OpenLP founders Beezer Clarkson, Laura Thompson, and Nate Leung, along with other Sapphire Partners fund investing team members Dan Clayton, Vittorio Reynoso-Avila, and Anna Jacoby, will be joining LGT Capital Partners on April 15.
OpenLP will continue under LGT Capital Partners, and you will still receive the OpenLP newsletter, as well as new episodes from the Origins Podcast alongside co-host Nick Chirls at Asylum Ventures.
Stay tuned for more updates from LGT Capital Partners and OpenLP coming soon!
Pavel Prata compiles 42 VC/LP events across five continents this April, with activity concentrated in North America and Europe and additional hubs across Asia and the Middle East, plus a handful of virtual sessions. From large summits to smaller, topic-specific gatherings, the calendar points to plenty of opportunities for GPs and LPs to meet, compare notes, and build relationships.
I Talk to Thousands of LPs Every Year. Here’s What I’m Seeing When It Comes to How They’re Approaching VC
LP capital is concentrating in late-stage co-investments and a small group of established venture brands, both seeing outsized demand. That pressure is driving up fees, tightening access, and pushing some investors into riskier second-tier opportunities. Meanwhile, emerging managers face a tougher fundraising environment, even as some LPs see opportunity for those able to source and underwrite them.
Kyle Harrison argues that “venture capital” has splintered into four distinct games (seed, venture, growth, and late-stage capital), each with different rules, risks, and return profiles. The problem is that many investors treat them as interchangeable, leading to mismatched strategies and expectations. The takeaway: being clear on which game you’re playing is now a prerequisite to playing it well.
The Biggest Mistake Investors Make When Building a Venture Portfolio
Michael Larsen of Cambridge Associates has sat in on ~5,000 GP meetings and spent nearly two decades advising institutional investors and family offices. On How I Invest, he shares a few lessons from his experience for LPs building VC portfolios.
Seven Seven Six’s Katelin Holloway reframes early-stage investing as an extension of human capital. She argues that sourcing, selecting, and supporting founders mirrors recruiting and organizational design. Drawing on experience from Pixar to Reddit, she emphasizes that outcomes are driven by how well investors understand people, build trust, and help founders navigate the messy realities of scaling.
Are Small and Emerging Managers Paying the Price for a Downturn They Didn’t Cause?
A new Venture Capital Journal survey shows most LPs plan to maintain or increase their venture exposure, but are becoming far more selective about where that capital goes. In particular, many are stepping back from emerging managers and seed-stage funds, with 57% saying they won’t back new managers this year. The shift toward larger, later-stage funds may feel safer, but it risks starving the part of the market that produces the next generation of winners.
Dan Gray is a prolific thinker, writer and researcher in the VC world. Now the Research Lead at Odin, he sits down with Nick and Beezer to discuss the bifurcation of VC, the different types of risk in venture, and the role geography plays in investing. He also unpacks a survey he recently conducted that dives deep into how early-stage VC is faring in a challenging year.
Minisode: Does the Data Match the Anecdotes?
Beezer and Nick dig into their recent conversation with Dan and discuss various levels of risk tolerance across the ecosystem, including who the data says can handle more, whether GPs are giving up on founders earlier than they used to, and whether Dan’s recent deep dive into changing LP behaviors matches anecdotal wisdom in the world of venture.
VC Deep Dives
REPORT
VC Fund Performance Q4 2025
Q4 2025 fund performance data shows venture outcomes continuing to skew toward a small group of top-performing funds, with the gap between top-decile and median returns widening across vintages. More recent funds are starting to see IRRs recover, but distributions remain limited, and much of the value is still unrealized.
AI is Reviving Tech Sectors That VCs Had All But Forgotten
PitchBook data shows AI is reigniting early-stage activity across sectors like healthtech, cybersecurity, biotech, and SaaS. The common thread: companies pitching AI-native systems that drive outcomes, from clinical workflows to threat detection, rather than standalone tools. It’s a shift back into broader categories, but with a much tighter bar for what gets funded.
AI Startups Are Eating The Venture Industry and The Returns, So Far, Are Good
New data shows AI startups pulled in 41% of all venture funding last year, with a small group of companies capturing a disproportionate share of capital and early returns. Recent fund vintages are already showing stronger IRRs, driven in part by quick markups in AI-heavy portfolios.
Why AI Startups Are Selling the Same Equity at Two Different Prices
Marina Temkin reports on a new tactic in competitive AI deals: startups selling the same round of equity at two different valuations, giving lead investors a lower price while others buy in at a higher “headline” number. The structure helps companies signal market leadership and lock in oversubscribed demand, but also raises the bar for future rounds, with little room for anything but continued upside.
Thanks for reading OpenLP! We’d love your input to help shape future editions. What’s working well? What’s missing? Your feedback will help us make this newsletter more relevant and insightful for the LP and venture community.
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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