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TRYOUTS.VC
Write VC memos on real deals. Get partner feedback.
Tryouts gives aspiring venture investors a deal brief, a fund mandate, a deadline, and notes on what they got right and missed.
Join first deal dropYou leave with reviewed work.
Routelift
Series A · field services technology
In the working file
Adding to the file. Multi-truck framing is the move; need contract terms and a real bear case before this gets to IC.
Joseph called out three passages from your memo
"Routelift's economics more closely resemble managed dispatch services than platform software."
The reframe is the move. Gross margin trajectory in years two and three is the tell.
"Three named multi-location operators signal early commercial traction across HVAC and plumbing."
Pilot deployments, not commercial. Named operators without seat counts, exclusivity, or expansion terms is still early signal.
"The primary risk is AI dispatch commoditization compressing the technical moat over 36 months."
Standard answer. The harder bear case is in-house build risk from large multi-location buyers.
The bad path
The current path makes you perform access, not judgment.
The feed tells you to buy the bootcamp, reply under the partner post, and network until someone takes a flyer. None of that proves you can screen a deal.
VC Mastery Accelerator
Promoted · 12,847 followers
Tuition: $9,800
Break into venture in 8 weeks. Live lectures, guest investors, private community.
Bootcamp pitches sell certainty.
They sell tuition, guest speakers, and a private community instead of fund-caliber work.
Partner posts turn applicants into replies.
They ask for memo samples and sourcing wins from people who have never been given a deal to screen.
Final Round Update
The team enjoyed your memo. We selected a candidate with stronger partner fit.
Rejections explain nothing.
You are told the work was strong, then given no usable signal about what to fix.
What you get
A deal lands in your inbox, and you have to make the call.
You are not watching lectures about venture. You receive a company brief, screen it against a fund mandate, write a memo, and see how a partner would mark your reasoning.
New screen
Drop 42
Routelift
Mobile dispatch and quoting for multi-truck HVAC and home-services teams.
- Stage
- Series A
- Mandate
- Applied AI, vertical workflow, $2M+ ARR path.
- Your assignment
- Decide whether this belongs in the fund's file.
Get reps
Get reps. Get feedback. Get noticed. Get hired.
Get reps
Screen real startup deals against fund mandates and write the memo before you see any partner notes.
Get feedback
See what a partner agreed with, what they challenged, and where your reasoning got too loose.
Get noticed
Turn reviewed memos into work samples that a fund can read, question, and compare to how it thinks.
Get hired
Walk into the conversation with a decision history, not a certificate, cold DM, or generic interest in venture.
The product
The product makes the investing work visible.
You are not clicking through lessons. You move from inbound deal, to fund mandate, to memo, to partner notes, with a history of the decisions you made.
Feedback · Routelift
You learn where your Routelift memo was actually weak.
My call was a pass.
The problem is real, but the memo does not prove that Routelift becomes software economics instead of services revenue.
- Matched
- You caught the services-to-platform question.
- Missed
- You treated pilots as commercial proof too early.
- Improve
- Ask for commitment terms before you call it traction.
The pass holds.
The memo gets stronger when revenue quality moves above the AI moat question. The next version should make contract depth the center of the argument.
Fit
Join if you want to be judged on work before credentials.
You should join if this describes you.
- You want to screen startup deals before someone hands you a venture job.
- You want to get better at memo writing through repeated feedback.
- You want to walk into interviews with work that can be read and challenged.
You should not join if this describes you.
- You want a passive course that you can finish without making calls.
- You want a certificate, a Slack group, or a guaranteed interview.
- You want a shortcut around doing the work.
FAQ
Read this before you join.
Is this a course?
No. Tryouts is not a course. You learn by screening deals, writing memos, making calls, and getting marked up.
Is this a certificate?
No. A certificate would make this weaker. The useful artifact is the memo history that shows how you think across multiple deals.
Is this unpaid labor?
No. You are not completing live diligence for a fund. You are using deal-style material to build skill and a reviewed work sample.
Does this guarantee a VC job?
No. It changes what you can show in the conversation. You still have to earn the role.
What happens after I join the waitlist?
You get notified when a small batch opens. The first drop is the Routelift brief: a fund mandate, a deadline, and partner notes on the memo you write back.
Waitlist