此文由汪欢翻译，取名为“想进创投，你HOLD的住吗？”
原文载于robgo.org
I had a meeting this week with a friend of a friend who was interested in getting into the Venture Capital Business. I have a few of these meetings every year, usually around the time that grad school students are thinking about jobs. Usually, the person wants to jump into the question of how one goes about finding a VC job. Instead, I like to spend a bit of time giving more color into the venture capital career path and give a sober view of some of the non-obvious but less attractive facets of the job. I tend to say the same thing each time, and it occurred to me that I’ve never shared these thoughts on my blog. So here it goes.
每年我都会碰到不少路人想要进入vc业的，这一般都发生在商学院的学生开始苦逼的找工作的时候，他们一般直接就谈到如何找到vc的工作。我基本上每次都给他们相同的意见但是从来没有博客过 ，今天我想要分享给大家的是光鲜的创投业背后不为人知的故事。
So, you want to be a VC?
好吧，你想要进创投业是吧？但是你HOLD的住吗？
VC is a relatively glamorous job from the outside. There are a lot of positive reasons to do it, and I obviously love it or I would not be doing what I do. But it isn’t for everyone. In fact, there are a lot of reasons to think twice about whether this is the right path for you. Here they are.
在外行人看来，VC是比较NB的行业，我喜欢他是因为总所周知的积极的原因，不然我早就不干了。但是VC也不是所有人的菜，实际上当你决定进VC业之前要看看下面这些不进VC的理由，请三思而后行：
1. VC is more negative than you think. Here’s why. You’ve heard it said that VC’s will invest in 1/100 investment opportunities they look at. The odds are actually probably worse than that. As a result, you end up saying “no” a lot. Some investors don’t say no – they just ignore, or hope that entrepreneurs get the hint and just stop asking. That’s not great either, and it’s still pretty negative. Also, when you are evaluating companies, you are essentially hearing entrepreneurs pour their heart out and share their dreams to solve problems they are dedicating their life to. But we have to think about the risks. Why won’t this work? Is this idea really “big enough”? Do I believe this team can achieve this ambitious goal? Pretty critical and negative (although the best investors I find try to constructively help entrepreneurs solve these problems rather than just point out flaws). Finally, when you work with portfolio companies, you end up helping out more when things are going wrong. Companies that are on a great trajectory typically take less time than the companies that are in trouble and are facing really tough, often negative decisions.
1． VC比你想象的要苦逼
为什么呢？你也许听说过平均VC接100个公司，最终只会投其中一个，实际上的比率可能更低。所以VC们经常不得不说“NO”。有些VC投资人可能连NO都不说-他们直接不鸟你，或者希望创业者能有自知之明，知难而退（怎么说呢，这也是苦逼的一种吧）。虽然作为VC总是能听到创业者掏心置肺，梦想自己的IDEA能改变世界，但是VC们在评估潜在投资对象的时候，他们需要问的是：这个IDEA靠谱吗？这个IDEA够伟大吗？这个创业TEAM是不是块料子达成他们的目标？这个过程其实是很批判很否定很苦逼得（当然了，我认识的大部分VC投资人都会尽力帮助创业者去解决问题而不仅仅是指出问题而已）。另外，即使投资过后，VC们也要花很多时间去帮助创业公司成长，尤其是那些有问题的公司。看吧，苦逼的事情又来了！
2. Being a VC ends up being a somewhat lonely experience. This obviously differs from firm to firm. But step into a VC’s office on a non-partner meeting day. Do you see a team of VC’s huddled around a table trying to solve a problem together? Usually not. Often, the offices are empty. The partners are travelling, or meeting companies, or fundraising, or something else. The overhead of a VC firm is pretty limited, so in many ways, each investor acts as an independent unit, scouring for deals, trying to help portfolio companies, and reporting back to their team once a week in a very long partner meeting. Now, clearly, this differs by partnership. Some firms are more a band of solo investors. Others have greater camaraderie. But it’s not that same as being in the trenches with your team building product day-in day-out. Now, it’s true that venture is a very social job – even if you aren’t with your team, you are meeting with people all day long. But personally, I find it quite different compared to spending lots of time working together with team mates towards a common goal.
2． VC们都很寂寞的！
尽管这个因公司而异，但是如果你在非合伙人会议日走进VC的办公室，你很少能看到VC们在一起群策群力商议问题，办公室经常空荡荡的。合伙人要么出差在外见公司，要么去融资OR WHATEVER。VC公司的管理费用其实很有限，所有每个VC投资人都井水不犯河水，自己找案子，自己去帮助已经投资的公司，最后每周在合伙人会议上汇报工作就行了。好吧，我承认这个因公司的合作氛围而异，不否认有些公司的同志之爱爆满，但是大部分VC公司的投资人都是比较寂寞的。而且，事实上你也不是每天都能跟同事或者创业者一起去开发产品。虽说VC工作还是比较SOCIAL的-即使你不跟你的团队一起，你也是一天到晚要见不同的人。但是就我个人而言，我认为VC的工作是寂寞的，这跟一般的团队协作达成目标很不一样。
3. VC is a risky career path. It’s a lot of fun for a couple years. But after two years, even if you were an operator before, your skills become stale and you are realistically not going to be as good at your former craft as you were before joining venture. Your hire-ability is still pretty high at that point, but in years 4-6, you start running out of options. It’s also on those years that you face the pressure of establishing yourself as a partner in the firm and hope to get meaningful economics in the fund. As as I’ve blogged about before, the deck is kind of stacked against you. Here’s why: a typical VC will do about 2 investments per year. A principal or junior partner might be on a slightly slower pace. So in years 4-6, you are realistically responsible for ~3 investments. This is also the time when your partners (or other firms) are making the decision to make you a meaningful partner in the fund. So, in a way, your prospects as an investor are largely linked to these 3 investments. Those odds aren’t great, in a world where most startup companies fail and only about 20%-10% drive a meaningful return to the fund. Do you really want to be evaluated on those 3 shots on goal, when a) it may be way too early to tell if any of them are winners but losers are usually identified more quickly, b) broad market fluctuations have a huge impact on the success of these companies, and c) most VC’s will agree that there is a huge amount of luck involved in this business? Tough odds.
1． VC们的职业道路跟行业的名字是一样有风险的
最初的几年很好玩，但是两年之后即使你以前是技术牛人，你也会发现之前的知识和经验逐渐变得过时，这个时候你也许还能跳槽，但是过了这个点到了第4到6年头上，你就很被动了。但恰恰这个时间点，老板们开始要考虑是不是提拔你为合伙人，这个几率是很小的，我告诉你原因：一个vc一般每年两个案子（经理或者初级合伙人可能更少），所以在第4到6年头上你可能一共负责大约3个案子。你能不能成为合伙人就看这3个公司怎么样了。你自己算算看吧，几率有多小。平均只有10%-20%的创业公司能给LP带来靠谱的投资回报。考虑到以下：1 创业公司能不能成功很难说的准，但如果是个垃圾很快就能看出来； 2 动荡的市场环境也会影响创业公司的表现； 3 能不能成功也有运气的成分啦； 你还想让自己的前途取决于这区区3个投资吗？
4. VC is about being an investor. I find that I tend to have these conversations more oftewith former operators or folks with a professional service background. VC seems attractive because you get to work with entrepreneurs, see companies across a broad set of sub-sectors, and can help multiple companies facing a variety of important decisions. All of this is true. But what’s underlying all of this is that as a VC, you are an investor of other people’s money. Your fiduciary responsibility is to generate a great return for your limited partners. I find that there is a different way that investors tend to think about things. It’s hard for me to put my finger on it exactly, and it’s not true for everyone in the VC business. But I often tell people to think of that friend of theirs who somehow, always find a way to win when he goes to Vegas or plays poker. There’s something about that person’s psyche that is well tuned to evaluating risk, managing emotions, and generating a return on capital. And I think you need a bit of whatever that special mojo is to be a good investor. Now, many of the best VC’s out there have been terrific entrepreneurs and many work very hard with entrepreneurs to help their businesses succeed. But those folks are also great investors, and sometimes, your responsibility as an investor will come into conflict with your desire to be supportive to entrepreneurs.
2． VC们虽然能帮助创业公司成长，但也是很现实的
我经常有跟技术背景或者职业人士聊到VC表面光鲜靓丽（跟创业者一起工作，接触不同的产业，帮助创业公司做重要决定等等），这点毋庸置疑。但是VC们说到底就是拿别人的钱出来投资的，VC的天职就是给LP的钱带来投资回报。真正的VC看待企业的视角是很不一样的，我很难表达出来而且每个VC都不一样。但是你想想看你那些去拉斯维加斯赌博的朋友，他们能赢钱跟他们能很好的预估风险，控制冲动有关系的，我认为这些能力对成为一个有营养的VC来说很重要。这年头很多VC之前是成功的创业者这或者曾经帮助创业公司成长，但是真正牛逼的VC其实就是现实的投资人，VC作为投资人的本质决定了很多时候无法真正跟创业者站在一只船上
If this post feels like a debbie downer, it is kind of meant to be. This is one side of the story, which I think is quite real but non-intuitive. There are many reasons why I love what I do, and I feel very lucky to be able to do it. It’s been even better since starting NextView, because some of the drawbacks I mentioned above are addressed by being a founder of one’s own firm. VC isn’t really a career path as it is a lifestyle. It’s pretty all engrossing, so if you are going to jump in, make sure it’s right. It can be a great path, but it isn’t for everyone.
如果你觉得这篇软文很扫兴的话，那就对了。这是VC真实的另一面，尽管不是那么明显。我很喜欢做vc而且我幸运自己能做，尤其自从我创立了种子初创公司NEXTVIEW之后，因为创始人的身份，很多上面的苦逼点都能避免掉。
VC不是一种职业而是一种生活方式，他很引人入胜，但是你进来之前请三思而后行。
这可以是很好的选择，但不是针对每个人。
