Evan Carmichael sold his software company and joined a Toronto VC firm, where he learned to raise capital, evaluate pitches, and build networks. He argues the VC role made him a sharper entrepreneur and angel investor, though he eventually left to follow his passion back to building his own company.
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Does being a VC make you a better entrepreneur? So I got a great question from one of my YouTube viewers, Kevin. Love you guys. And he wrote in to say, would you say getting into a VC would help you gain skills that would make you a better business owner and/or angel investor? So VC here is venture capitalist. And I would respond to that, absolutely. So when I, when I sold my software company, I didn't know what I was going to do next. I wish I could say I had this clear plan. Here's my next steps. Here's where I'm going. I had no idea, and I was, I was frustrated and scared. I was kind of looking for my next passion project to jump into, and I think we all go through these periods in our lives where we're not sure what we want to do next, right? And the way to get through that isn't to force ideas on yourself and force projects on yourself. But to explore. See what things are interesting for you and just start to explore and see if you like it or not. So I tried a whole bunch of stuff. I tried rock climbing, I tried salsa dancing, I tried getting into venture capital firm just to see. You know, not having expectations, just to see what I like. The reason for getting into venture capital was with my business, we never needed venture capital. We came close, we thought about it, we had potential opportunities, but we never actually got funding for our business. Our business got acquired before we went for funding. So it was always one of those things that I was kind of interested in to see what it was like. And because I didn't have a business idea for what to do next, I thought maybe I'll just learn about the VC world and raising capital and see what it's like and see if I enjoy it. It could have been something that I tried for a week and hated it. I was fortunate enough to hook up with a company in Toronto where the main partners were all in their 60s or 70s. They had a whole ton of experience and they needed help bringing in new people. New businesses. If they could get the businesses, they knew where to go for the funding. So my role was to come in and help them find new businesses. I had friends who were growing their companies who needed advice, who needed expansion capital, so it seemed like a good fit. And along the way, I learned not just about how to raise capital, which was great, right? You see entrepreneurs come in and they're getting asked questions by the main partners at my firm. And I didn't know the answers to those questions, so I had to think about it too. I thought, well, for my next venture, if I have any capital, now I have it all figured out. And it was also great to see how these businesses presented themselves, how they grew to where they were, right? So part of my job was screening business plans, and like 99.5% of the plans that came in got rejected. And so I got to to learn quickly what the difference was between a great plan and all the others. So I knew if I was writing a business plan, how to make it great. When they came in and they presented, I got to see how they presented, I got to see what their story was, I got to see who was on their team, how they built their companies, and all that was being soaked up. So I knew if I launched a new company, I could take all that knowledge with me. I got to see how companies grew so quickly. And what made them so successful. And I gained great contacts through it as well. And again, I could use all that. I didn't know— there was no great plan, but I was just learning. I was enjoying the learning process. I was there for maybe 2 years, just under 2 years, and through that process started working on my own website and didn't know if it would be a business or what would happen, but it just started to take off and I felt like I had learned what I needed to learn from the venture capital business and decided I'm gonna leave that, I'm gonna do my own thing off of evancarmichael.com and that group. You'll find with things in your life that some things you'll love for a little bit, some things you'll love for a long time, and that's okay. You know, the VC world I loved for a little bit, and then my passion fell. I felt like I had learned what I needed to learn and I wasn't excited by it anymore. That's the time to leave and go do something else. Where too many people feel like, oh well, I've gained these skills, I'm really good at this, so even though I'm not that interested in it, I'm gonna keep going because it's a good career path for me, or I can make a lot of money doing it. If you're not excited by it anymore, you have to move on and do something else. And entrepreneurship was really what was exciting me, and my website and helping other business owners really excited me. And still does today. It's— I still love it today. It's been 12 years. I don't know how long it's been. I still love it. It's still great for me. If I ever lose my interest for helping entrepreneurs, then I'll go do something else. But you always have to follow your passion. That's what got me into the VC world. It definitely made me a better entrepreneur. It definitely made me a better angel investor. But again, you know, go into it if you're feeling like you love it and you feel like you want to learn about it. And the moment that that passion stops, then go find something else. And it's okay not to know where you're gonna go, but you know that you're on the path. And if you continue searching, you're gonna find something you love and can hopefully build a massively successful and rewarding and fulfilling business around. Believe. For those of you watching, like the video, please give it a thumbs up below. You have a question or comment, leave it below and I can make a video response for you. And click on my face to subscribe to the channel. Thank you guys for watching so much, and I'll see you soon.
