Many students, friends, and others ask me how to land a job at a Venture Capital firm.  Sometimes I think it was sheer luck and the opportunity that was provided while at Northeastern University; but here are a few methods that can get you into the VC firm that you want.

Fred Wilson is one of my favorite venture bloggers. Over at AVC, he wrote a post a little while ago entitled What a CEO Does. Speaking on a panel this weekend at Harvard College on careers in finance, I had to describe what I do and realized that people still view VC as something of a "black box." The intent of this post is to give entrepreneurs (and the rest of you) a bit of a peak inside.

As a young entrepreneur, it’s not easy to understand how venture capital really works. There are tons of horror stories that spread through the community like urban legends and phrases like “Term sheets” and “Down Rounds” can sound foreign.  Amidst all of these questions is an aura of uncertainty about how the whole system really works. Fortunately, there’s Jeff Bussgang’s book, Mastering the VC Game to help. 

This book should be a must read for any young entrepreneur who thinks they may ever want funding. It’s that good. Here’s a few reasons I love the book:

Traditionally, every Entrepreneur ran from one Venture Capital firm to the next with their pitch book, power point presentation, and objective of raising between $1 to $2 million to get their company off the ground. Their plan was to hit all the milestones and objectives, raise another $5 million, ramp sales and waited a few years to get acquired or go public.