Lightspeed Venture Partners founding partner Ravi Mhatre explains why he’s particularly excited about opportunities in the life sciences over the next two decades. He envisions a future in which computing and data science unlock innumerable genetic puzzles, dramatically accelerating diagnosis, treatment and drug development.

Lightspeed Venture Partners founding partner Ravi Mhatre explains how his parents’ immigrant background impacted his own trajectory. A mindset that embraced and appreciated opportunities, even amid imperfect situations, allowed them to succeed in the United States, and imprinted on him as well.

Computer science is now “the language of technology,” explains Lightspeed Venture Partners founding partner Ravi Mhatre, and studying a technical field like CS can give you an edge in many fields, including venture capital. That sort of technical background, he finds, is especially important for VCs who invest heavily in technology-driven enterprise companies. On the other hand, he adds, there are now plenty of tools that enable less-technical founders and investors to build businesses around web applications and data.

The VC industry isn’t a monolith, observes Lightspeed Venture Partners founding partner Ravi Mhatre. If you want to pursue a career in venture capital, he advises, it’s important to talk to people from across the spectrum, from angel investors to sector-specific firms to global firms that invest across many industries. He adds that working with founders to build companies isn’t about immediate payoff, and that the VC businesses is best suited to people who are comfortable taking risks but can also be patient and take a long view.