There is no single set way to break into VC. But those who do usually find themselves surrounded by peers studying computer science, engineering, business, and economics. Notably, those with a background in the humanities tend to be lacking.
The reasoning is simple: studying any technical subject produces tangible knowledge and skills, such as the ability to code and build products. Even in less technical subjects like economics or business, students learn relevant concepts such as product-market fit, how to manage a team, or scaling a company.
Meanwhile, it is not immediately clear what direct value the humanities provide. Taking a linguistics class will teach you how to use an IPA chart and recognize patterns in language, but this won’t develop your ability to determine whether you should invest in a startup or not. Learning about human biases in an introductory psychology class hardly seems applicable to starting a business.
As such, it is easy to dismiss the humanities as a whole. But doing so would be a mistake.
The value of humanities lies in the elusive and invisible ways it influences our approach to life. Studying the humanities shapes our thinking and beliefs, broadens our horizons, and exposes us to new perspectives. They help us think creatively and heighten our ability to tell stories and communicate well — skillsets that lie at the core to success in an industry where human capital, emotions, and personal motivations are so valued.
Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital and former Time magazine journalist, wrote:
“The ability to be able to — much like a journalist — start off on an endeavor where you know nothing, where you gather a lot of materials and facts, where you have to distill all of those facts, and then form a cogent opinion and make a decision is not unlike writing a story or making an investment”.
If this still sounds hand-wavy, that’s the point. Studying history is not going to immediately make you a better founder in any concrete metric, but it will make you more knowledgeable about the world you are trying to build in and mistakes others have made in the past. Reading Descartes’ Meditations on the First Philosophy isn’t as immediately useful as learning Python, but having to reflect on it will force you to think critically and write clearly.
Though the humanities will never match up with technical subjects when it comes to tangible knowledge, their effects on how we live life, process new information, and interact with others are indispensable.