Unshackled Fellows: Where are they now?
By: Unshackled Ventures
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Immigrants, Fellowship, Early Stage Investing, Venture Capital

What did you enjoy most about the Unshackled experience?

Hari: My favorite part of the Unshackled experience was engaging with some of the most brilliant, passionate, and high-integrity people that I’ve come across. Every week, there’s an opportunity to learn from someone whether it’s an Unshackled team member doing a deep dive on an industry, or a portfolio company founder sharing their startup journey, and even learning about the awesome things that other fellows are up to as well.

Another thing that goes unnoticed is how deeply committed to their goal of supporting immigrant entrepreneurs the Unshackled team is. A lot of investors and founders love to claim that they love taking risks and bold bets. To me, Unshackled still being the only early-stage venture firm investing in immigrants speaks volumes. The team is there from day 1 when immigrant entrepreneurs need it the most and showed me what it was like to do things that really matter.

Prim: As a student passionate about entrepreneurship but without a traditional business or banking background, this experience was invaluable for me to understand the ins and outs of venture capital and early stage start-ups. I loved how the team is small, passionate and working towards a worthwhile mission. I enjoyed getting to know other students and being a part of the end-to-end investment process.

Lily: I LOVE the Unshackled team. Everybody was super nice and supportive. Everyone (from associate to partner) is always available for us. I got so much amazing career and life advice from the team members. They opened up all their resources and connections to me to help me expand my network and build the skills I need to be a better future investor.

Jad: As cliche as it is, I loved the community! The Unshackled Fellows are an impressive, diverse and ambitious group of young people who are passionate about pushing the state of entrepreneurship forward. The monthly community calls were a great opportunity to gather the Unshackled community around specific topics of interest and to exchange learnings.

What advice do you have for those considering applying?

Lily: Don’t hesitate and miss this great opportunity to work with an amazing team. The Unshackled team invests a lot of time in the fellowship program. They will demystify VC for you and will train you to become a better future investor or entrepreneur with hands-on experience.

Prim: Don’t downplay the experience that you have when you’re considering applying. Your experiences are valuable and skills are transferable — they can allow you to approach problems with new strategies that others might not have considered. Be confident and own what makes you unique!

Hari: The Unshackled fellows are a very diverse community branching from every corner of the world. Still, all of them share the same hustle and drive that challenges immigrants today. Whatever your unique story is, share it with your most authentic voice. Feel free to also reach out to me or any of the fellows regarding our experiences if you’d like to learn more.

Jad: You have a superpower — and you should use it to serve others! Focus on serving the entrepreneurial community around you. If you haven’t had the chance to do this yet, then go for it — reach out to the startup community and offer your help with anything that you think you’ve got superpowers in.

What’s next for you?

Jad: I’m building koodos and will be a fellow at the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard. We just raised our first round from a number of top VCs and Angels and we’re hiring for 1 position! (www.🎉.fm if you’re interested)

Lily: My experience at Unshackled added so much weight to my resume and opened many doors. I got many interviews from VC and consulting firms for summer internships after the fellowship. I did two internships this past summer, one in consulting and one with Zhenfund’s US fund and I will be joining a European PE fund this fall for a full time co-op in their Boston office.

Prim: I’m excited to work towards my college graduation this year and finish my majors in linguistics and narrative studies. I’ll be applying for full-time opportunities in writing, entrepreneurship and technology and can’t wait to use my experience from Unshackled to dive into meaningful work post-grad!

Hari: I’ll be continuing to support the international and immigrant youth community as they navigate through their struggles hidden from the outside world. One of our first initiatives as part of the Hidden Dream Fund is to raise scholarship funds starting with dependent visa children. We reached our first target of $1000 in four days thanks to our generous supporters and are looking to double it in the coming month! We would love your support if the mission resonates with you. Any amount will be greatly appreciated (find the campaign link here). I’ll also be working on side projects that interest me (as I try to imagine what a world post-covid will look like) and will still be very active within the Unshackled and entrepreneurship community as a whole.