From VC to Employee #1 @ Beacons feat. Jess Li ✨

Good morning! A typical Tuesday, but not a typical edition of the Early 👀 Today we’re featuring the incredible Jess Li and her learnings from starting her career in VC at Soma Capital to becoming employee #1 at Beacons.

✨ Jess covers:

• Why she chose to start her career in VC at Soma Capital

• Skills she built in VC that transferred to becoming employee #1 at Beacons

• How she was able to build operating experience while working in VC

• Advice for early-career VCs and applying to growth/chief of staff roles

• …and more!

Let’s get into it!

💹 Today’s schedule:

• New VC Roles This Week (Pear VC, Unshackled Ventures & more) 💫

• From VC to Chief of Staff @ Beacons AI with Jess Li ✨ 

• Related Reads 🤓 

• Rate This Newsletter 🤔 

• Refer a Friend 🙂

• Resources 📝

• Say Hi 👋

New VC Roles This Week 💫 

Internships 🤓 

• VC Intern @ SpeedInvest (Paris, Berlin, Munich) - Apply Here

• VC Fellowship @ PledgeLA (Los Angeles, CA) - Apply Here by Jan. 5th

• Spring Graduate Associate @ Powerhouse Ventures (Remote or Oakland, CA) - Apply Here

Analyst 😍 

• Analyst @ Bullpen Capital (San Francisco, CA) - Apply Here by Nov. 18th

• Investment Analyst or Associate @ Sorenson Ventures (Palo Alto, CA or Lehi, UT) - Apply Here by Nov. 15th

Associate/Senior Associate 😄 

• Senior Associate @ Fine Structure Ventures (Remote) - Apply Here

• Ventures Associate @ Point72 (New York) - Apply Here

• Associate, Dev Tools and AI @ Venrock (Palo Alto, CA) - Apply Here

Operational Roles 🤠 

• Platform Associate @ Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (New York, NY) - Apply Here

• Venture Partner @ Erez Capital (Remote, Part-Time) - Apply Here

• Portfolio Operations Associate @ Gold House Ventures (Los Angeles, CA) - Apply Here

• Investor Relations Associate @ Forum Ventures (San Francisco, CA) - Apply Here

❗️ Note that many VC roles are posted without application deadlines and filled on a rolling basis - if you see one you like, I’d recommend applying within a week, or as soon as possible!

Key Insights from Jess 💡 

If you don’t have time to read the entire interview (I highly recommend you do!), here are a few golden nuggets:

• Have a give-first attitude and approach when building relationships

• Two reasons to start your career in VC:

  • 1) Meet a ton of new people and build relationships in tech

  • 2) You get paid to be a full-time learner for your job!

• The main transferrable skills Jess developed in venture were:

  • 1) building relationships in a give-first way (here's more on that)

  • 2) learning to learn (figuring out how to ramp up on new areas)

  • 3) marketing/branding/communication

• To get operational experience while still in VC, Jess reached out to portcos to offer hands-on help that included candidate screens, sales calls, and cold outreach.

Read on for the full interview ⬇️ 

From VC to Chief of Staff @ Beacons with Jess Li ✨ 

Jessica is chief of staff and employee #1 at Beacons, the all in one platform for creators. Beacons has 5 million creator users and is backed by a16z, Y Combinator, Buckley Ventures, and the Chainsmokers. Prior to Beacons, Jessica was the 2nd growth hire at Zageno, a Series C startup and the largest eCommerce marketplace for the life sciences. Jessica started her career at Soma Capital, a $1 bn AUM fund where she was employee #1. 

1) How long did you work in VC and why did you decide to start your career in investing?

I worked in VC during college and for my first job after school at Soma Capital (for ~1 year). I felt like venture was a great place to start for 2 main reasons: 

a) as a venture investor, you're able to add value to anyone; you can provide capital to founders, deal flow to other investors, and startup jobs to operators - you have something to offer everyone so you have a great "excuse" to meet anyone you'd like and you have the power to build a very give first, symbiotic relationship with everyone in the tech ecosystem 

b) as a venture investor, you're a full time learner - your job is quite literally to learn about new companies, new problem areas, new markets, new technology. Reading newsletters, books, papers and meeting people to learn is a core part of your job! 

2) What roles were you considering coming out of VC, and what did you ultimately land on? What factors did you consider in the process? 

I knew I wanted to take on an operating role for a few reasons a) I wanted to become more outcome and less output focused (i.e. focusing less on how to solely work harder but how to work harder and smarter, which is more possible at an operating company even in more junior roles), b) I wanted to have the experience of working with a team more so (investors work more independently and their meetings are primarily external), c) I wanted to develop more founder empathy, and d) I wanted to learn more tactical skills on how to do things at a company. 

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to move super early stage because that involves a lot of commitment and I hadn't found a company I fully resonated with and was ready to go all in for. I joined a Series B (now Series C) startup called Zageno (the world's largest eCommerce marketplace for the life sciences) because I knew their Chief of Staff from when I scouted for General Catalyst (she was working there then and led the Series B in Zageno). I wanted to be in a revenue facing role that was cross functional at a company in a space I cared about (biotech) with people I knew and admired, and Zageno fit the bill!

3) What were the key skills you developed in VC that translated to your following roles in growth and as Chief of Staff at Beacons? 

The main transferrable skills I developed in venture were 1) building relationships in a give first way (here's more on that), 2) learning to learn (figuring out how to ramp up on new areas), c) marketing/branding/communication 

4) How did you frame your VC background in your interview process for your next role? Were there any challenges you ran into? 

My experience at Soma was rather unique in that I was the first employee at the fund and was able to be an operator while being an investor. My boss (Aneel) was incredibly supportive of me taking on unique initiatives (such as starting a hiring program for portfolio companies), which helped me learn to operate at a "startup" before joining a startup. 

I also reached out to portfolio companies to work hands on for/with them for free on things like candidate screens, sales calls, and cold outreach. 

It also helped that I knew someone at Zageno who had worked with me before. She was also an investor before she became chief of staff (and she was a great chief of staff) so the team was trusting of that background. 

5) What advice would you give to early-career VCs wanting to break into growth or Chief of Staff roles? Are there any resources you would suggest? 

I would say: 

1) instead of trying to provide advice to your portfolio companies, try to help them in a hands on way instead. For example, if you see they are hiring for a role, try to help them source or screen candidates 

2) look for ways to "operate" before you join a startup - is there a way you can build a product at your fund or run a program or launch a new initiative? 

3) have a give first attitude and approach when building relationships

The First Round Review and Lenny's Newsletter have good content around startups and startup roles.

A huge thank-you to Jess for the awesome insights. You can reach her at [email protected] 👏 

Related Reads 🤓 

• I’m Leaving VC. This is What I Didn’t Expect to Learn. Jess Li

• Life as a VC Associate: Lessons from 2.5 Years. Henrik Sanchez

• I Quit My Venture Capital Job. Here’s What I Learned. The VC Factory

• Why I’m Leaving Venture Capital to Join Route. Arteen Arabshahi

Rate This Newsletter 🔈️ 

Refer a Friend 👭 

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Resources 📝 

• Download my meeting notes template for VC/investment pitches

• Check out my previous post for a list of VC interview resources

• Take a look at the Early VC job board with roles updated twice weekly 🤗 

• Join the waitlist for our VC candidate portal 🤝 

Say Hi! 👋 

And that’s all for this week! You can find me on LinkedIn and X. As always, feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions or feedback. I’d love to hear from you! 🙂 

-Mic