Frequently asked.
Honestly answered.

No. Many participants come from consulting, tech, or research. We'll teach you both the fundamentals and the advanced concepts.

Not at all. Many of our participants are experienced angel investors, family office leads, or fund managers looking to sharpen their edge, build a stronger track record, better manage their portfolio, and drive real liquidation opportunities.

We offer part-time and full-time options. All live sessions are recorded, and most of our professionals manage it alongside their work. Often they end up with more time because they know what they are doing.

Yes. Many join virtually from around the world. We run a hybrid format with hubs in Munich, San Francisco, and Hong Kong.

No. It's an investment apprenticeship inside a real VC fund with real capital, real deals, and peer collaboration.

We run our live sessions on California time, which means evenings in Europe. Key times to block are typically 6-9 PM CET, Monday through Thursday. All sessions are recorded.

Both work. VU can be done remotely or in person in San Francisco, Munich, and Hong Kong. Each cohort opens with an in-person welcome dinner and closes with a graduation dinner and trip.

We seek individuals with intellectual curiosity, a passion for innovation, contrarian and dynamic thinking, commitment to transformative ventures, resilience, a sustainable competitive advantage, creative and entrepreneurial execution, scalability and resourcefulness, market insight, and a track record of problem-solving.

Book a call with a partner. We review every application personally and respond within 48 hours.

The full-year experience is €40,000 ($45,000 / CHF 37,500) for 12 months (4 cohorts), our most cost-effective option. You can also join one cohort at a time, starting at €18,500 ($20,000 / CHF 17,500). Most participants choose the full-year path to maximize their track record and save €10,000 in tuition. If you're a strong fit but tuition is a concern, talk to us. Partial scholarships and payment plans may be available.

Cohort members equally share in the financial upside across the opportunities their cohort selects to invest in during each quarter. The agreement is given in exchange for your active participation in the Investment Apprenticeship: sourcing, diligence, partner meetings, IC and securing allocations. Its future value is tied to the performance of those deals and may be worth none, some, all, or more than your tuition. VU targets venture opportunities returning ~10-100x and real estate opportunities returning ~1.5-4x. No additional capital is required.

Yes, if you're an accredited investor. There is no management fee and no carried interest on personal investments made into your cohort's selected deals.

Yes, in select cases. If you're a strong fit but tuition is a concern, talk to us. Partial scholarships and payment plans may be available.

It's an 11-week program: Week 1 is the VC Masterclass, followed by a 10-week Investment Apprenticeship inside VU Venture Partners. You can join for 1, 2 or 4 quarters (~3, 6 or 12 months), participating in up to 7 investments per quarter (up to 28 over a year).

Monday: Weekly Partner Meeting (present your top deals). Wednesday: Management Meeting with the GPs (deal flow feedback). Thursday/Friday: Vertical team meeting (decide what gets pitched). Plus Advanced Modules and twice-weekly Fireside Chats.

Yes. You join a vertical investment team, run diligence, speak with founders and customers, present at Partner Meetings, and participate on the Investment Committee with real votes on real deals.

You'll access and contribute to a pipeline of ~5,000 startups per quarter across Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech & PropTech, Frontier, and Healthcare, from seed through growth stage.

Analyst, Associate, Principal, or Venture Partner (the latter for angels, emerging fund managers, and individuals targeting a Partner role at a VC fund).

Three, all issued via Credly: (1) Executive Education in the VC Masterclass, (2) Executive Education in the Advanced VC Modules, and (3) Venture Capital Investment Experience via the Investment Apprenticeship.

40 hours across ~100 core topics: VC/PE history and players, fund thesis, structure, strategy and economics, deal sourcing and diligence, financings and valuation, portfolio management, exits, legal aspects, launching a syndicate or fund, emerging trends, case studies, and the qualitative edge of seeing breakthroughs others miss.

Investment thesis and market sizing, levels of diligence, financial modeling, the three statements, venture financings (with Wilson Sonsini), term sheets, valuation and waterfall analysis, M&A, secondaries, LP fund decks and fund modeling, syndicate and fund administration, pitching LPs, boards, closing the deal, corporate VC, PE real estate, and more.

Yes. VU alumni have joined top-tier funds, launched their own syndicates, and built powerful investment networks.

Participate in 7-28 investments depending on how many quarters you do, each targeting a 10x+ return, co-investing with top-tier investors. You'll have a verifiable track record LPs and funds take seriously.

Join the global VU Alumni Investor Community of 1,000+ venture investors worldwide. Access deal flow, co-invest opportunities, private events, career coaching and positioning, and ongoing GP mentorship.

The GPs bring 50+ years of VC/PE experience, $2B+ deployed, and 4x+ net cash returns as early investors in 25+ unicorns including Beyond Meat, Facebook, Uber, OpenAI, SpaceX, Twitter, Venmo, Oculus, Palantir and more.