Stuart Larkins and Kevin Willer is the ideal way to grow into a stronger thinker.

What makes the story so complete for me, is that it's a job I find deeply fulfilling.  Every day I get to meet with entrepreneurs who have strong visions for bettering an industry (or sometimes, the entire world).  Returning home from Yeshiva in Israel, I wanted to spend time in a field that allowed me focus on actualizing potential.  I thought that might come through the form of philanthropy - but as I went deeper into the job search process I found early stage venture capital to be the right match.

Despite all the excitement, it's a scary job.  I have literally no idea if I'm good or not at this job.  I said as much to Stuart when he made me a job offer.  Having helped CardRunners and Hold'em Manager scale up very quickly to become strong businesses, I'm confident that I understand growth and success in the gaming world.  But do I understand it in Enterprise SaaS?  Or P2P sharing?  I have a lot to learn, but also intent on sponging up as much knowledge as possible.

Now that school is complete and I (sorta) have more time, my goal is to update this blog far more regularly.  To make it an extremely transparent place for both founders and those wanting to work in VC to get honest, real, and impactful insights into the day to day life of being an Associate at a growing firm.

Looking forward to the future!

Ezra