Interview with Fairview Capital Senior Analyst Aakar Vachhani
If you’ve considered working for a venture capital firm, you’ve probably found landing a position as an investment analyst extremely challenging. Recently, I have been in the process of determining if this is the career I would like to pursue. Before exhausting all my efforts to find a place in this incredibly competitive and exciting environment, I decided to interview Aakar Vachhani, Senior Analyst at Fairview Capital.
Aakar joined the Fairview team in 2008, where he is involved in research, due diligence, investment monitoring, and business development. Prior to joining Fairview, he was an analyst in the alternative asset performance group at Cambridge Associates, where he was responsible for tracking fund and corporate performance metrics for private equity, venture capital and real estate funds, as well as Analyze and produce due diligence reports to select funds. Additionally, Aakar has also worked with consulting teams to provide portfolio performance reports to foundations, colleges/universities, public pensions, and family offices. Additionally, at Cambridge Associates, he led quantitative analysis and research projects on private equity and venture capital benchmarks. Aakar studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Economics – Finance from Bentley College.
I wanted to know the best way to get a job in the venture capital industry, so I asked Aakar how he got his position at Cambridge Associates and Fairview Capital. He told me that the industry is relatively small and there aren’t many jobs available for young people. It is difficult to find a job in a company, especially fresh out of school without any relevant experience. Aakar said Bentley’s professional services department helped connect him with Cambridge Associates, one of the most respected consulting firms that specializes in consulting pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices on private equity and equity investment portfolios. risky. They were having an opening for an internship in their performance reporting group. Unfortunately, getting this position was difficult. Aakar made it through two rounds of interviews and was rejected. The following year, Cambridge Associates posted a full-time position. Aakar decided to apply for him during his fall semester, went through three rounds of interviews, and was ultimately rejected. In the spring, he reapplied for him and after another three rounds of interviews and an incredible amount of persistence, he was finally offered the position.
Working at Cambridge Associates was a great way for Aakar to learn about the venture capital industry. He said that he was constantly looking for ways to get involved and increase awareness of him. After two years of experience, Aakar decided to look for other opportunities. He noticed that Fairview Capital had an opening for a research analyst and decided to apply for the position. Since taking the position, he has been promoted to senior analyst in the investment team.
After hearing about how Aakar got into venture capital, I asked him what he does on a daily basis. On any given day, he accomplishes a variety of different aspects of the business. As he conducts due diligence on potential investments, he meets with venture capitalists, discusses performance and makes recommendations. In business development, he creates presentations for clients or potential new investors and develops marketing material for new funds. Aakar also helps with the annual and semi-annual reports and writes summaries on the fund’s activity and performance. In correlation with research, he explores investment topics and writes about them in newsletters and research reports. Aakar has also helped host symposiums, web conferences, and even podcasts with venture capitalists.
Aakar has a broad role and it was important for me to learn about his daily responsibilities. Having the urge to get involved in venture capital is certainly not common among most people. I continued to ask Aakar when he knew that he wanted to get involved in the industry. He said that he began to develop an interest when he was in his third year at Bentley. In his senior year, he became interested in venture capital, but he never knew that working for a fund of funds would be a good fit. Aakar defines his interest in the venture capital industry as a more evolutionary process.
I enjoyed putting the interview together and learned that persistence is crucial when it comes to being employed in the venture capital industry.
