The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is the world鈥檚 largest venture capital competition with 81 universities competing this year. If you want an idea of what the competition is like, below is a graphic from the that explains the competition.
The CU VCIC team is normally comprised of seven members: five competition members (usually a mix of 2nd-year MBAs and 2L-3L Law School students, though this year it was all MBAs) and two reserves (two 1st-year MBAs). The five competition members compete officially while the two reserves help the team prepare for the competition. The two reserves then become the team鈥檚 captains the following year (similar to Hank and I this year).
In early-February, CU Leeds hosted a regional event with six teams including BYU, a perpetual VCIC powerhouse who ended up placing 2nd in the Global Finals this year. Hosting is a great opportunity to give the CU VCIC team a taste of what the competition is like before actually competing in it. Also, because we were a host school, we were afforded the opportunity to compete at the Super Regionals in San Francisco, against the rest of the host schools.
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Silicon Valley Super Regionals in San Francisco, CA
In late-February, we flew to San Francisco and took 2nd Place at the Super Regionals, just behind USC and just ahead of Rice University! All three teams were invited to compete at the Global Finals in Chapel Hill, NC, against the winners from the other regions around the world.
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In addition to our rousing 2nd Place finish at the Super Regionals, we were fortunate enough to earn the Entrepreneur鈥檚 Choice Award, an honor bestowed by the four evaluated startup businesses to the team that they liked the best. We were particularly proud to receive this award not only because of the class of competition we were up against, but because likeability is an essential characteristic for a successful VC firm.
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VCIC Global Finals in Chapel Hill, NC
Our Global Finals experience hosted by the UNC Keenan-Flagler Business School was great. We went head to head with the best teams in the world and finished a very respectable 7th out of 16 high-powered teams. We obviously had hoped for a top-6 showing, but were still proud of our performance. At this point in the competition, all of the teams are so strong that placing can be separated by the slimmest of margins.
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One huge benefit of participating in VCIC is that it perfectly complements the class co-taught by industry titans, and Jason Mendelson. MBAs are encouraged to take this (and other grad classes out of business school) while at Leeds to learn how venture capitalists analyze companies and term sheets. Additionally, networking with students from around the world who are also interested in venture capital was a ton of fun. It鈥檚 such a small community that many of us will run into each other in the future!
Moving forward, I'm grateful for this experience and I look forward to helping out future generations of CU VCIC teams.
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-Matt Haughom
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