The 10-Page Presentation That Landed Me My First VC Role

I'm going to let you in on the secret to how I landed my full-time VC role with no prior VC experience and no connections.

Let me set the scene.

I was working full-time in investment banking and doing a part-time internship with a VC firm — my first real exposure to venture capital. Going on my fourth year in banking, I was eager to find my next opportunity.

I loved the work I was doing for the VC firm, so I asked them if they would consider me for a full-time role.

The answer was no.

They were still on their Fund 1 and hadn't started raising Fund 2 yet — no new management fees meant no new hires. They said my resume would be considered alongside other applicants when the time came. I had worked hard to prove myself that summer. I was bummed.

But luck was on my side. Due to external factors, they started raising Fund 2 a few months later. I knew they'd be looking to hire sooner than expected. What hadn't changed: I still had to go through the general interview process.

I wanted to change their minds. So I built a 10-page presentation pitching myself directly to them. It worked.

Here's what was in it — page by page.

---

Page 1: Nicole, What Is This?

The opening slide set the scene for the whole presentation. The who, what, where, when, why, and how.

It clearly showed the team:

• My intent with the presentation
• Why I was passionate about working with them specifically
• My understanding of their budget constraints and willingness to accommodate them

Goal: Get the team bought into the vision before diving into details.

---

Page 2: Why Does This Make Sense for Your Firm?

This page explained why hiring me benefited them — not just me.

Because I had already worked with the firm part-time, I could identify specific gaps and opportunity areas. Since it was an emerging fund, I knew I'd be wearing many hats across both investing and platform work. I laid out my value-add across both.

Goal: Show I understood the firm's structure and had a clear plan for where I'd add value.

---

Page 3: Investment Team Function

Here I detailed how I could contribute as an investor — covering potential sourcing focus areas and industry coverage.

Before picking sectors, I thought through four things:

1. What wasn't currently covered by a Partner at the firm
2. What sectors the team had expressed interest in learning more about
3. What sectors were hot in VC at the time
4. What I had experience or genuine interest in

I also benchmarked my skills against what they valued most — and I got that list by simply asking the team directly. They told me. I had their priorities at my fingertips.

I also added humor where I could. There's a footnote on my name because they always spelled it wrong — it became a running joke. VC is a personable industry. Personality matters.

Goal: Show I could function as a VC on day one with minimal onboarding.

---

Page 4: Ideas to Advance the Latino Pipeline

One of my value propositions on the investing side was helping increase Latino deal flow. Rather than just say I could do that, I showed exactly how — with specific organizations, named contacts at each, and LinkedIn URLs the team could click.

I also referenced how other firms had done similar work (like the Greylock and MLT partnership) to add credibility.

Goal: Prove I had an action plan already in place. I wasn't asking them to take a leap of faith — I was showing them the map.

---

Page 5: VC Platform Role & Function

This was similar to Page 3, but for platform functions.

Full transparency: when I started building this page, I didn't really know what VC platform work encompassed. So I researched extensively. I laid out the full landscape of platform functions, identified what existing team members already covered, and showed where the gaps were — and where I fit in.

With my investment banking background, I was well-positioned to support portfolio companies on corporate development needs: pitch practice, financial modeling, market trends, M&A, and IPO activity.

This page was one of the team's favorites. It showed creativity, research depth, and the ability to present complex information simply.

Goal: Show them a version of the platform function they hadn't seen before — and prove I could fill specific gaps in it.

---

Page 6: Ideas to Advance the Business Development Platform

This page built on the previous one. I detailed three new initiatives I would drive:

1. Market Update Reports
2. Public Resource Center
3. Jam Sessions (founder office hours)

For each, I included full proposals with logistics and templates. I referenced notable VC firms already doing versions of this. I noted how we could use existing interns and fellows to help execute.

Goal: Prove I understood portfolio company needs and had concrete ideas to move the needle.

---

What Made It Stand Out

A few things I did that I'd recommend to anyone building their own version:

• The file name was "Nicole DeTommaso x [Firm Name] — Why ME"
• I used the firm's own formatting (their PPT template, fonts, logos)
• I included external links so the team could interact with the presentation and get more context
• I backed every idea with examples from other respected firms
• I added humor throughout — bobble heads of the team, inside jokes — to show my personality

I spent two weeks on the output alone, after weeks of observing the firm, researching the industry, and thinking hard about where I could genuinely add value.

---

The Takeaway

If you're asking a firm to hire you full-time, you need to have conviction about where you add value — and you need to be able to prove it.

Not all of the ideas in my presentation came to fruition. But 3–4 of them actually did.

Don't underestimate your power to move the needle early on.

The presentation template is available to download — you can find it linked in the original newsletter issue.