New Carta data highlights a growing performance divide across venture vintages. While top-decile funds from 2017 and 2018 continue to separate themselves, most newer funds remain well below the 3x TVPI benchmark, even as early signs of recovery emerge through improving IRRs and initial distributions.
Rohit Yadav examines how venture firms are actually using data today, why “data is our moat” often collapses into stitched-together tooling, and where clarity is starting to matter more than access. The report combines case studies, practitioner perspectives, and new frameworks to help LPs and GPs think more rigorously about how data can become a real source of alpha.
PitchBook’s latest numbers show fund managers raised $45.7B in the first nine months of 2025. At this pace, we’re looking at the slowest fundraising year since 2017. And it’s not just dollars, the number of new funds being formed has dropped by more than half compared to last year.
The Great Recalibration: Changing Limited Partner Dynamics in Small-Fund VC
Based on survey data from 48 small funds (<$250M), Dan Gray shows that 2025 is shaping up to be the most challenging fundraising environments of the past few years, driven by a rebalancing of LP participation and a pullback from multi-stage firms. The analysis also highlights emerging themes like LP concentration, GP-as-a-brand, and growing demand for co-invest access.
2026 Outlook: Private Equity & Venture Capital Views
Cambridge Associates lays out how private markets are likely to evolve in 2026 as the distribution drought persists, secondaries continue to grow, and individual investors play a larger role in funding private assets. The outlook argues that LPs will need to rethink portfolio construction using secondaries more actively, reassessing the role of mega-managers, and being more selective at the early-stage as seed valuations rise and outcomes concentrate further.
How do you know if the VC firm you’re talking to is a walking zombie? New Carta data shows that fund vintage and deployment pace are increasingly reliable indicators of whether a firm is still writing checks. The implication: some firms that look active on the surface are operating under very different constraints.
What Does a “Healthy” Venture Market Actually Look Like?
Mega-funds are pushing earlier on the cap table and concentrating capital at the top end of Seed and Series A, turning up the ante on why a founder should pick a particular investor. Beezer Clarkson and Evan Tarzian share new data on where dedicated-stage funds control the market vs megas and how the landscape is more competitive than ever.
Inside the VC Roll-Up Craze that has Taken Silicon Valley by Storm
Venture capitalists borrowed liberally from the private equity playbook this year, and nowhere was that more evident than in roll-up strategies built on the idea that AI tools can make old-school small businesses far more efficient. Newcomer shares details on unreported deals, key partners and more.
Staying Small Despite Billion-Dollar Backings with Micah Rosenbloom
Micah Rosenbloom, MP at Founder Collective, talks with Beezer and Nick to discuss Founder Collective’s philosophy of keeping their fund size small to avoid the “billions or bust” mentality, how most investors have a bad track record of spotting trends at seed, and how consumer goods are still worthwhile investments even against the backdrop of AI.
Minisode: The Speed of Iteration in Venture
Beezer and Nick dig into their recent conversation with Micah.They discuss the EQ and self-awareness required to switch from operator to investor, how to separate signal from noise in venture cycles, and how the speed of iteration is now such that a window of one or two days can change the entire calculus of an investment.
LP & GP Voices
PODCAST
The Debut of Sequoia’s New Stewards
In their first public debut together as Sequoia Capital’s new stewards, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady joined Uncapped with Jack Altman for a rare conversation about how they’re leading Sequoia into its next chapter.
Charles Mansfield III shared an all-star Spotify Wrapped of top venture podcasts. A few of our favorite voices made the list, and we’re honored Origins made the cut!
The WSJ’s recent reporting on AI-driven job cuts is already reshaping LP expectations. Adam Metz lays out the specific questions emerging managers should expect next, like how they’re using AI internally, how they’re underwriting displacement risk, and why they’re still the right bet versus larger, more automated funds.
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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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