One day of a venture investor

A venture investor is also a person
Elena Timokhina, UNOVA 

Startups and investors rarely find mutual understanding. The former complain about the greed and exorbitant demands of the latter, the latter complain about poor-quality ideas and low efficiency of young entrepreneurs. To dispel the myth of the "evil investor", UNOVA tells about one day of the managing partner of a venture fund.

Early start – late finishThe managing partner is a person with an irregular schedule.

Even the managers themselves find it difficult to specify clear boundaries of the working day. One thing is for sure – the standard office schedule of 9-18 is not about them.

"I often have to go to meetings late at night and on weekends," says Pavel Nikonov, Investment Manager at ABRT Venture Fund, "Working in the evening is important when communicating with the United States."

"I would say that the working day is very irregular," echoes Alexander Galitsky, managing partner of Almaz Capital Partners fund. And he also says that the activities of the managing partner are much more complicated than the work of the CEO: "When I was the creator of my companies, I traveled between continents and worked from morning to night. But now I have to work even harder. Sometimes it even seems to me that the CEO's job was some kind of walk through a well-groomed park, and now it's a walk through dense forests."

Not boring workThe activities of the managing partner are closely related to traveling and work on the selection of projects.

Dmitry Chikhachev, managing partner of Runa Capital, says that traveling takes about 50% of the working time. Every day, according to Dmitry, we have to hold from 5 to 8 business meetings and look at 2-3 projects.

Pavel Nikonov tries to spend as little time on the road as possible and work in the office. However, the number of projects with which he has to work every day is more – about 5. "In addition, it is often necessary to return to the project more than once," Pavel comments.

As for meetings, it is very difficult to regulate their number somehow. "Sometimes their number reaches 8 per day," says Alexander Galitsky, "and sometimes there is not a single one."

Project consultationsOne of the important tasks of a venture investor is working with portfolio projects.

"As a rule, we are on the board of directors of the company and are very active in working with our portfolio projects," comments Alexander Galitsky, "this is the main meaning of "smart" money. However, the main thing is not to overdo it and not take full control over yourself."

ABRT Venture Fund also provides its portfolio companies with ongoing support. "We are in constant contact: we can help with the search for new personnel, introduce them to the right people, help with sales, marketing, product positioning, strategy and analytics," says Pavel Nikonov.

Spam attackThe mail of a venture investor is a warehouse of dozens of letters.

Up to a hundred emails can be sent to the managing partner's email account per day.

"Every day I look through up to two hundred letters," admits Dmitry Chikhachev, "most of them are internal correspondence and letters from startups. Sometimes there are requests from the press."

A similar situation is observed in Pavel Nikonov's mail: "Letters from the press come 2-3 times a week. From applicants for investments – up to 10 times a day."

Alexander Galitsky is often upset that he does not have time to read and answer all the letters that come to his mail. "I manage to write only 20-25 responses a day," he says, "but I understand that we need to prioritize: our main task is to help our portfolio companies grow and fulfill our obligations to our limited partners."

Useful tipsThe managing partners agreed to talk about what questions are asked to candidates when assessing the investment potential of the project.

"At meetings with potential portfolio companies, I try to find out the current situation of the project," says Pavel Nikonov, "I ask about conversion rates, ARPA, the cost of attracting customers, sales. I also assess how the project corresponds to our investment focus. To do this, I ask questions about the market, competitors, team, growth potential."

Alexander Galitsky emphasizes that in order to avoid mistakes, the "door" should always be kept open for entrepreneurs. "Even if the offer did not appeal at first glance, we are always waiting for an answer to questions about the size of the market, the strategy of entering this market, the amount of investment required. And, of course, the main thing when making a decision is people. We look at them first of all."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.02.2011