Venture capital grows in the East — including New York

Featured Events Undergraduate | Oct 17, 2016 | Kate Marinkovich

If you think only of Silicon Valley when you think about venture capital, think again.

Andrew Buemi, FCRH ’11, visited a recent Alternative Investment Club meeting to offer his perspective as a young VC professional right here in New York City — at ff Venture Capital, where he is the communications director.

ff Venture Capital is an early-stage investor focused on tech startups, and it is a good representative of the scene on the East Coast, which is expanding thanks to new relationships among firms and even universities. This year, for example, ff Venture Capital established a partnership with New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering to start the AI Nexus Lab, an accelerator-style program around investing in artificial intelligence.

Buemi talked about working in VC at both the micro and macro levels — that is, at his company, and in the field as a whole. He also took questions from the audience and provided guidance for students who envision their own future in VC. He encouraged them to subscribe to venture-focused newsletters and to follow prominent venture capitalists such as Marc Andreessen.

He noted that venture capital is a colorful industry, drawing people from all sorts of industry backgrounds. When it comes to entering the space, it is important to be multi-skilled and ready to learn.

The Alternative Investments Club hopes to host more VC-related events due to growing student interest among students. To join the club, begin by emailing FordhamAIC@gmail.com to subscribe to its email list.

The club’s next speaker event is set for November 1 at 5:30 p.m. in Flom Auditorium, lower level of Walsh Library. Andrew Dassori, founding partner and CIO at Longwave Advisors, will lead a discussion on artificial intelligence in investing.

Andrew Buemi speaks with students about his experience in the venture capital industry. Photo by Naasik Islam.