Beta Cohort

Venture Fluent is a live, online, cohort-based course that demystifies the jargon, and lingo of venture capital. 

Jorge M. Torres

Lecturer at Yale University

Venture Fluent

Learn the terms, frameworks, and mindsets used by the best VCs in this live course so you can begin investing in startups created by high-potential entrepreneurs.

Get fluent in the language of venture capital.

You've had professional success and want to start angel investing, create your own fund, or find a role in the VC industry.

You've studied VC on your own but crave the community of peers who can support you as you accelerate your learning.

You're ready to create a go-to-market plan for finding and supporting the world's best entrepreneurs.

Who is this course for?

Student Outcomes

Successful venture capital investors use the right language to appeal to entrepreneurs, engage with co-investors, and find new opportunities. You'll emerge from the course not only knowing the lingo but also how to use it to advance your professional goals.

Deconstruct the lingo of investing in early-stage innovative businesses.

With my guidance, you'll create an investment thesis and write an investment memo. Together, they will form a portfolio that demonstrates how you think about startups and your talent for identifying the ones that have the most potential to deliver outsize investment returns.

Create a body of work that you'll use to demonstrate your investing acumen. 

You'll be in conversation with VC investors who have successfully traveled the road you're on. We'll cultivate a high-trust classroom environment that encourages them to share insights they don't share anywhere else — insights you'll start using right away.

Deploy insights gleaned from experienced investors.

By learning with your cohort, you will complete the course along with peers who share your objectives. They will serve as future thought partners, co-investors, and industry friends for the life of your investing practice.

Collaborate with peers who will serve as a life-long support network.

Topics: Course norms and expectations; fund structures, corporate forms and their interrelationships; investment thesis construction and strategy of the firm.

June 28 (Wednesday): Orientation; VC Industry Landscape; Thesis-Driven Investing

Topics: Finding deals; identifying high-potential entrepreneurs; psychology of high-impact founding teams.

July 12 (Wednesday): Talent & Originating Deals

Topics: Fiduciary duties; differentiating risk; frameworks for underwriting transactions.

July 19 (Wednesday): Stewardship & Due Diligence

Topics: Equity vs. debt; key economic and control terms; driving alignment with entrepreneurs.

OPTIONAL BONUS SESSION — July 22 (Saturday): Early-Stage Venture Capital Transactions

Topics: Taxonomy of limited partners (LPs); motivations and objectives of LPs and how they underwrite investments in venture funds; characteristics of VC managers who generate outsize returns; building strong working relationships with LPs.

July 26 (Wednesday): The Limited Partner Perspective

Topics: Fund entrepreneurship; navigating professional networks; student presentations; next steps and the Venture Fluent network.

August 2 (Wednesday): Launching a Career in Innovation Investing & Course Conclusion

Course Outline (Cohort 3) 
June 28 — August 2, online, 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. EDT

Learn from your instructor.

Learn from expert guest speakers.

Managing Director, Innovate Health Yale and the Yale Sustainable Health Initiative (Beta cohort)

Energy Consultant, Guidehouse (Beta cohort)

Director, Group Partnering and Devices  at Deutsche Telekom (Beta cohort)

Read testimonials from real students.

Each module includes a live online session where you'll encounter a mix of interactive lecture, group-work, and guest speakers.

6 Live Sessions, 1x per Week

After each live session concludes, Jorge will stay with the class for an additional 30 minutes to answer any and all questions.

Optional Office Hours

Curated readings placed on the syllabus and designed to help you get the most out of the live sessions while going deeper on the topics that interest you the most.

Curated readings

Projects help you apply what you're learning. You'll emerge from the course with a portfolio or work you can use to engage entrepreneurs, co-investors, and limited partners. In the past, student projects have involved constructing investment theses and writing investment memos.

Hands-On Projects

This is a "one size fits many" course! These days, everyone has a ton of demands on their time. The course is structured so you can get the highest return on the amount of time you have available to commit the course.

Go at your own pace.

Course Design

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Active learning, not passive watching

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Interactive and project-based

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Learn with a cohort of peers

Learning is better with cohorts

Share your email with Jorge to to be among the first people to receive important course updates. 

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Learn from live sessions