I had the opportunity to guest lecture to the Student Investment Fund class at Oklahoma State University this week. I was there to talk to the students about the venture capital industry and what I do as a partner at Spur Capital. I prepared a list of topics to discuss just in case the students were disengaged, but I was pleasantly surprised by their keen interest in the subject.

The presentation lasted about an hour and there were several questions throughout. Some of the questions included:

• What are the typical terms of a deal that entrepreneurs make with VCs?
• How do you analyze a venture capital fund?
• How do you assess risk?
• What are some of the questions you ask entrepreneurs before you invest in them?
• What is the most important thing you look for in a company before investing?
• How does a fund of funds work?

Anyone who works in or around the VC industry has an answer for pretty much all of these questions because it’s stuff we think about everyday. It can be easy to take this knowledge for granted so I think it’s important for those of us in this industry (or any industry  really) to volunteer and share your experience with others, especially college students. You never know how or if your professional experience might help shape the future of those coming behind you. #Giveback. Cheers – KM