Venture Capital Private Equity Program

Level Up as a Growth-Oriented Investment Manager

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Course Dates

STARTS ON

December 14, 2023

Course Duration

DURATION

9 to 12 Months
Online and In Person

Course Fee

PROGRAM FEE

US$28,000 and get US$1,400 off with a referral US$300 application fee

Course Information Flexible payment available
Course Fee

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Early Registration Benefit

Apply now to secure your place at US$25,500 by . Connect with a learning advisor for more information.

Program Overview

The Venture Capital Private Equity Program from Columbia Business School Executive Education will prepare you to succeed in a dynamically transforming investment arena. In this comprehensive 9- to 12-month program, you will learn how to identify and evaluate what makes a good investment, develop valuation frameworks, structure term sheets, manage portfolios, and learn soft skills such as pitching deals, storytelling with data, and networking. In addition to the core modules and electives, you will engage in a specialized elective that delves into either venture capital (VC) or private equity (PE) as per your career goals.

Columbia Business School alumni have added valuable contributions to the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) sectors, and the school’s location in New York City—the financial hub of the world—provides a close-up demonstrative understanding of the industry. Through this immersive program, taught by Columbia faculty, you will learn to leverage challenges and turn them into positive outcomes.

Program Highlights

Core Curriculum

Kick-start your program journey with 12 weeks of online learning, imparting essential skills for investment management

Weekly Live Sessions

Experience live online sessions with success coaches as well as periodic guest lectures from faculty, industry leaders, and career advisors

World-Renowned Faculty

Learn from Columbia faculty, thought leaders, and industry experts

Specialized Electives

Take a deep dive into understanding leveraged buyouts (LBOs) or VC decision making, depending on your industry or future goals

Capstone Project

Work on a capstone project where you apply program learnings to a real-world case

Peer Learning

Interact with and learn from high-achieving peers from around the globe and build your network

Choice of Electives

Select from topical electives to gain relevant skill sets specific to your role

Success Coach

Craft your learning journey in line with your career goals with a success coach assigned to your cohort

Practitioner Insights

Learn from faculty and industry experts during the program to gain actionable insights and implement learning into practice

Flexible Learning Journey

Customize your program experience by selecting from a range of topical electives and gain skill sets specific to your career goals

Networking Event

Interact with faculty, peers, and global industry leaders at an optional two-day on-campus networking event

Select Alumni Benefits

Receive select Columbia Business School alumni benefits upon completion of the program and become part of a distinguished global community

Program Curriculum

A multimodal learning experience, the Venture Capital Private Equity Program is a must for investment professionals who aim to get a holistic understanding of the VC and PE sectors and become influential contributors to negotiations at their companies. The comprehensive curriculum provides asynchronous learning and live sessions conducted by a learning facilitator and faculty. Participants will also be exposed to a host of engaging online guest lectures and fireside chats with leading industry executives. The flexible format allows for peer-to-peer learning and exploration of “try it” activities as well as practical case studies. The immersive program culminates in a two-day optional on-campus networking event where you can connect with faculty and global peers.
  • Foundations of Venture Capital

    What Is Venture Capital?

    • Understand the VC Deal Flow Process
    • Recognize the Risks and Rewards for Venture Investors
    • Identify Startup Ecosystem Stakeholders
    • Learn How to Source Quality Deal Flow

    What Makes a Good VC Investment?

    • Assess a Founding Team
    • Pressure-Test Founder Assumptions
    • Quantify the Size of a Market
    • Identify Which Metrics Matter Most When Evaluating Startups

    What Matters in a Term Sheet?

    • Understand Financial and Governance Negotiations
    • Differentiate between Priced Equity, Convertible Note, and SAFE Round
    • Calculate Ownership Dilution across the Life of a Startup
    • Understand Market Norms in Term Sheet Negotiations

    How Do You Value a Startup?

    • Understand Different Valuation Methods and Their Purpose in Assessing Startups
    • Create a Valuation Scorecard
    • Quantify and Mitigate Risk
    • Understand the VC Method
    • Learn Market Norms around Valuation

    How Do You Manage a Portfolio?

    • Recognize the Role of Investors Post-Investment
    • Understand Portfolio Construction and Diversification
    • Calculate the Return of a VC Portfolio

    Lessons Learned from 15,000 Pitches

    • Hear from Investors about Lessons Learned
    • Identifying Non-Negotiables and Red Flags When Evaluating Startups
    • Develop a Personal Networking Plan
    • Launch Your VC Career

    Private Equity Investment Cycle

    Private Equity Foundations

    • Define and Discuss PE and Its History
    • Examine Net Income and Cash Flow in Relation to PE
    • Identify PE Stages, Challenges, and Perspectives
    • Study Related Accounting and Calculations Used in PE Valuations
    • Research the Business Case for PE

    What Makes a Good PE Investment?

    • Identify Key Elements and Measures That Make a Good PE Investment
    • Examine the Impact of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) in PE
    • Analyze the Elements and Measures of PE Returns
    • Review PE Research and Evaluate Findings
    • Calculate Potential Return Using Standard Deviation

    How Do You Put the Deal Together?

    • Identify and Define the Main Components of a PE Deal
    • Review the Components of PE Deal Sourcing, Time Management, and Relationships
    • Examine the PE Sales Process
    • List the Differences between Public and Private PE Companies
    • Study the PE Valuation Process and Perform Related Calculations

    How Do You Create Value in PE?

    • Review the Role of Price and Value in a Portfolio Company
    • Define Levers of Value in the PE Cycle
    • Identify Purchase Price Requirements
    • Define Synergies and Their Relationship to PE
    • Perform Calculations to Create Positive PE Investment Decisions

    What Does Success Look Like?

    • Rigorous Investment Thesis: Public and Private Investment
    • Exit Strategies: IPO Sale to Strategic Buyer, Sale PE Buyer
    • Pricing Exiting—Elements of Return
    • Due Diligence Inquiry: Financial, Legal, and Operational
    • Leveraged Buyout

    What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

    • Benefit of Bargain Protections
    • Risk Management Scenarios
    • Deal Documentation
    • Common Merger Agreements

    After completing the foundational models in VC and PE, you can choose between two comprehensive specialized electives, each meticulously crafted for VC and PE, respectively. These electives delve deeper, presenting you with critical insights that go beyond the basics.

    ● VC Decision Making: This elective will help you learn how to create a successful investment strategy to improve venture fund performance. You will establish your individual investment criteria and intelligently diversify your portfolio.

    or

    ● Leveraged Buyouts: This elective will help you build a comprehensive understanding of leveraged buyouts (LBO) and the process of completing them. You will learn how to evaluate a potential LBO opportunity in PE and effectively execute the deal.

  • A relevant choice of online electives will enhance your learning journey and assist in gaining knowledge and skills essential for your career growth. In these two six-week electives, you will dive deep into content that will expand your horizon, provide a global perspective, and sharpen your investment skills. These electives will help channel new growth areas for you to rise up the ladder or pivot your career. The choice of electives includes:

    • Corporate Governance
    • ESG Investing
    • Value Investing 
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • VC Due Diligence 

    Note: Electives are subject to change.

  • A choice of one in-person open-enrollment elective will enable you to focus on a specialization of your interest and help unravel the intricacies of your selected topic. Designed to enhance your understanding of the VC and PE sectors, it will help position you as a serious investment strategist aiming to take your organization to newer heights. A list of select current availabilities is below:

    • Driving Strategic Impact
    • Financial Analysis and Valuation
    • Leading in a Data-Driven World: Developing Quantitative Intuition™
    • Persuasion Strategies
    • Real Estate Investing


    Note: While Columbia Business School Executive Education will attempt to accommodate participant preference selections, we cannot guarantee that all preferences will be granted due to the high demand for our open-enrollment programs. Electives are subject to change.

  • *Meet your cohort peers and faculty in person on the Columbia Business School campus in New York City during an optional two-day recognition ceremony and networking event. This event provides you an opportunity to network with your peers as well as professionals from other cohorts to create a lifelong community of global executives.

    Note: Session topics and networking event duration are subject to change.

Meet the Faculty

Profile picture of professor Donna M. Hitscherich

Donna M. Hitscherich

Senior Lecturer in Discipline in Business Columbia Business School

Donna M. Hitscherich currently serves as a senior lecturer of finance, co-director of the Private Equity Program, and a Bernstein Faculty Leader at the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. Hitscherich's topics include corporate finance, business law, M&A, and advanced corporate finance.

Prior to her present position as a senior lecturer at Columbia, Professor Hitscherich had a career in investment banking, holding positions at CS First Boston, J.P. Morgan & Co., and Banc of America Securities. At J.P. Morgan, she helped found the takeover defense team and served as a senior member of the advisory review committee, which was responsible for all of the M&A fairness opinions issued by the company. As a managing director in the mergers and acquisitions group of Banc of America Securities, she was secretary of the firm’s fairness-opinion review committee and a major contributor to the firm’s training programs for managing directors and associates.

Profile picture of professor Angela Lee

Angela Lee

Professor of Practice, Columbia Business School

Angela Lee is a professor of practice at Columbia Business School, where she teaches venture capital and leadership programs. Lee started her career in product management and moved to consulting at McKinsey. She has launched four startups and is also the founder of 37 Angels — an investing network that has evaluated over 15,000 startups, invested in 70+ startups, and activates new investors through a startup investment boot camp. She also serves as a venture partner at Fresco Capital, an early-stage venture fund that focuses on the future of work, digital health, and sustainable loops.

Lee has spoken at the White House and NASA and is an expert in online teaching and making learning scalable. She is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, and Fox Business. She was recognized by Inc. as one of 17 Inspiring Women to Watch in 2017, Six Innovative Women to Watch in 2015 by Entrepreneur, and Notable Women in Tech in 2019 by Crain’s. In 2020, she was recognized with the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence at Columbia Business School.

Certificate in Business Excellence

Certificate in Business Excellence

Upon completion of the Venture Capital Private Equity Program, participants are awarded the Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia Business School Executive Education. The certificate is a recognition of their achievement and the investment they and their organization have made in their education and development.

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Please note that participants must complete all modules of the program (online, in person or live online, inter-module) to receive the Certificate in Business Excellence.

Select Alumni Benefits

  • Access to Columbia Business School Alumni Career Services resources, including unique career content, a job board, an online networking platform, the alumni directory, and more
  • Invitations to alumni events and programs around the world
  • Eligibility to join Columbia Business School alumni clubs
  • Global networking opportunities
  • A 25 percent tuition benefit for you and up to four colleagues each year for full-price Executive Education in-person programs lasting up to seven days and all full-price online programs
  • Lifetime Columbia Business School forwarding email address
  • Subscription to our alumni publication Columbia Business

Participant Profile

Ideal candidates for the Venture Capital Private Equity Program are professionals who have recently embarked on their journey in private investing and are eager to take significant strides in the VC and PE sectors. The program is beneficial for executives in investment banking, finance, private equity, venture capital, financial consulting, risk advisory, etc., who aim to gain a holistic understanding of sourcing, managing, and structuring deals. You will emerge with the knowledge and practical experience needed to elevate your career and accelerate your firm’s impact.

Participants should have:

  • Fluency in written and spoken English
  • International exposure (preferred)

Hear from a Past Program Participant

“The instructors were the best part because they effectively communicated the content, shared real-world insights, and juxtaposed theoretical concepts with industry trends.”

— Michael Cheng, Startup CEO and Fund Manager

Application Details

Round 1

Deadline: October 5, 2023
Application fee: US$300

Round 2

Deadline: November 2, 2023
Application fee: US$300

Round 3

Deadline: November 30, 2023
Application fee: US$300

The program fee covers teaching fees, all academic material, and access to online coursework. The fee does not include accommodations for the two-day annual in-person reunion and networking event, travel expenses (domestic, international, visa fee, and more), and other expenses not specifically mentioned in the program fee.

Questions? Connect with a Learning Advisor.

Email: columbia_vcpe@emeritus.org

Phone: +1 567 587 1669 (U.S.) / +44 1156 471398 (U.K.) / +971 80 00321209 (U.A.E.) / +52 55930 20507 (LATAM)

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Flexible payment options available. Learn more.