Hi Amelia, it’s great you’re proactively applying to roles. The direct path is usually the best one, if you know what you want. However, if for some reason, you don’t get your ideal role or decide to go a different route, some typical backgrounds of eventual VCs are: (a) they often are operators at fast-growing venture-backed startups - in roles including product, ops, growth, chief of staff, founder’s associate etc. (b) they start a company and get hands-on experience of building something (c) they work at a VC-esque institution, for example, a well-regarded accelerator, incubator or venture studio that allows them to interface with a cross-section of founders and operators in their ecosystem.
There is no formula though. A range of people end up becoming VCs - medical doctors, english literature or history grads, former consultants etc.