Natalie Zhou

I combine investment judgment with hands-on experience building products from 0→1.

01Positioning

I learned to evaluate companies through public markets, private equity, M&A and venture capital. Then I built and to learn what it takes to create one.

That combination lets me move between financial analysis, market research, product decisions and hands-on execution. I’m looking for early-stage roles where both sides matter.

EvaluateBuildShip

02Experience

Experience across the capital stack.

Venture capital, M&A, private equity, public markets and asset management. Hover a role to read the résumé details.

LinkedIn ↗

May 2024 - Dec 2024

White Star CapitalVC Analyst

Toronto, Canada

WSC is a global venture fund focused on Series A-B investments (~$1.2bn AUM), investing across data-driven software, industrial technology, fintech, and digital health. Worked closely with partners on sourcing, diligence, and execution across early-stage investments.
Originated and executed an early-stage fintech investment, including preparation of the investment memo, participation in commercial and financial due diligence, and support of a lead Seed investment (~13% ownership stake).
Sourced ~4 competitive companies from my network to the team, including a GPU hyperscaler, an AI/ML manufacturing startup founded by a former DeepMind Research Engineer, a MarTech company, and a fintech company. Conducted financial and market due diligence on ~300 Seed to Series A companies.
Download sample work memo

May 2023 - Aug 2023

CIBC Capital MarketsGlobal Investment Banking M&A Summer Analyst

Toronto, Canada

Conducted financial analysis and due diligence across multiple M&A transactions and pitches; supported end-to-end buy-side and sell-side execution including financial modeling, CIM drafting, buyer outreach support, and NDA preparation.
Supported Metro’s acquisition of SCI ↗ from Canada Post, including construction of vendor and buyer Phase I financial models with operating and sensitivity analyses, and preparation of value creation materials for board and senior management review.

Jan 2022 - Sep 2022

PSP InvestmentsPrivate Equity Winter & Summer Analyst

Montreal, Canada

Completed a 34-week internship at the PE arm of a top-tier Canadian pension fund with ~$200B AUM, focusing on global transactions with preferred investment size ranging from $200M to $500M+, through both funds and direct investments.
Direct Co-Investment | Healthcare: Evaluated a minority co-investment in a leading dental services organization (~$1bn EV); drafted IC memos for PE and Risk Committee, conducted primary market research, built comps, and analyzed operating and capital structure scenarios for post-board review.
Asset Allocation & GP Strategy: Supported a board-level asset allocation project to optimize mega buyout GP exposure; ranked 40+ GPs across geographies using sector expertise and performance metrics (TEV, MOIC) and recommended actions to rationalize GP relationships.

Sep 2021 - Dec 2021

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI)Public Market Fall Analyst - Global Emerging Market

Victoria, Canada

Helped launch BCI’s internal long-only Global Emerging Market fund and covered 5 Chinese companies with in-depth analysis including investment thesis, 3-statement as well as valuation models with personal recommendation, and assisted my team in building a repeatable and long-lasting investment process. Covered sectors include sportswear, beverage, gaming, and software.

Dec 2020 - Feb 2021

Goldman Sachs Asset ManagementInvestment Management Access Program Participant

New York, United States

Selected into a group of 4 nationwide and worked with the GSAM Fixed Income team with a focus on ESG in Agency Mortgage Backed Securities offered by government sponsored enterprises such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Ginnie Mae.

EducationUBC Sauder · BComEntrepreneurship specialization · Philosophy minor · 2024

03Personal projects

From evaluating companies to building products.

Two hands-on projects created after starting on the investing side.

Live · Shopify

01 · Consumer brand

Grei

A fully operating, made-to-order press-on nail brand built as a commercial system.

I built the brand, Shopify store, cross-border manufacturing, quality control, fulfillment and collaboration-led distribution—including a New York Fashion Week partnership.

Visit grei.store ↗

Working product · Demo

02 · Creator intelligence

Scroll & Tell

Creator intelligence for your next breakout post.

With no prior coding background, I used AI-assisted development to ship the product, then mapped the market and interrogated where the category’s business models break.

Product link coming soon

04Writing

Ideas, mapped
in public.

My Substack is a working notebook on AI markets, infrastructure and the application layer—written to turn scattered signals into a point of view.

The Stanza cover for China's Role in Global Fashion

The Stanza · December 2023China's Role in Global FashionRead the article ↗Read the full archiveSubstack ↗

05Favourite reads

A small, portable advisory board.

Hover a book to pull it forward.

Cover of The Surrender Experiment — **The Surrender Experiment**Michael A. Singer

Cover of The Universe in a Nutshell — **The Universe in a Nutshell**Stephen Hawking

Cover of The Hard Thing About Hard Things — **The Hard Thing About Hard Things**Ben Horowitz

Cover of The Three-Body Problem — **The Three-Body Problem**Cixin Liu

Cover of Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order — **Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order**Ray Dalio

Natalie’s shelf · Vol. I

Currently listeningPodcast rotation ↗

Pia's Pod Hot Smart Rich Founders All-In 20VC Modern Wisdom Working Hard by Grace Beverley The Stanza by Nadine Choe

06My spare time

A life outside
the spreadsheet.

Eight small worlds I return to when I’m not evaluating companies or building things.

Catch a moving star ↓

01 · In the saddle

Horseback riding

Former athlete with the UBC Equestrian Club. Horses were my first lesson in focus, trust and composure.

02 · Seven cities

Cities that made me

Shanghai → Oregon → Los Angeles → Vancouver → Victoria → Montreal → Toronto. Toronto is home—for now.

03 · Shaken & stirred

Behind the bar

I’m a bartender. My two forever orders are a Moscow Mule and an Old Fashioned.

04 · Out in the city

Toronto nights

You can usually find me at The Fifth Social Club or Biblio when I want the city after dark.

05 · Strong mind

Weight lifting

The gym is where I reset. I love strength training and the honesty of adding one more rep.

06 · Four strings

Violin

A quieter discipline: listening closely, moving precisely and learning to make the difficult feel light.

07 · Pixel by pixel

Perler beads

Tiny pieces, patient hands, one image at a time. It is analogue pixel art and oddly satisfying.

08 · Not financial

Modelling

The kind with a camera—not a spreadsheet. A completely different exercise in presence and expression.

Natalie元媛 Zhou周