(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...
[Continue Reading]Use agile budgeting to manage your business
Instead of budget approvals, monitor key metrics and give managers more flexibility Traditional budgets can be destructive and a huge waste of time. How should a growth company manage their budget? Does the annual budget approval process even make sense in a fast-moving firm? My friends who are executives at large, established companies complain about...
[Continue Reading]Who is building the Renaissance Technologies of Private Markets?
The AIR Summit (“Alpha Innovation Required”) just posted the video and slides from my keynote on, “Who is building the Renaissance Technologies of Private Markets?” (To see the video, please click the image below, and then click on the Play button.) I wrote a detailed paper on this here....
[Continue Reading]Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Finance?
You’re working on launching a new VC fund; congratulations! I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching Revenue-Based Investing and other new approaches to VC. The question I’m asking myself: should a new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing, traditional equity VC, or possibly both (likely from two separate pools of...
[Continue Reading]In Venture Capital, Should You Be a Momentum or a Value Investor?
Jeff Bezos once asked Warren Buffett: “Your investment thesis is so simple. You’re the second richest guy in the world, and it’s so simple. Why doesn’t everyone just copy you?” Warren Buffett responded, “Because nobody wants to get rich slow.” That’s certainly true in VC. Which leads me to ask: as a venture capitalist, should you...
[Continue Reading]Checklist for Launching a New Venture Capital Fund
I posted a while ago my syllabus on how to manage and invest a VC fund. As a prequel, here are some of the resources I’ve found helpful in launching a new fund: What it takes to start your own venture capital fund Strategic Considerations For Start-Up Private Equity Fund Managers Fundamentals Of Private Equity...
[Continue Reading]Limited partner due diligence on VC and private equity funds
As a VC, I have a standard due diligence list for companies I’m reviewing. Similarly, our limited partner investors have their own due diligence standards, and we manage our firm to keep in line with their expectations. I’ve listed below some of the tools we use to self-assess, from a limited partner point of view:...
[Continue Reading]How to scale a VC (or private equity) fund
Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. But, we normally have a clear ceiling on how high we can grow AUM, before hitting practical limits to deploying capital within the traditional VC model. My Partners at HOF Capital are younger than I am, which means...
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