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Ryan Rogers is now a director at California-based airline Surf Air, but is still VC at heart. She was formerly an associate at LA-based Velos Partners, a role that came about when she met the Velos founders at a dinner party. Here's what she has learned from constantly meeting new entrepreneurs and learning about exciting companies (like Surf Air) throughout her time as a VC:
WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER PATH? HOW DID YOU BECOME A VC?
I was introduced to the VC world during college. The summer after my freshman year I interned at Idealab, a Pasadena based incubator, and during my junior and senior years I completed a program on the entrepreneurial management of technology ventures, Stanford’s Mayfield Fellowship.
After graduating, however, I joined Goldman Sachs as an Investment Banking Analyst. I surprised myself by choosing to go to Goldman. In college I was intensely focused on one discipline (environmental challenges) and was inclined to look at clean tech and early stage companies. My thinking evolved that start-ups were random in their training and experience. I wanted to go somewhere right out of college that would train me to do some discipline to a world-class standard. Goldman clearly fit that bill, and I am elated that I made the choice to go there.
While at Goldman I met Raj and James, the two soon-to-be founding partners of Velos Partners, at a dinner party. We hit it off and I moved to LA a few months later to join them.
WHY ARE YOU TRANSITIONING FROM WORKING AT VELOS PARTNERS TO SURF AIR? WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING AT SURF AIR?
Velos Partners led Surf Air’s Series B and took a board seat. Subsequently, I had the opportunity to work closely with Surf Air. I had always planned to join an operating company at some point, and I’ve been interested in the transportation sector for quite a while. As I got to know Surf, I was amazed by what the team had accomplished to date and the opportunity going forward. I wanted to directly be involved in helping it grow. I’m extremely excited to be joining the team.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
My first “job” was cleaning fish tanks at the Santa Monica Bay Aquarium in middle school. I volunteered there on weekends and during the summer. I loved it.
YOU WERE WITH VELOS PARTNERS BEFORE FUND FORMATION. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST LESSON FROM THAT PROCESS?
I think one of the biggest lessons for me was that almost nothing needs to be done completely from scratch. Someone usually has come across the same problem before, and it’s amazing what resources are available when you look. I’ve found that leveraging peers is one of the best ways to access those resources.
Early on at Velos, I organized a group of some of the other associates in LA. Most of us were from small (i.e., one associate) or new funds in town. We met monthly to discuss various topics related to our jobs and served as resources for each other in between meetings – asking one off questions or finding data related to due diligence on a company. We still meet regularly even though two of us are now on the operating side. The group has been enormously valuable and I have made great friends from it.
WHAT'S THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU'VE RECEIVED?
My dad always told me that early on in my career I should prioritize roles that would teach me what I wanted to learn, rather than focusing on the ideal sector or the highest remuneration. He helped me to make lists of skills I wanted to obtain and strategize on how I could go about obtaining those skills. I believe this was hugely valuable advice.
