Sanin Mody ’11Journal #1
This summer I am interning at SJF Ventures, a Venture Capital group focused on sustainable investing, that has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Durham. As a venture fund, SJF Ventures focuses on cleantech, business, and web-enhanced services, and the premium consumer products sectors. Its focused investment areas include renewable energy and efficiency, recycling, grid and infrastructure technologies, organic and healthy consumer products, digital media and marketing services, and out-sourced business services.
I am excited to pair my investing experience and skills developed at Columbia Business School, and my past experiences, with the idea of sustainability, and I look forward to seeing how the two seemingly divergent concepts can be combined to do good and make money at the same time. I am the only summer intern in New York at the small, but growing, investment firm this summer and I hope to take advantage of that by immersing myself in as many aspects of the fund’s operations as possible, to receive the most well-rounded experience. Based on my discussion with the principal of the fund, before taking on this opportunity, I am expected to be involved in diligence, opportunity screening, asset management, and fundraising.
This seems like many different tasks to complete during the short summer, but I am ready and excited.
Journal #2
As my summer experience comes to a close, I have to reflect on the many experiences I had during my short time at SJF. SJF stands out from other firms in that its investments also include a sustainability focus; and in evaluating the current investments, it was easy to see why most were made. I was able to learn about several new industries, network with many industry professionals, research potential investment opportunities, and really get to understand the pros and cons of the venture model (of which there are many). It takes serious patience, and a giant rolodex, to acquire any type of funding that is long-term focused. Throughout the experience, I learned how to evaluate companies, about why particular investments were made, and how to evaluate the entrepreneur. Working with Arrun was a treat — since he spent time answering questions: about the industry, entry into the industry, and how his experience had been. Overall it was a great summer opportunity, and I am sure I can leverage this experience going into my career.
