Breaking into Venture Capital: A Candid Q&A with Ashoka Alumna Dravisha Katoch

New-age venture capital (VC) firms are reshaping the industry by prioritising diversity and building multidisciplinary teams. In this candid conversation, Ashoka alumna Dravisha Katoch (UG ’22) shares her journey into venture capital and why VC today is more accessible than ever for individuals from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. Dravisha reflects on the skills that truly matter and how students can start building them early.

1. How did your journey into Venture Capital (VC)  begin? What were the key moments or transitions that led you here?

My journey into Venture Capital (VC) was pretty accidental, though it was always on my career radar. I’d consciously planned to work as a startup founder and an operator first before transitioning to VC eventually. But when I saw Antler as one of the first VCs in India to hire for a community role in 2023, I thought – why not give it a shot!

I’d never done community work before, but that role evolved into scouting, and through that experience, I became confident about pursuing VC full-time. What really drew me in was the ability to do everything end-to-end. Instead of just scouting great founders and building community, I wanted to continue the journey with them —take them to the investment committee, work with them as portfolio companies. That continuity, and to partner and work with amazing founders, is incredibly fulfilling.

What also motivated me was Antler’s team composition – unlike most VCs, we’re full of ex-startup founders and operators. And as someone who’d been a public market investor since I was 18, I was also curious to learn private market investing. All of that made the transition feel right.

2. What advice would you give to students trying to break into VC without a traditional finance or startup background?

I actually did my major in computer science with a minor in entrepreneurship, so I don’t come from traditional finance either. What helped me was having a strong tech foundation – understanding how technology is being shaped today, especially AI. If you’re breaking into VC, some level of tech literacy or AI knowledge gives you an edge.

But honestly, the biggest differentiator is network. Your credibility comes from your networkand the work you’ve done.I started building mine in college by spending weekends meeting new people in the startup ecosystem. Today, a VC’s moat isn’t just investment analysis – it’s distribution and sharp POVs/knowledge. Do you know the right founders? Can you source deal flow? If you have the network and demonstrate strong perspectives, VCs will want you because knowledge can be built.

The traditional route earlier was consulting/finance → VC, but that’s not the only path anymore. If you know the right founders and can bring them to the table, you’re already valuable.

3. What does a day in your life at Antler look like? How do you balance sourcing, supporting founders, and community-building through Before Day Zero?

I’m lucky that my colleague Anshul now leads Before Day Zero as our marketing director, but scouting and community-building never really stop for an investor. Every VC needs to be out there, building the right network and sourcing the best founders as early as possible.

My day usually splits across three main areas:

• Working with consumer & AI portfolio founders
• Speaking to new founders and VCs 
• Sharpening my knowledge and thesis – I spend almost half my day, if I don’t have calls, just researching, reading, and writing

There are also internal strategy calls, but those are more miscellaneous. The core is founder engagement, deal flow, and continuous learning.

4. What’s one myth about Venture Capital that you wish more students knew wasn’t true?

The myth that getting into VC requires an MBA or a consulting/finance/legal background. That’s outdated.

If you have the right network, and you’ve spent time helping founders – even just a few – it’s quite accessible. I don’t come from a legal background, for example, but I picked up term sheets, exits, and legal basics on the go. You need to demonstrate strength in at least one of four areas to get your foot in the door as an analyst: founder sourcing, founder experience and support (portfolio and general interactions), knowledge, and deal/idea assessment. Anyone from any background can break into VC today if they’re willing to learn and add value.

VC isn’t a cartel anymore. The barriers are lower than people think.

5. You work at the 0→1 stage – what qualities do you think aspiring VCs must build to thrive in early-stage investing?

Two things: the right network and the right knowledge.

There’s so much content and noise out there, but building a sharp, unique POV in the ecosystem helps you surface in front of the right founders and investors. You need to stand out – not just consume information, but form perspectives and share them.

Early-stage investing is about pattern recognition, but also intuition about people and ideas. The more you engage with founders at the earliest stages, the better you get at identifying what works. For example, I started a Students of LinkedIn community in Delhi during college just to network – bringing students for brunches in a small group of 10 every weekend helped them walk away with immense value, and today I know I can bank on these connections any time of the day. 

6. Any underrated skills or experiences (like community-building, writing, or niche knowledge) that give an edge in venture roles?

Writing is massively underrated. I was shy about it early in my career – worried about judgment, not being the “best” writer. But today, we have AI to speed up research and help structure thoughts. You don’t need to copy-paste generic market thesis — use AI to sharpen your knowledge, build a POV, then publish on LinkedIn or run a Substack.

Pick something you’re passionate about – maybe why gaming is underrated in India, or what the next big value pools are and write about it. This is the easiest way to stand out.

The other underrated skill is giving before asking. Don’t just attend events – reach out to top founders you admire and ask where you can help. Prepare a one-pager on how you can add value: hiring, marketing, improving their copy, whatever your strength is. Coffee chat with them. Help them. This is the easiest way to land on the good side of a founder and get referrals to VCs.

Also, scout student founders (do the job before you get hired). Most of the money in student founders today is flowing in deep tech – you can source the best deep-tech student founders, do your own due diligence, and send a polished memo to VCs – you’ve made their lives easier. That’s how you stand out and land a VC role.

Dravisha Katoch is an Ashoka Alumna from Undergraduatebatch of 2022. At Ashoka, she majored in Computer Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She currently works at Antler India, where she supports founders from idea inception while building beforedayzero. in and explores consumer tech investments.