Why Initialized Capital: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Initialized Capital Overview

Initialized Capital is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco and New York that specializes in early-stage investments – primarily software startups at seed stage or earlier.

Initialized Capital was founded by Garry Tan, Alexis Ohanian, and Harjeet Taggar in 2011. Garry Tan was part of Forbes Midas List from 2018 to 2022.

The firm is one of the early investors in Instacart, Coinbase, Opendoor, Rippling, Cruise, and many more. They have over 175 active portfolio companies with $200+ billion total company value.

Before providing support, Initialized Capital has a set of questions that revolve around a startup’s product, market, and team. 

Initialized Capital AUM

According to the firm’s official website, Initialized Capital has over $3.2 billion in assets under management.

Initialized Capital Interview Process & Questions

Firms can make modifications in their interview process for each candidate. However, when you interview at Initialized Capital (or similar firms), you can expect the following:

• Around 4-6 rounds of interviews
• Junior investment professionals supervise the initial rounds, while the senior staff handle the later phase of the interview.
• The whole process can take multiple weeks – unless it’s an on-cycle or on-campus recruiting

Interviews at Initialized Capital will be a mixture of a set of questions: fit, behavioral, and technical / investing.

Need help preparing for interviews? My Growth Equity Interview Guide is right for you.

Why Initialized Capital

The most common question you’ll receive during interviews is “Why this firm”.

If you’ve done networking prior to your interviews, this is your chance to mention whoever you’ve met and how they’ve positively influenced your decision to apply at their firm.

Also, I would recommend learning more about the firm. A great way to do this is to listen to interviews with its founders, investors, and employees.

For starters, here’s Garry Tan, Initialized Capital founder, with managing partners Jen Wolf and Brett Gibson on the venture stage at Web Summit 2022:

More Interviews

• Garry Tan  discusses the volatility of cryptocurrencies at Bloomberg Technology
• Discussion between Garry Tan of Initialized and Parker Conrad of Rippling

Initialized Capital Case Study

Case studies almost always show up during interviews at firms like Initialized Capital. The reason is firms use case studies to evaluate each candidate’s technical and communication skills – both crucial to investor’s success.

Most case studies revolve around investment recommendations and financial modeling. But for junior roles, cold calling case study may also be required.

For case study preparation, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Initialized Capital Salary & Compensation

According to Glassdoor, Initialized Capital offers median total pay of $108K and $89K to their portfolio analysts and associates, respectively. Figures may vary depending on various factors such as location, experience, and education.

Portfolio Analyst

Associate

Initialized Capital Careers, Jobs, & Internships

To see the most recent open roles at Initialized Capital, visit our job board which features promising opportunities for them and other growth / VC firms.

Initialized Capital Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Initialized Capital has made 521 investments and manages eight funds. Some of their notable deals include Clairity Technology, Stellar Sleep, and Coordinate.

Notable Transaction: Picogrid

Picogrid is a company which builds a unified platform for autonomous systems. They help connect cameras, sensors, and unmanned systems using their defense tech softwares.

Since inception, Picogrid has already won several federal contracts, including one from the Pentagon worth $1 billion.

Currently, Picogrid’s tech is being used in the ongoing military operations across the US and in the front lines of Ukraine.

With Picogrid’s technology, the defense system will be more connected, efficient, and smarter.

In March 2024, Picogrid secured a $12 million funding from a Seed Round led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Domino Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Credo Ventures, and Starburst Ventures.

The investment helps Picogrid to accelerate their product development, open their second factory in Oklahoma, and build partnerships within the defense sector.

Next Steps

Initialized Capital is an excellent firm to build your career in finance. If you want to be part of their team, you have to stand out during your interviews.

For that, I would recommend my Growth Equity Interview Guide which is a self-paced online course designed to teach you the critical topics such as case study, financial modeling, and many more.

Check it out and start learning today!