I, a member of the post-2000 generation, work in VC.

Venture capital places great emphasis on the vintage year, and I believe venture capitalists are no exception. Just like a bottle of red wine, the sunlight and precipitation in a particular year determine the sugar content, acidity, and the resulting taste of the grapes. Similarly, the year of birth and graduation largely define the theme and the potential height of an investor's career.

If the post - 60s and post - 70s generations were the pioneers, the post - 80s reaped most of the benefits of the mobile internet, and the post - 90s unfortunately missed the era of abundant opportunities, then the reality faced by the post - 00s is that the industry is rebounding, and they have caught up with the AI wave right from the start.

Whether AI presents a greater investment opportunity than the mobile internet is, of course, a proposition to be verified. However, the room for imagination is undoubtedly vast, and there are at least plenty of opportunities. In this sense, the post - 00s investors are undoubtedly a lucky generation.

As the "AI native generation," they are considered to have a natural advantage in understanding technology, products, and application scenarios, especially those targeting C - end users. I once heard a practitioner from an early - stage institution sigh that the post - 95s have become the main force in this wave of AI investment, and many of the current popular AI application projects were discovered by junior investors.

Recently, we had in - depth conversations with several post - 00s VC newcomers. Through their introductions to each other, we can confirm that the number of post - 00s investors active in first - tier institutions is not large, approximately between 15 and 20, and they almost all know each other.

Externally, they don't differ much from the previous generation of investors: they have prestigious university backgrounds, come from well - off families, have overseas study or living experiences, and work under high intensity. Even though the wealth effect in this industry has diminished, compared to ordinary people, they still have "considerable incomes." In terms of deeper value judgments, this generation shows a stronger sense of self. They are no longer obsessed with becoming someone else, nor do they regard "making money" as the only proposition for survival.

Starting from VC, these young people have already embarked on different paths: some still stay in institutions, trying to continuously accumulate credit and judgment within a system; some are disappointed with the narrow career advancement channels in the workplace and choose to leave, using entrepreneurship to re - prove themselves; others are still observing opportunities through the VC profession, looking for a more certain position in the rapidly changing technological wave.

Rather than repeatedly describing what kind of people the post - 00s investors are, it's better to try to observe the possible future directions from their actions, choices, and hesitations. Welcome to the era of post - 00s VCs.

The First Job of the Post - 00s

Zhang Ying recently said on his video account that compared with seemingly glamorous industries like investment banking and consulting, returning to the real economy is becoming a more worthwhile path for young people. Those seemingly "glamorous" industries, of course, also include venture capital. And he's not the only one who thinks so. Compared to being "the first job for young people," venture capital is more suitable as the final stop in the careers of veterans who have experienced the business world.

The reason is not hard to understand. VC is a business about "experience." It requires time for precipitation and the accumulation of insights into entrepreneurship, specific industries, and the subtleties of human nature, which are precisely what young people often lack the most.

"Many people say that VC is not the most ideal first job for fresh graduates. They think this industry is 'illusory,' and one can switch to it at any time. I used to have such concerns too. I was afraid of standing in a position of judging and instructing entrepreneurs at the beginning without enough practical experience," Jianing told me.

She is a post - 00s working in Silicon Valley, collaborating with a Solo GP. She has been working for about half a year and has invested in two projects. She went to the United States to study at the age of 14. After graduating from high school, she completed a four - year undergraduate program at the University of Southern California (USC), majoring in mathematics, economics, computer science, and finance, and obtained two professional degrees and two minors. She pursued a master's degree in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. The curriculum was half technology - oriented and half product - oriented, and she also took a large number of entrepreneurship courses.

It's obvious that she has extremely strong learning abilities. However, she was also lost before finding her direction. It was not until the summer vacation during her undergraduate graduation that she accidentally got an internship at Alibaba's strategic investment department. "I could see outstanding founders in the news one day and have a face - to - face conversation with them in the meeting room the next day, listening to their entrepreneurial intentions and plans." Compared with boring Excel models or desk research, she realized that early - stage investment allows her to truly contact a large number of founders and exchange the most cutting - edge ideas. This was the important reason why she decided to continue her studies and give herself two more years to think about her career orientation.

After returning to Stanford for her master's degree, the vision brought by the internship further broadened her understanding of the industry. Located in the center of Silicon Valley, the school has unique resource advantages. Many courses invite CEOs of large technology companies, senior experts, or well - known investors to share their experiences.

In her opinion, when first entering this industry, the more important thing is how to position herself. "I don't see myself as a 'guide,' but always maintain a learning attitude. Of course, I also need to clearly tell entrepreneurs what value I can provide - it may come from the support of my boss, the platform resources of the company, or my personal network."

If we put aside the top - down defined career path and look at the real scenario of young people looking for jobs, they are simply choosing the most suitable option among the few they can reach. First, they need an opportunity to contact the industry and accumulate real feelings as a basis for judgment. On this basis, as long as they make a careful and well - considered choice, becoming an investor, even as a springboard, can still be a good career choice.

This generation of post - 00s investors generally have a high - density internship experience. Before getting their degrees, they shuttle between the primary market, the secondary market, and large internet companies, constantly switching roles from analysts, researchers to product managers, and continuously exploring the career form that suits them.

Weituo is the only one among the post - 00s VCs we talked to who graduated from a business major. However, in college, he hardly did anything directly related to investment. In his own words, his college life was more like an "experimental experience."

"If you had met me two years ago, you might not have seen my black hair." During college, he tried all kinds of life experiences and had a "very colorful" college life.

Before really entering the primary market, he tried almost all directions: finance, secondary market, consulting, accounting - related jobs, and even coding and being a programmer. Finally, he found that he liked the primary market the most, so he chose to join an early - stage technology VC, focusing on AI projects. In less than half a year, he led the investment in several projects.

"Although young, our understanding of technology may not be deeper than that of the founders, but young people have a strong willingness to learn. As for whether the accumulation is sufficient and the understanding is deep enough, we can leave it to time to verify. For the first job, we might as well try like this," this is Weituo's view.

Lin Wen graduated from a prestigious overseas university for both his undergraduate and master's degrees and is currently working at a top US - dollar VC. In college, his major was Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CS + EE) - which is more in line with the current preferences of VC recruiters.

The reason why he didn't consider business at all back then was that in his view, business knowledge is a general ability that can be supplemented through work and rapid learning in the future. For example, when studying in an international school, he had already been exposed to accounting and participated in related competitions. He found that many of the techniques or models in accounting are more practical in nature. After understanding them, they are not that difficult. Even in exams, the problem - solving steps he listed were often not the standard answers in the textbook, but he could still get the correct results.

Technical majors are completely different. He believes that CS and related engineering theories are more abstract and systematic. If one wants to really engage in engineering or related work in the future, perhaps only in college can one calm down to learn these underlying theories and derive complex formulas. This choice has proven to be correct. He thinks that his major perfectly matches the AI and embodied track investment projects he is looking at.

"I'm the kind of person who will be very dedicated when doing what I really want to do. If it's just about completing a task, it's hard to do things to the extreme," he evaluated himself like this.

Some people gradually figure out what they don't want through continuous attempts, while some people know what they want from the very beginning. Lin Wen obviously belongs to the latter.

In his freshman year, Lin Wen did some basic desk work in the secondary market, which later switched to online due to the pandemic. The work during that period made him feel that the secondary market is more about helping capital pursue profits. The stock price fluctuations didn't bring him enough sense of achievement. What he wants to do is something that can change the world.

This may sound grand and idealistic, but to some extent, it is the original motivation for him to join the VC industry. "Although VC is also about creating returns for LPs, when the funds are directed to more meaningful directions and more capable founders, we can clearly see that things that couldn't be achieved before are being accomplished step by step, and real social value is being created."

"No Newbie Guide"

After communicating with these post - 00s VCs, there is an obvious feeling that the halo of star - rated institutions is one thing, but the key factor that really attracts them to choose a certain institution is whether they can get a broader space for growth.

When approaching graduation, Jianing had several career opportunities in hand, mostly in the C - end field, including a product manager position at a large company. Judging from her background, this was a logical path. However, she kept asking herself: How much influence can I really have after joining a large company? Can I continue to maintain the network and knowledge accumulated in investment and entrepreneurship in the past two years? After multiple rounds of interviews and repeated weighing, she finally chose to stay in the VC industry.

The key reason for her to join the current institution is that "she is taken seriously." Her boss had three long conversations with her, sincerely communicating their mutual expectations. More importantly, regarding practical issues such as visas and insurance, the boss was willing to bear the additional costs for her and actively promote the complex procedures. This sincerity made her willing to make concessions on salary in exchange for greater decision - making power and growth space.

As a solo GP, the other party hopes to find someone who can complement in terms of project evaluation, resources, and knowledge, and she just has such a background. The fund is not very large. After joining, she has participated in almost all aspects of the fund's operation: investment, administration, content, activities, and she has to handle almost everything herself.

"I'm not willing to be a replaceable cog in a company," she believes. In her opinion, short - term salary differences are not important. What really matters is "who I work with and what I can learn."

The common rule in the Chinese venture capital market is that young investors have the opportunity to be promoted to partners based on outstanding performance and resources, but it is difficult for them to get returns and decision - making power comparable to those of "partners in the strict sense." In essence, they are still employees. To break through this shackle, the best way is probably to set up their own firms and start anew.

Although they have just entered the workplace, some post - 00s have already felt the ceiling hanging over their heads. Weituo chose to leave the VC firm soon after joining. He frankly said that in the institution, almost everyone emphasizes their "authority," such as being able to directly recommend projects to partners or send them to the investment committee. However, the reality is not as optimistic as outsiders think. Only the people involved know whether they are really at ease and comfortable.

In his view, objectively, the situation of this generation of young investors is more difficult than the previous wave. Although the times are moving forward, information is more transparent, and there are more opportunities, the VC industry itself is maturing and even contracting in some aspects. The industry's liquidity has decreased, the promotion channels have become narrower, and the functional positioning of young investors in institutions has become more fixed.

Ultimately, there are fewer new institutions emerging. When the market supply exceeds demand and the "seniors" in institutions are still in their prime, the promotion space for newcomers is naturally limited.

More often, young investors are expected to undertake "physical work": you are young and energetic, so you should do more project searches; you can get along well with young entrepreneurs, so you should help build networks and cover more people. As for deeper - level judgment, thinking, and decision - making power, they are rarely really delegated.

This is not a problem of individual institutions but is due to the industry structure. In a mature organization, different levels have clearly defined roles and functions. Unless you make outstanding contributions and can continuously prove yourself, it's hard to stand out. Of course, even if you stand out, there may not be a promotion opportunity. Personnel changes in any system always require comprehensive consideration. Additionally, VC is a highly mobile industry, and institutions are also worried that once they invest a lot of resources in training young people, they may leave after becoming mature.

In such an atmosphere, Weituo believes that an implicit consensus has gradually formed: research and thinking no longer seem to be the most crucial abilities. The more important thing is to "see and find first." Networking is the tool to achieve this. A social network means getting access to project sources earlier. A few people will screen and package them, and then hand them over to more senior partners for the final judgment. For many young investors, this is the reality they are trying to break through but are frequently restricted.

When Weituo entered the industry, he wrote an article comparing the primary market to a game, and the biggest bug in it is: "no newbie guide."

"Most of the time, you need to explore on your own. The whole industry only has the tradition of apprenticeship. No one will tell you the standard answer because there is simply no standard answer... I think choosing one's career is also an investment in oneself. One must find one's most valuable strength and choose a career that can best utilize this strength."

But isn't this the case in every industry?

Through continuous exploration, one can gain the most real experience and gradually accumulate an understanding of the investment industry. When Lin Wen first started working in VC, he was particularly easily attracted by "whether the project is good." As long as he thought the thing itself was interesting, he would strongly want to promote it. He later realized that eager - to - learn young people are more likely to be led by the "project" when doing investment. Because "smart people" are used to pondering the project itself, and the project can be continuously disassembled, verified, and get feedback, so people are easily immersed in it.

For example, he invested in an overseas startup, thinking that the project was "excellent." However, three or four months later, the founder chose to abandon the original direction. At that moment, he felt a strong negative feedback for the first time: if the founder no longer pursues this project, the future of this project has little to do with him. He didn't invest "because of the person" but "because of the thing." Now that the thing has changed, his judgment has also become invalid. He considered it a failed decision.

From the end of 2024 to the end of 2025, Lin Wen participated in investing in nearly ten projects with a total investment of nearly ten million US dollars. In his opinion, when seriously doing investment, one must clearly know what one is betting on in each project - is it the project or the person? If the reason for the final success has nothing to do with the initial judgment, in his view, it can't be considered a real success.

The Disenchanted Generation

Master Dong sighed some time ago that when young people entered the industry, they used to want to be like Xiong Xiaoge, Shen Nanpeng, or Zhang Lei. Later, it became Cao Yi or Cao Xi. But what about later? Do the new generation just want to become a subset of the older generation after making it?

None of these post - 00s clearly mentioned who their idols are.

Lin Wen said that he doesn't have a clear role model in this industry for now. Instead of imitating an existing path, he prefers to focus on the ongoing projects. When encountering difficult - to - judge problems, he will consult the partners within the institution.

In his view, what sustains a person to keep going may not be a specific role model. The important thing is to confirm the direction - knowing what one wants and being clear about whether one is still on the right track. For him, this self - consistency itself has already formed a spiritual support.

A similar experience of "finding role models around" also happened to Jianing. She mentioned a friend who is a few years older than her. This friend worked in VC in the United States earlier and later founded his own fund. For her, an idol doesn't have to be an unattainable successful model.