The latest perspectives from OpenLP, a resource for the venture community to hear from a diverse group of LP and GP voices.
LP & GP Voices
Big Winners and Bold Concentration: Unveiling the Secret Portfolio Returns of Leading Venture Funds
By Jason Shuman
Jason Shuman, General Partner at Primary Venture Partners, shares an inside look into how funds who have returned more than 10X to LPs make and lose money. If you've ever wanted to see how a fund can return >17X, you'll want to give this a read.
Sometimes there's nothing wrong with your company or pitch, the other person just doesn't feel like passing will be a decision they regret. Precursor Ventures' Charles Hudson discusses the challenges startup founders have faced in raising funds over the past few years, particularly in 2023.
Redpoint Ventures and Stepstone Group on VC Deployment, M&A, and Google's AI Strategy
By David Weisburd
On This Week in Startups, hosted by Jason Calacanis, 10X Capital's David Weisburd sits down with Redpoint Ventures' Logan Bartlett and StepStone Group's Hunter Somerville to dive into the challenges and realities of venture capital, including startup acquisitions and unethical behaviors in the industry, as well as some of the hottest trends in the ecosystem.
The Workflows and Automation to Run an Efficient Fund
By Ryan Hoover and Vedika Jain
The best fund managers have a process for repeated activities, from deal flow management to diligence, powered by tools in their stack. Weekend Fund’s Ryan Hoover and Vedika Jain round up input from 16 investors to highlight the diversity of approaches and a few very novel (AI-powered, of course) solutions.
From Demo Day to First Meeting: My Demo Day Checklist
By David Zhou
Alchemist Accelerator's David Zhou shares a checklist for evaluating emerging managers across five categories: sourcing, picking, winning, likability and uniqueness, as well as a scorecard he used to decide which managers he wanted to have a second conversation with.
The Investment Office Playbook - What Managers Don’t See
By Ted Seides
Ted Seides, Host of the Capital Allocators podcast, shares insights into an investment office's playbook, revealing that new investment relationships start when the manager fits into the allocator’s playbook, not the other way around.
Earlier this month, senior LPs and VCs gathered in LA for SuperVenture US West to share insights for allocators navigating the current market. SC Moatti, Managing Partner at Mighty Capital, rounds up the wisdom shared in her recent blog, featuring insights from Sapphire Partners' Partner Laura Thompson.
Crossing the Chasm: The Difficult Journey from Fund I to II
By Ryan Hibbison
Just how tough is it to raise a sophomore fund? We boldly predicted we could see up to 347 first-time managers exit the market if success rates drop 5-15% from historical averages.
PitchBook compares the historical record of established managers with that of emerging managers while providing additional nuance on the impact that fund size has historically had on performance.
We are shaping the potential for generational change. These Cultural Vibrations are a call to action for us as investors. They urge us to look beyond the surface, to empathize with the deeper currents and tensions shaping our world.
The basic VC model is cyclical. Raise money, invest that money, exit via IPOs or strategic sales, and then use those exits to raise more money. But it doesn't work if you stop exiting companies.
AI Funding Stays Strong Despite Few Billion-Dollar Rounds
By Chris Metinko
The slowdown some predicted for AI funding did not play out in the first quarter. According to Crunchbase data, venture funding to AI-related startups actually increased in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
Venture funds closed on just $15B, a 53% decrease from the same quarter a year earlier and the lowest quarterly total since Q3 of 2017. If the trend continues, VCs are on track to raise about $60B for all of 2024, which would be the lowest annual total since 2014, when venture funds worldwide collected about $59B.
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.
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