INTERNSHIP
This summer, I completed a two-week internship at Target Global, a pan-European Venture Capital firm based in Tel Aviv, Israel. I was deeply interested in this field as the IB Business Management provided little details about my core interest in a business: investing. To be more specific, I wanted to learn how venture capitalists analyse businesses by combining qualitative factors (such as the founder's vision and implementation, the company's team, and of course the product itself: whether it was innovative or the right market landscape, patents, ) with quantitative factors such as revenue, profit, CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate), Customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer retention rate.
Furthermore, I also learned fundamental research skills when trying to understand a new market (in my case, this was the sustainable cleaning product market) or how to use Microsoft Excel to create Pivot Tables and do a Cohort Analysis. If I was to take one thing from this experience, it would be to analyse business with a combination of qualitative, and quantitative factors and my personal intuition or understanding of the product website
My insights from Target Global
In summer 2022, I embarked on a two-week internship at Target Global, a venture capital (VC) in Tel Aviv, Israel. I chose Target Global because I wanted to learn more about pan-European Venture Capital and the European entrepreneurial scene and the businesses it generates. As a fund that has had success funding the likes of DeliveryHero, Wefox, Flink, Rapyd, and Copper, I wanted to understand how decades of VC experience can be used to realize multibillion-dollar companies. Tel Aviv is also a hot bed for innovation within a country that has the highest R&D intensity in the world spending 4.7% GDP compared to 2.7% in the US. Moreover, the majority of R+D funding in Israel is from the private sector (73.4 %.) This made a VC internship in Tel Aviv an amazing opportunity to learn about VC and innovation.
I was keen to take my IB knowledge learned in the classroom and apply it to the real world. Whilst in IB we learned about different funding types, operational practices, and R+D, at Target Global I learned how important capital injections can be to turbocharge growth at the right point in a start-up’s development. Moreover, though we learned about Porter Strategic matrix for allowing companies to focus on either cost or premium differentiation, the team at Target Global showed me how strategic advice, connections, or services can be used to meet scaling problems. In school, we learned about Handy’s shamrock organization and how 21-century companies often organize around a core team which interacts with peripheral workers and contract workers. Nonetheless, how one creates the core team, and how important organizational structure is, whether it be by function, geography, or product, was only made clear in a hands-on way working in VC. Lastly, I learned that as companies move through their product or service life cycle, the importance of building a best-in-class board, and company culture to drive innovation and retain workers, is key to creating global players, redefining new sectors, and creating new market leaders.
This experience showed me that I need to keep my mind as open as possible. Whilst at Target global I worked on researching Ankorstore, Lyrics Training, Eyeware, BeReal all technology start-ups as well as investigating the sustainable household cleaning market and companies such as NCX, Tomorrow, AI dash, Jupiter, and Arturo. To analyse these companies and whether they were potential targets for funding, I learned fundamental Microsoft Excel skills which I used to create cohort analyses and pivot tables. Cohort analysis of companies like Ankorstore is important because it enables both companies and funders to understand if people love their service and potentially how big the service can be. I learned how to choose the correct segmentation for these companies to create meaningful data.
Whilst outside VC the absolute number of customers returning would seem the most important, the senior analyst I worked with showed me how the relative share of customers is more important, especially with robust and large data sets. In the case of Ankorstore, assuming they hypothetically have 10,000 new customers joining the service every month, with an 80% customer retention rate, growth could stall quite early with user numbers topping out at 50,000 customers since the rate of customers leaving equals to that of customers onboarding. Therefore, cohort analysis is key for VC to ensure that they are funding true growth driven by customer satisfaction as opposed to growth fuelled solely by marketing.
Another key skill I learned was the use of pivot tables. Regular flat tables used in Excel often contain many data items which can be difficult to get summarized information from in order to pitch a potential company. Which is why pivot tables can be used to manipulate data. Through the use of pivot table fields including filters, columns, rows, and values, I was able to perform valuable quick cohort analyses of companies like Ankorstore; in addition, for large data sets (50,000-line items or more) I learned how to create pivot tables that I could use to summarize the ROI based on investment and returns.
Outside of these skills, I was able to learn more about the day-to-day experience working in VC through this exciting experience as well as clarifying some the of assumptions I had before going into it. Whilst there were a lot of team working opportunities, I learned that in VC, most juniors/associates work their own pipeline of deals, analysed them independently, and pushed for them within the company. This was perfect for me and my insatiable curiosity and strong independent spirit. During the two weeks, I worked with a diverse range of companies., I looked at and learned from start-ups in the eCommerce space including Ankorstore as well as Eyeware an AI eye tracking service that is poised for major success. I can see how working in this field over time, I would be able to develop expertise on specific business models, and operations to fund successful businesses. I was also able to see how research and development, specifically creating and supporting the best R+D teams, could generate paradigm innovation, a concept we learn in IB Business. Companies like Eyeware, and many of the companies I researched, want to permanently change how consumers interact with technology. In the case of Eyeware, they aim to democratize eye tracking software and generate entire industries in the process. The ability to fund early-stage companies like this is why I am excited about VC.
I also learned from analysts, Principals, and Senior partners, the challenges of investing in growth and having 5-10-year feedback loops. The patience, emotional stamina, and hustle required are immense, as you follow companies ups and downs over years. I also learned about the intense competition for the best deals and the challenges of finding and funding unicorns every year in order to be successful.
As a budding entrepreneur, it also allowed me unprecedented insight into what the other side looking for. Being able to understand what metrics, tools, and heuristics, venture capital firms used will allow me to pitch any of my future companies to them effectively. Within this tiny industry, at the frontier of innovation and disruption in the world, I built relationships in Tel Aviv that I will no doubt continue to use in life. I was able to learn about European companies, VC, and where my interests in this field lie namely in seed/early stage venture capital as well as entrepreneurship.
Analyst @Target Global (July 2022):
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Shadowed the Head of Early Stage Investments in meetings
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Impact on self
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Gained insight into the relationship between VCs & Investments
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Gained insight into the organizational structure and day-to-day operations of a $400m pan-European tech-based VC
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Conducted research into the wind energy market
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Skills acquired:
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Market research
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Microsoft Excel
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Financial Modelling
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Impact made: Provided qualitative and quantitative analysis on a growing market
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Impact on self:
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Introduction to key Venture Capital terminology
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Understanding the different models of B2B & B2C companies
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Learning about the stages of funding and types of funding
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Identified tech-enabled, early-stage companies in the education sector
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Connected with Fernando Diaz Luque, co-founder of LingoClip with the aim of investment
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Impact made: Created an opportunity for further investment in the EdTech space
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Impact on self: Understanding the Venture Capital investment process from identification to investment.
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Assisted analysts with analysis & evaluation of existing early stage companies
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Skills Acquired:
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Financial Analysis
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Impact on self
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Introduction to the SaaS market
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Created an investment deck for a business idea in the air travel industry
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Skills Acquired:
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Microsoft Powerpoint
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Business plan creation
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Impact made:
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Identification of a gap in the customer air travel experience and attempting to plug it
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Impact on self:
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Reception of feedback from experts in their field
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Actioning feedback within the presentation
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Received feedback on how to pitch to investors
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Skills Acquired:
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Elevator Pitch
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Attended Annual Analyst training event in Berlin
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Skills Acquired:
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Data Analysis
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Teamwork
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Impact on self:
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Insight into the key skills needed to be an analyst at a top European VC
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Exposed to experts in their field and able to ascertain the balance between investing in great companies and great founders
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Founder @PlayForUkraine (April 2022 to present):
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Sourced & designed the Footballs, pumps, bibs & bags into individual ‘kits’
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Skills Acquired:
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Custom Design
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Logistics Management
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Impact made: Creating a brand
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Impact on self
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Conceptualisation of an idea into existence
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Learning about the logistics behind transporting goods internationally
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Connected and secured partnerships with Unicef Romania, Caritas Poland, Dnipro-1 youth football club, Magyar Maltai Hungary, United Way, Life Changer, Organization for Aid to Refugees
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Skills Acquired:
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Partnership identification
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Deck formation
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Partnership proposal
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Project Management
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Impact made: donated over 1000 kits to almost 10 partners
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Impact on self
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Understanding what potential partners are looking for
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How to meet each partner’s individual needs
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How to customise the offering for each partner
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Raised over £4000 through 3rd party fundraising
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Skills Acquired:
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Fundraising
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Financial Accounting
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Impact made: Ability to acquire more kits
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Impact made on self
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Learning how to create a compelling story and sharing it with potential donors
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Creating content for the Play For Ukraine social media accounts
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Skills Acquired:
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Online Content Creation
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Short form
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Long form
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Team Management
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Project Management
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Public Speaking
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Script writing
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Idea generation
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Talent identification
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Market Research
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Impact made: Reached over 16,000 followers with consistent engagement
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Impact on self
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Understanding how to engage viewers (content consumer behaviour)
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Increased self-confidence
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Greater presence on camera
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Learning how to operate both personal and initiative social media accounts
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Identifying locations for content creation
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Small insight into the process of making content
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Line Chef/ Kitchen Assistant @Brigadiers (July to October 2023):
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Shadowing and assisting the Head of the Production section
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Skills Acquired:
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Food Safety
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Food Preparation
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Food Production
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Food Storage
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Inventory Management
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Recipe process
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Impact made: Assisting the Production department to produce the essential elements needed for each menu item
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Impact on self
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Improving fundamental kitchen skills
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Understanding the balance between scale and quality in a restaurant with 100+ covers
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Producing food that is consistent with the recipes
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Insight into how a large kitchen processes over 100kg of ingredients daily
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Shadowing and assisting the Head of the Robata section
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Skills Acquired
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Barbecue cooking
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Marination
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Kebab preparation
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Griddle operation
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Presentation
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Operating during service
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Impact made: Aided chefs before, during and after service
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Impact on self
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Learning how to operate an industrial griddle
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Consistent output under time constraints
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Importance of communication in a busy kitchen
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Shadowing and assisting the Head of the Appetisers section
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Skills acquired
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Deep frying
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Food preparation
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Presentation
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Operating during service
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Takeaway packaging
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Impact made: Learning the difference between preparation for dine-in customers in comparison to delivery or takeaway customers
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Impact made on self
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Observing and preparing food for Deliveroo customers
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Self-realisation as consumer
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Insight into different plating methods
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Gained insight into how the optimum quantities of culinary elements create a balanced eating experience
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Digital & Media Assistant, Inside the Academy Docuseries (Blackburn Rovers & PSV Eindhoven) [September 2023]:
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Providing a 2nd camera angle during filming
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Skills Acquired:
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Camera operation
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Filming
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Impact made: extra footage recorded
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Impact on self
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Learning how to film for a docuseries
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Finding optimum angles to record
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I/c of vlog content creation and Instagram stories
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Skills Acquired
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Content creation ideas
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Impact made: content creation
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Impact on self
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Gave me ideas for my own content creation and brand management
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Creation of interview scripts
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Skills Acquired
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Script writing
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Creative writing
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Impact made: script creation for intro, outro and interview questions
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Impact on self:
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Striking the balance between length and quality of takes
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Insight into 2 top European football academies
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Their methodologies, processes, facilities & infrastructure
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Meeting and asking academy coaches questions about the future of academy football and gaining insight into their own philosophies in relation to that of their employers
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Service/Civic engagement:
Jamghat (2014):
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Interacted with children from underprivileged backgrounds who have left distressed homes
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Impact made: providing mental and physical stimuli through enjoyable activities. Donated non-perishable items
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Impact on self:
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Exposure to the harsh realities of the Indian Subcontinent and the wider world
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Created compassion and empathy internally
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Donated footballs, food & board games (including chess)
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Impact made: created a source of fun
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Impact on self
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Created bonds between the children/young people and myself
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Played two touch football & 5 minute chess games with them
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Impact made: created a source of fun
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Impact on self
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Created bonds between the children/young people and myself
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