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title: OpenLP Newsletter - APRIL 2025
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Fundraising Slowdown, Secondary Market Momentum, AI Infrastructure Spend, Emerging Manager Insights & More

| View in browser APRIL 2025 LP & GP Voices ARTICLE Praise Our Lord For Secondary Markets, Because Selling Shares Is Now an Essential Part of (Seed) Venture Capital Hunter Walk (Homebrew) explains why early-stage venture is shifting from “buy and hold” to “buy and maybe sell” as longer timelines, investor misalignment, and evolving secondary markets reshape the seed game. He breaks down how secondary sales can protect LP returns, support portfolio companies, and why the best early-stage VCs will increasingly be judged not just on what they buy—but how and when they sell. HunterWalk.com PODCAST Building Europe’s First Tech-Focused Fund of Funds Ertan Can, founder of Multiple Capital, shares his journey building Europe’s first tech-focused fund of micro funds, investing in emerging managers across overlooked markets. This conversation covers Europe’s growing startup ecosystem, opportunities for U.S. investors, and why small and seed-stage funds are poised to outperform. Swimming with Allocators PODCAST How to Find the Right LPs for Your Next Fund  Meghan Reynolds, Partner at Altimeter, joins David Weisburd to break down how today’s best GPs raise capital—by matching fund strategy with the right LP base, not just chasing the largest checks. She shares how fund expansion impacts investor fit, why small LPs can become key long-term partners, and what the most successful GPs get right about crisis communication and brand-building. How I Invest ARTICLE What LPs Really Want—And How Fund Managers Can Win in Today’s Brutal Fundraising Market  Ted Seides, founder of Capital Allocators, shares insights on how LP priorities have shifted amid a tougher fundraising environment—favoring established firms and demanding deeper GP-LP alignment. He unpacks why passion, differentiation, and transparency matter more than ever, how managers can sustain momentum through longer fundraising cycles, and why strategy consistency—not trend-chasing—is key to surviving today's market. LP Blueprint Inside the ServiceTitan IPO with Nina Achadjian Nina Achadjian is a Partner at Index Ventures, where she invests across seed, venture, and growth stages in AI, enterprise software, and vertical SaaS. She sits down with Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, and the two discuss Nina’s predictions for M&A in 2025, the importance of product market fit and what Nina looks for in a new hire. Plus, the two dig into Index’s recent IPO with ServiceTitan, and how they managed a high-profile exit in the difficult IPO market of 2024. Minisode: Franchise Funds: Index Ventures & Picking Winners Early Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Nate Leung, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to riff on her recent conversation with Nina Achadjian, Partner at Index Ventures. Together, Beezer and Nate walk through the steps Index took to become a franchise - the decisions they made and the mistakes they avoided, plus the firm’s ability to pick excellent companies early. They discuss the edge GPs gain by investing with a broader purpose, as well as the LP POV on the need for distributions and consolidation in 2025. Featuring Sapphire Partners ARTICLE It Feels like Groundhog Day': Tech Investors Fear Yet Another Funding Chill is Coming Market volatility is slowing venture fundraising, delaying IPOs, and pushing LPs to pause new commitments. Sapphire Partners' Nate Leung shares how LPs are anticipating prolonged illiquidity in today’s environment. Business Insider PODCAST Is the Future of Venture Capital in the Hands of Emerging Managers? Laura Thompson, Partner at Sapphire Partners, joins Swimming with Allocators to discuss her path to becoming an LP, how Sapphire identifies and supports emerging managers, and what characteristics set the "new elite" apart. She also shares insights on underwriting, portfolio construction, and how LP priorities are evolving in today's venture market. Swimming with Allocators ARTICLE Sunflower Capital, Led by Sequoia Alum, Collects $150 Million In a historically tough market for first-time managers Liu Jiang, founder of Sunflower Capital, raised the firm’s second fund in just a month from about 20 institutions. Laura Thompson, Partner at Sapphire Partners, discusses why Liu's background and why they're proud to be among Sunflower’s early LPs. The Wall Street Journal VC Deep Dives REPORT Q1 2025 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor  The Q1 venture numbers are out, thanks to PitchBook and NVCA. Deal activity showed signs of stabilization driven by large AI financings, but fundraising stayed slow and exit markets remained muted as LPs continued to prioritize managers with strong track records. PitchBook What We're Reading This Month ARTICLE Tariffs And Market Uncertainty: A Drag On Investment Activity The latest commentary from Michael Mufson at Crunchbase explains how new tariffs are raising costs, delaying investment decisions, and putting pressure on venture-backed M&A. With uncertainty rippling through supply chains and capital markets, investors are prioritizing domestic deals and delaying liquidity events​. Crunchbase ARTICLE Here’s How Big the AI Revolution Really Is, in Four Charts The Wall Street Journal breaks down the explosive growth of generative AI, showing how OpenAI, Google, and others are competing across infrastructure, spending, and model intelligence. With tech companies on track to spend $1 trillion on AI, the battle is now shifting from raw capability to cost, speed, and reliability. The Wall Street Journal ARTICLE Vibe Coding is Changing the Way Investors Think About Founders Business Insider explores how AI-driven "vibe coding" is reshaping investor expectations, with VCs now prioritizing domain expertise, product vision, and AI fluency over traditional coding skills. Founders with an architect mindset and the ability to leverage AI tools are increasingly seen as the new standard.​ Business Insider OpenLP is a resource from Sapphire Partners. Launched in 2012, Sapphire Partners is a Limited Partner seeking to invest in elite early-stage venture capital funds, across the U.S., Europe, and Israel. OPENLP CO-FOUNDED BY: Sapphire Ventures, LLC, 801 W. 5th St., Ste. 100, , Austin,TX, 78703,United States,   Unsubscribe Manage Preferences   Nothing presented within this article is intended to constitute investment advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Sapphire Ventures, LLC (“Sapphire”). Information provided reflects Sapphires’ views as of a time, whereby such views are subject to change at any point and Sapphire shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. No assumptions should be made that any investment listed above were or will be profitable. Various content and views contained within this article represent those of third party guests, which do not necessarily reflect the views of Sapphire. Such views are subject to change at any point and do not in any way represent official statements by Sapphire.Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in any statement made. Nothing contained in this article may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular company. Past performance is not indicative of future results. |
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