I interviewed a dozen VCs on relationship building, core skills, and value add

a) How do you stay connected with and cultivate relationships with co-investors over time?

Focus on authentic relationships (quality over quantity and being open and transparent)

Regular connection

Have regular catch ups with other investors

Organize a book club with people with shared experiences and interests

Knowledge sharing

Share interesting articles to spark great discussions

Share deal flow and give feedback on their companies raising

Becoming the go to person on a particular topic

Collaboration

Support companies together collaboratively

Involve people in your work (panels, events, organizations)

b) How have the skills you developed in your pre-VC work played into your role now?

Operator & founder experience and empathy

Being open about weaknesses and areas you are less familiar with

Asking better questions to get the core of a problem, product, or business

Building an operating plan, especially to stretch out runway

Consulting & investment banking

Recognizing attributes that make a great leader

Asking founders how they delegate or split up responsibility with concrete examples

Using structured frameworks of thinking to work background from goals to steps

Understanding a company’s core value proposition

Academia

Taking psychology classes to better understand people

c) How do you add value to portfolio companies in pre-GP capacities?

Ideation

Think through product launches

Be a sounding board for product and strategy and other tough decisions

Dive deep into and make yourself an expert in an area, like PPP (at the start of COVID)

Fundraising

Introductions to later stage investors

Feedback on fundraising materials and decks

Hiring

Help make engineering hires or any other hires, especially from university networks

Growth

Introduce potential customers

Benchmark data across the portfolio

And any random tasks! You can ask portfolio companies what 3 things they would do if they had an hour or a few more hours of time, and you can take these tasks on if possible.