It was around the middle of March 2009, many of my friends had internships, I did not. I had a wave of interviews in January, nothing came of it. I had some more interviews in March, I got some offers but none of them were too attractive. Then, out of nowhere and after a flurry of phone interviews, I received only what could be described as the best summer internship, ever.
Altiplano Venture Funds (AVF) is a non-profit venture capital firm founded in October 2008 by an American finance professional who spotted an opportunity in Peru whilst he was working in Santiago, Chile. The main goal of AVF is to alleviate the side effects of mining activities on local communities in Peru. The team consisted of the founder mentioned above, a French/American private equity lawyer from New York, the South American director of a global engineering and project management firm, a team of American and Peruvian lawyers working for AVF on a pro-bono basis, and I (there was supposed to be another intern but he had visa issues).
Although it had been several months since AVF had been founded, it was not until the time I arrived that it was fully incorporated as a non-profit entity. Therefore, there was still a lot of ambiguity in the direction of the organization. My first task there was to identify potential sources of funding and investment targets. This involved gathering information from public databases, government archives , conferences and meetings such as ones at the Rotary Club and interviewing relevant people/organizations i.e. directors of other non-profits, government officials such as those at the US embassy and business leaders in the mining industry. Other tasks that I performed include projecting cash flows in order to determine the amount of funding required which in turn helped to demonstrate when the organization would become self-sustainable. From the research and modelling, it became clear that the original business model is not optimal. Over the weeks, ideas flowed and many changes took place in terms of the direction of the organization and its structure. Therefore, my main task was to re-draft the business plan for AVF over the coming years. This was not an easy task as no one on the team (including myself) had much experience in writing business plans. Nonetheless, I spearheaded the re-drafting of the business plan with much help from a variety of people (including a few UCLA Anderson professors). Eventually, towards the end of my internship, we ended up with a solid business plan and were ready to implement the pilot project (an investment into and management of a low-tech water filter manufacturer/distributor in rural Peru).
I had originally planned to be there to learn all there is to know about venture capital but, whilst I did get some experience in the investment selection process and financial modelling, I ended up learning much more about business development. I think this experience will prove to be much more valuable in the future than the finance skills that I had hoped to learn as a) I improved my ability to cope with ambiguity, b) I learned how difficult it is to start a business and c) knowing how difficult it is to start a business has not put me off in starting my own business in the future.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience not just because of the internship but also living in a culture that I’ve never experienced. At first, Peru seemed very foreign to me but after a week or so, when I had met a lot more people (especially Peruvians), figured out where things are and how things are done, I realized that Peru was an amazing place to be (my defining moment of feeling more “local” was when I shopped at a dingy produce market where I obtained 3 oranges, 3 pears, 2 Granadillas, a mango, a cherimoya and a huge avocado for $3.40). After my internship, I had a little time to travel and see other parts of South America. This short but packed journey made me realize that it is not just Peru that is fascinating but the whole continent has things to offer beyond my imagination. I will definitely be looking for opportunities there after graduation. To finish, I would like to thank CIBER for their generous financial assistance which enabled me to travel to Peru and help start an organization, AVF, which has the potential to improve the lives of many people who are less fortunate both now and in the future. My personal experience there was definitely enriched by this generosity, thank you.
Altiplano Venture Funds (AVF) is a non-profit venture capital firm founded in October 2008 by an American finance professional who spotted an opportunity in Peru whilst he was working in Santiago, Chile. The main goal of AVF is to alleviate the side effects of mining activities on local communities in Peru. The team consisted of the founder mentioned above, a French/American private equity lawyer from New York, the South American director of a global engineering and project management firm, a team of American and Peruvian lawyers working for AVF on a pro-bono basis, and I (there was supposed to be another intern but he had visa issues).
Although it had been several months since AVF had been founded, it was not until the time I arrived that it was fully incorporated as a non-profit entity. Therefore, there was still a lot of ambiguity in the direction of the organization. My first task there was to identify potential sources of funding and investment targets. This involved gathering information from public databases, government archives , conferences and meetings such as ones at the Rotary Club and interviewing relevant people/organizations i.e. directors of other non-profits, government officials such as those at the US embassy and business leaders in the mining industry. Other tasks that I performed include projecting cash flows in order to determine the amount of funding required which in turn helped to demonstrate when the organization would become self-sustainable. From the research and modelling, it became clear that the original business model is not optimal. Over the weeks, ideas flowed and many changes took place in terms of the direction of the organization and its structure. Therefore, my main task was to re-draft the business plan for AVF over the coming years. This was not an easy task as no one on the team (including myself) had much experience in writing business plans. Nonetheless, I spearheaded the re-drafting of the business plan with much help from a variety of people (including a few UCLA Anderson professors). Eventually, towards the end of my internship, we ended up with a solid business plan and were ready to implement the pilot project (an investment into and management of a low-tech water filter manufacturer/distributor in rural Peru).
I had originally planned to be there to learn all there is to know about venture capital but, whilst I did get some experience in the investment selection process and financial modelling, I ended up learning much more about business development. I think this experience will prove to be much more valuable in the future than the finance skills that I had hoped to learn as a) I improved my ability to cope with ambiguity, b) I learned how difficult it is to start a business and c) knowing how difficult it is to start a business has not put me off in starting my own business in the future.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience not just because of the internship but also living in a culture that I’ve never experienced. At first, Peru seemed very foreign to me but after a week or so, when I had met a lot more people (especially Peruvians), figured out where things are and how things are done, I realized that Peru was an amazing place to be (my defining moment of feeling more “local” was when I shopped at a dingy produce market where I obtained 3 oranges, 3 pears, 2 Granadillas, a mango, a cherimoya and a huge avocado for $3.40). After my internship, I had a little time to travel and see other parts of South America. This short but packed journey made me realize that it is not just Peru that is fascinating but the whole continent has things to offer beyond my imagination. I will definitely be looking for opportunities there after graduation. To finish, I would like to thank CIBER for their generous financial assistance which enabled me to travel to Peru and help start an organization, AVF, which has the potential to improve the lives of many people who are less fortunate both now and in the future. My personal experience there was definitely enriched by this generosity, thank you.
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