Why we accept applicants from Grammar School.

We’re accepting applicants from Grammar schools to State School Ventures. Here’s why… 

Grammar schools are technically state schools but are selective and the academic results of some grammar schools tend to be as good or better than many private schools. If SSV is committed to leveling up, how should it handle grammar schools?

The answer came to me in a conversation I had with Andy Chung from Tiny VC. Andy’s work history is as follows:

1. Neither parent attended university, father was from a farming village in Hong Kong. They emigrated to the UK in the late 70s and opened a takeaway in the East Midlands; 

2. Father enrolled in local technical college, learnt BASIC and wrote software to manage the takeaway;

3. From age 8, Andy worked in the takeaway;

4. Tutored for the 11+ exam by the accountant for the takeaway, after Andy’s father asked him to help;

5. Grammar School ;

6. Trinity College, Cambridge University ;

7. Strategy Consultant;

8. M-PESA founding team at Vodafone;

9. VC at Eden Ventures (I first met Andy when I pitched my startup to him here);

10. Co-founder at multiple failed startups (I sublet a desk to Andy at one such failed startup);

11. Partner at AngelList;

12. Early stage investor in (amongst others) Monzo, Wayve and Synthesia;

13. Co-founding partner at Tiny VC.

There are many impressive steps in this story. Tiny is one of the few VC funds that can really claim to have revolutionized how VC works. Andy co-founded it; very few people will successfully take a step like that. The Grammar school to Cambridge step was also uncommon, Andy was one of two from his school that made it to Oxbridge.

But for me, steps 1 to 4 are magical. His parents find themselves in a situation where they want to maximise the surface area of opportunity for their son but they’re not sure how the system works. So they ask the person that’s the nearest thing to the status quo that they know (their accountant) for help. The accountant agrees to help, Andy delivers the goods and he’s on his way.

This story mirrors two similar stories from my own family but I will save those for another day. The salient point is this; grammar schools enable social mobility but they don’t provide a ready made network of influence. Andy’s Dad was not able to land Andy a job. Andy had to build his career without financial support or a financial safety net (trust me; multiple failed startups are not for the faint hearted and sublet desks don’t pay for themselves).

State School Ventures aims to help those without influential networks or access to capital. We guide talented individuals through the system, leveraging our collective knowledge and connections to support them. In that sense, we are like Andy’s Dad’s accountant.

Deadline for applications to our first programme is Monday 22nd July and you can apply here.