Hi! I’m glad you’re here. You’ve made it to issue #107 of VC Demystified🪄.

^{My personal mission is to open as many doors as possible for other people and this newsletter is just one avenue to do that. As always, I will continue to post VC insights daily for free across my socials. This newsletter may contain paid partnerships or affiliate links.}

Most people trying to break into VC ask the same question:

How do I build a track record without a VC job?

Turner Novak figured out a very clever way to do this that more people should copy. Before he raised a dollar of Fund I, he had no formal checkwriting VC experience. Instead what he had was a fantasy portfolio he built in public on X (Twitter). He shared the companies he was watching, the theses he was forming, and the bets he would make IF he had the capital. That track record allowed him to raise his own fund. He's now on Fund III at Banana Capital!

I think about Turner's path a lot when aspiring VCs ask me how to break in without experience. It's one of the clearest examples I've seen of someone creating their own proof of concept: building the evidence that made the opportunity inevitable rather than waiting to be handed one.

If done properly, a fantasy portfolio forces you to do the actual work of investing: sourcing companies, forming a thesis, writing a memo, thinking about price and ownership, and reflecting on what you got right and wrong. It’s how you get in your reps before you have a full-time position in venture.

The key is treating it like a real fund, with constraints and structure, rather than a list of companies you find interesting. Here's the 8-step system to follow.

Treat this like you're raising an actual fund. Before you look at a single company, set your mandate:

Everything you "invest" in must fit this mandate.

Being a real fund managers require you to not only invest in companies, but more holistically think about a portfolio of companies. Before you make a single "investment," decide:

Portfolio constructions is a must. Don’t skip this step.

You need deal flow.

Set up a simple tracker (a spreadsheet works fine) with: company name, sector, stage, geography, how you found it, and status (Watching / Passed / Invested).

Then go find companies. More on sourcing strategies here and here. The source column in your tracker will start to show you where your best deal flow actually comes from, which is itself a valuable insight.

Steps 4-8 below (for premium subscribers) are where the judgment actually develops: writing memos, pricing deals, building a dashboard, running LP updates, and turning it all into a public track record. Those are the steps that make the difference between a list of company names and something that looks like real evidence of investing ability. Let's get into it!