About this episode

David Weisburd interviews Ilya Strebulaev about the impact of incentives and biases in venture capital investing.

What if the biggest mistake in venture investing isn’t picking the wrong fund—but misunderstanding incentives and behavior? In this episode, I sit down with Ilya Strebulaev, Professor of Finance and Private Equity at Stanford GSB, to discuss how incentives, biases, and portfolio construction shape outcomes in venture capital. Ilya explains why fee structures matter less than how they’re designed, how carry changes risk-taking behavior, and why persistence in venture is real but often misunderstood. We also explore diversification, correlation across managers, and the hidden decision-making biases that drive both LPs and GPs, from escalation of commitment to style drift.

People in this episode

Host: David Weisburd

Guest: Ilya Strebulaev

Topics covered

• venture capital
• incentives
• portfolio construction
• risk-taking behavior
• decision-making biases

Keywords

• venture investing
• incentives
• fee structures
• carry
• diversification
• LPs
• GPs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford GSB

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