I recently met with a friend who’s an economics professor, who agreed with me that one of the best ways for rising academics to make a mark is to acquire and mine new data sets. I prepared for him a summary of resources to help students source and understand new, alternative data sets. If you’re...
[Continue Reading]The 7 options for family offices to invest in technology companies
An ever-growing number of family offices want to invest into private tech companies. They’re usually motivated by a combination of financial returns, a search for strategic benefits with their core operating business, and passion about tech. But how should they go about it? Dr. Joel Palathinkal, CEO of Sutton Capital, observes that high-quality founding teams...
[Continue Reading]How to Find a Job as a VC Scout: Compensation and Which Firms Are Recruiting
The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time “scout”, getting paid for sourcing investments, as well as for other work of value to the fund. But how do you do that? This is part of a series on building your career in venture capital: Reading list for working...
[Continue Reading]The Investment Manager of the Future
What does an investment management firm look like, if you redesign it based on first principles and based on the true “jobs to be done” of an investment manager? That’s what we’re working on building at Versatile VC. We outline below the five characteristics that will differentiate the winning investment management firm of the future:...
[Continue Reading]What Are the “Jobs To Be Done” of an Investment Manager?
Most money managers think their main job is generating alpha, but they are wrong. We discuss the real “job to be done” of an investment manager. If you ever studied disruptive innovation formally, you know the pattern. In many industries, low-end disruptors take hold at the bottom of the market and then work up to...
[Continue Reading]The Macro Trends Forcing Change on the Investment Management Industry
Power in the investment management industry is shifting to Money Holders from Money Managers, driven by several major economic, social, and political trends. Collectively, these are an irresistible force meeting a moveable object: the traditional asset management industry structure. We highlight below five key trends impacting our industry: 1. As women and millennials become key allocators,...
[Continue Reading]Asset Management Is a Peculiar Industry Ripe for Disruption
“One summer day, probably in the 1870s, friends of a major short-seller got together on the shores of Newport, Rhode Island, where they admired the enormous yachts of New York’s richest brokers. After gazing long and thoughtfully at the beautiful boats, the short seller asked wryly, ‘Where are the customers’ yachts?’” Jason Zweig, in his...
[Continue Reading]What is the Best CRM and Marketing Tech Platform for a New Private Equity/Venture Capital Fund?
One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund, Versatile Venture Capital, was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. I’m very interested in the tech stack of private equity/VC firms, both to improve the efficiency of Versatile VC and also as a focus area for our investing. I...
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