Raising capital for a new fund is always hard. Should you give preferential economics or other benefits to a seed anchor investor, who makes a material commitment to the fund? These “VCs for investment management companies” are also known as GP Stake investors or fund platforms. According to DocSend, “About half the VC firms in...
[Continue Reading]Should Small Emerging Managers Use Placement Agents?
The pros and cons of choosing a placement agent for small funds It would make life a lot easier for emerging managers if they could outsource the entire fundraising process. But can you? Empirically, few small emerging investment managers hire placement agents, particularly in venture capital. And even the firms that hire a placement agent...
[Continue Reading]Launching a Portfolio Acceleration Platform at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Fund
I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies. The popularity of...
[Continue Reading]Reading list for Associates and Analysts in private equity and venture capital
This is part of a series on building your career in venture capital: Reading list for working in private equity/venture capital, including all of the major online communities, programs, and educational options for people studying VC How to win consulting, board, operating, and investment roles with private equity and venture capital funds (video) How to...
[Continue Reading]15 Steps to Fundraising for Your New Venture Capital or Private Equity Fund
Launching is easy; fundraising is harder. I’ve been fortunate to be a Partner at two different VC firms over the past 9 years, and we’ve grown AUM 10X both times. If you take the fifteen steps below, you’ll have the core of a high-performing fundraising and investor relations function. Build the firm as much as...
[Continue Reading]Flexible VCs With Structures Between Equity and Revenue-Based Investing
(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. His work on VC and small communities is at greatercolorado.vc/blog. ) This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Finance: a new option for founders who care about control II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Finance VCs? III: Why are...
[Continue Reading]Family Office Association interview: VC and Disruption of the Investment Management Industry
Angelo Robles, CEO of the Family Office Association, just posted a video interview with me on “Venture Capital and Disruption of the Investment Management Industry”....
[Continue Reading]Venture capitalists eating our own dog food: Using technology and analytics to make better investments
(To see the video above, please click the image, and then click on the Play button.) Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. When I was single, I registered for (a lot of) dating websites. When I met my...
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