QB3 Berkeley / Education / QB3-Berkeley Graduate and Postdoc Career Development / Career Development Resources / Finance and Venture Capital

Finance and Venture Capital

A green trendline on a graph of time versus price.

The Career Field Resource pages describe the more common fields that employ scientists with advanced training, with a short list of websites that will help you understand the field. Each section has:

  • at least one or two articles to provide an overview of the field or career paths;
  • resources specific to Berkeley (access to opportunities you can pursue while a student or postdoc);
  • more general sources of information including professional associations, sites with industry news and career advice, and fellowship/job listings. 

Finance

While the financial industries encompass a huge range of companies and professional roles, generally STEM PhDs tend towards: careers in venture capital firms that fund science or tech-related start-ups; work in financial modeling (as quantitative analyst roles) or industry-specific equity research.

Berkeley Resources

  • Berkeley Career Engagement– Attend information sessions, career fairs (such as Investment Banking Forum), and networking nights with financial services and venture capital employers – find out about opportunities through Handshake. Use the Vault Guides within Handshake (look under the “Resources” tab) to learn about different career paths, companies, and industries.
  • Venture capital groups targeting Berkeley inventors, or made up of Berkeley students – Dorm Room Fund, The House
  • See also resources for entrepreneurship 
  • Seth Lieblich, PhD, Principal, 8VC provided an interview with QB3-Berkeley in 2022. Seth’s career has touched on multiple aspects of the biotech entrepreneurship ecosystem, including his current role in venture capital. Read about his path and perspectives here.
  • Andy Hsieh, PhD, biotechnology analyst at William Blair and Berkeley alum provided an interview with QB3-Berkeley in 2023.   

General Resources