From VC-Backed to the VC Side: Making the Career Change from In-House Tech to Venture Capital

I have spent my career in in-house roles, working within venture-backed technology companies. Through this experience, I have had firsthand exposure to how venture capital firms operate, structure deals, evaluate investments, and engage within the industry. This has always left me wondering: What would shifting to the other side be like?

Recently, I made a more deliberate effort to evaluate what moving from an in-house People & Talent Executive role to a portfolio-facing Talent Partner in venture capital would entail. I’m interested because I could have a broader impact by working across multiple companies, and gain insight into how capital is allocated. While I once considered myself an in-house person indefinitely, my own personal shift into consulting has fundamentally reshaped my perspective on what a fulfilling career might look like.

To determine the viability and fit of this potential career change, I embarked on a research path, speaking with people who had made a similar transition. These individuals ranged from industry veterans with a decade or more at firms to those just a few months in. Some had already returned back in-house, while others were thriving in their second firm. Some were contacts I already knew, while others were generous enough to share their experiences after a cold outreach on LinkedIn. After speaking with over a dozen leaders, I identified key themes that repeatedly surfaced in my conversations. If you are considering the same move from an operational in-house role, use these insights as part of your decision-making framework. And if you aren’t, this article will provide a glimpse into the fundamental differences between the two worlds.

Opportunity Path

Every person I spoke with emphasized the power of networking. None had applied to a posted job. Instead, they were hired through pocket roles — unlisted, unofficial future positions reserved for strategic, high-value talent. Their networks exclusively drove their entry into venture: former founders turned partners, former investors reaching out for advice, and part-time advisory roles evolving into full-time career shifts. This reinforces a hard truth: the highest-visibility roles won’t appear on your LinkedIn feed. Instead, opportunities come through the relationships you cultivate over time and the depth of your network. Similarly, you need a network to do this role. So much of it is about who you know, connecting people, and being a bridge.

Role Design

The Talent Partner role in venture capital varies widely. Each person I spoke with fit into one (or a combination) of the following categories:

• Internal People & Talent Partner — Focuses on recruiting and people operations within the firm.
• Executive Recruiting — Matches portfolio companies with executive candidates and advises on external search firms.
• People Executive Advisory — Provides on-demand guidance to founders on hiring, executive transitions, and leadership challenges.
• Recruiting Services — Works as part of a team that provides hands-on recruiting support for portfolio companies.
• Investment Review — Collaborates with the investment team to assess founding teams during diligence.

Not every Talent Partner is fully portfolio-facing. Some split between internal responsibilities and portfolio work (e.g., 30% internal, 70% portfolio). This distinction is critical when evaluating roles, as balancing internal firm hiring, GP requests, performance reviews, and executive searches for portfolio companies can be complex. Many Talent Partners I spoke with preferred being strictly portfolio-facing, citing more significant impact and alignment with value creation. Those involved in internal People & Talent functions noted the cultural adjustment required, as VC firms often operate with far less structural sophistication than their tech counterparts.

Going from a Team to a Team of One

Most Talent Partners I spoke with were teams of one — solo operators within their firms. They were no longer managers or part of structured teams. Some thrived on this autonomy, appreciating the ability to focus entirely on their impact. Others found it isolating and emphasized the importance of building a community of fellow Talent Partners to counteract that.

Career Shift

Transitioning from an in-house operator to a Talent Partner is not just a job change — it’s a career shift. The work is fundamentally different, and the learning curve is steep. Even the language used can be different from start-ups as you start to learn a new vocabulary. The pace and timeline are adjusted as well. In your previous life, you were accustomed to big pushes before a product launch; now, it’s about the push to close a deal. Many emphasized that their day-to-day was unrecognizable from their previous roles, requiring an entirely new approach to operations and success metrics.

Mindset Change

Going from operator to advisor, and builder to observer. It’s a mentality change that requires a degree of detachment and removal of control over outcomes. Former consultants/headhunters positioned this as a more familiar headspace to tap into. For those freshly coming from in-house roles, it takes a minute to reorient your brain and the desire to get in and fix it yourself. You have to start being comfortable with offering advice and not hearing back for a while to know if it helped or not vs. the gratification of advising a leader or colleague and seeing the impact play out in real-time.

Firm Culture

As in any industry, every VC firm has a distinct culture. On one end of the spectrum, some firms mirror traditional finance — hierarchical, formal, and composed of Ivy League MBAs and former bankers. Conversely, some firms operate more like startups, led by former founders with a casual, collaborative ethos. A significant learning for many was that VC firms do not always mirror the cultures of the startups they invest in. When evaluating potential firms, understanding what environment aligns with your working style is critical.

Role of Talent in VC

The function of Talent varies dramatically across firms. At some, Talent Partners are valued as critical contributors to portfolio success, while at others, the investment team is prioritized, with Talent considered a secondary function. If you are coming from a startup where People and Talent are central to business strategy, this can be a difficult adjustment. It’s imperative to know where you stand and what value you want at the firm, and to identify one that aligns with that.

Managing Multiple Stakeholders

In venture, you no longer have a singular company focus — you are responsible for supporting multiple partners and their respective portfolios. Some Talent Partners oversee relationships with 200+ companies. Managing competing priorities across stakeholders requires strong relationship-building and adaptability. You need to know each partner’s priorities and the companies that are most valuable to them intimately, and you need to dedicate your time accordingly.

Measuring Success

Success in startups is often tied to clear business metrics — team growth, retention, and performance. In venture, success is more ambiguous. Many Talent Partners described their work as “gray” regarding measurable impact. Some firms track candidate introductions and hires, while others gauge effectiveness through anecdotal feedback from founders. The lack of immediate validation can be a significant shift for those used to seeing startups hit major milestones and being embedded in their success.

Proactive vs. Reactive Work

In a startup, the fast-paced nature of operations defines much of your work. In venture, you have greater autonomy but must proactively shape your role — curating priorities, setting your schedule, and driving your impact. The amorphous structure can be liberating for those tied down by the constant slog of too much work and too few resources. Conversely, it requires discipline to understand precisely what is worth your energy and time and what direction you want to take in your role.

Work-Life Balance

A near-universal theme: Talent Partners at venture firms report significantly improved work-life balance compared to their in-house lives. Many cited the ability to be present for family and personal commitments while maintaining meaningful career impact. Part of the shift was attributed to the change in the business/company lifecycle. Life at start-ups can be measured in quarters, whereas life at VC firms is measured in years. While the work/life balance appeared to be the case with those I spoke to, there are notable firms in the industry where this is not the case at all.

Firm Viability

A common part of our conversation about firm identification was understanding what firms could support having a Talent Partner. The recurring magic number was $1B AUM. Venture firms take 1–2% in management fees of assets under management annually. Management fees pay for the firm’s operating costs, such as salaries, legal costs, etc. Firms with over $20M/year in operating capital typically start to tip the curve for their ability to afford a Talent Partner.

Compensation

Venture compensation follows a different structure than technology industry compensation. On the VC side, your compensation as a Talent Partner is typically relative to two primary factors: firm size (assets under management) and seniority at the firm. VC firms position roles for Talent Partners at various levels. Most of the folks I spoke to were making annual salaries of $300k-$450k; however, salaries can go north of $750k for tenured, senior Talent Partners at large firms with a significant amount of AUM. Most Talent Partners I spoke with received carry (profit sharing from fund investments) from day one and had either the option or requirement to co-invest alongside the firm.

** Note: this compensation data does not apply to talent partners who are recruiters at the associate/senior associate level. The compensation applies to people who are at the executive level in their careers.

Well, what’s next for me?

Some of the best advice I received for my own journey (shoutout to Blake Hackett, former Talent Partner at Sequoia) was to start by working with smaller, operator-driven firms. These firms, often composed of entrepreneurial investors who have built companies, align closely with my background and interests. I’ll be focusing my efforts on identifying a smaller firm where I can assist part-time with their portfolio.

For now, I continue to balance part-time in-house work and fractional consulting. But after speaking with so many experienced Talent Partners, I now have a much clearer understanding of what the shift entails — and whether it’s the right move for me.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared their insights — you have been instrumental in shaping my perspective (and helping whoever reads this!)