Over the course of 9 weeks, investing team students will learn about venture capital and the great businesses & founders of the past century, ultimately culminating in an investment thesis. Despite its name, the program will not prepare students to read a financial statement or model a DCF. Rather, Investing Team is a two-fold system of 1) Learning how to think deeply about technology, companies, and society, and 2) Practicing step one tirelessly. It is designed to push students' ability to research deeply, marry multiple disciplines, and most importantly — to trust the process.
Curriculum
For the first few weeks of the program, students will learn the fundamentals of venture capital. VC is the art of investing in small, private companies — often in technology. Students will learn about the structure of a VC fund, the general metrics investors look at, and certain frameworks to help understand startups.
In parallel, students will explore industries that excite them. In the middle of the semester, students will write a paper and present about an industry of their choice in detail, discussing the general landscape and predictions about the future. The goal of this assignment is to build the research chops necessary to write a formidable thesis at the end of the semester.
For the rest of the semester, sessions will center around studying great businesses such as Costco, Stripe, Rolls Royce, and others. History doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes. And studying the great companies of the past offers a pattern language for recognizing exceptional founders and business models. The following are two brief examples of companies that may shape your investment thesis:
- A highly respected business among technologists is Costco. Contrary to most of its competitors, Costco earns much of its profits from membership fees rather than product markups. By lowering prices, Costco wins more members, more revenue, and more supplier leverage, which then allows it to lower prices further. The result of this flywheel is a business model built to endure.
- In studying Facebook, you’ll encounter one of the great founders of our generation. You'll learn about how Zuckerberg reinvented Facebook’s product and advertising model through the shift from web to mobile, how prescient his instincts were for latent social behavior, and how he repeatedly made enormous, company-defining bets — the invention of the news feed, turning down a ~$1 billion acquisition offer, purchasing Instagram, etc — before their necessity was obvious.
Costco may teach you to search for businesses where scale compounds your underlying advantage. And Facebook is a case study in how far a founder can go when clarity of vision is matched by unusual conviction and willingness to be misunderstood. Over time, these case studies should sharpen your judgement for what makes a great investment.
The semester culminates in a final thesis. Simply put: what does one predict is going to happen in the world that others have not realized, and what technologies are going to shape that future. This process may sound abstract or intimidating. Our goal is to provide the structure and skills to make it as practical as possible. Writing a strong thesis won’t happen overnight; rather, it is an earned product of months of reading, writing, and sharpening your view of the world.
Goals
Investing team aims to achieve these two goals:
- Students become more curious about the world, expressing themselves through reading and writing.
- Students greatly improve their patience, understanding that success is the compounding of small actions over a long horizon.
Leaving this program, many students realize they love VC. Many also realize that it is not for them, which is equally consequential. But, all students leave inspired and more confident in their ability to accomplish difficult tasks.
For those who love technology, their work on the investing team will mesh into their day-to-day life naturally. Podcasts while walking to school, scrolling X for a few hours too long, discussions about technology.
For the many who realize it’s not for them or are unsure, they leave with a community of open-minded, kind, and curious students. Regardless of interest, communities like EEG are the backbone of what builds a fulfilling career.
If you find yourself curious about technology's impact on the world, willing to wrestle with difficult questions, and excited about becoming a sharper thinker, we encourage you to apply.
Logistics
Some important information:
There are three phases to the application process: a written application, behavioral interview, and technical interview.
For the Fall 2026 semester, applications open on Monday, September 21st and close on Saturday, September 26th at 12:00 PM EST.
We do not expect students to have coding, design, or any other technical skills before the start of the semester. The technical interview primarily tests students' ability to learn quickly and think through ambiguous problems.
We expect students to commit 15 hours per week to investing team.
All freshmen, sophomores, and juniors at NYU across all schools are eligible to apply.
All students apply as individuals to the semester's investing team cohort. After the program begins, students are welcome, but not forced, to form teams among students in the cohort.
