What Makes a Top VC Fund Today? Dave Neumann at Schroders Capital on LP Thinking, DPI and Venture Returns

About this episode

Dave Neumann discusses what makes a top VC fund from an LP's perspective.

What does a genuinely great VC fund look like today, from an LP’s perspective? In this episode, James and Hector are joined by Dave Neumann, Investment Manager at Schroders Capital, one of the most experienced institutional investors in venture. With a career spanning decades and exposure to top-tier global funds, Dave shares how leading LPs actually evaluate venture firms, and where many GPs get it wrong. The conversation covers what separates top quartile funds from the rest, why venture is...

People in this episode

Hosts: James, Hector

Guest: Dave Neumann

Topics covered

• venture capital
• limited partners
• investment evaluation
• top quartile funds
• venture returns

Keywords

• VC fund
• LP thinking
• DPI
• venture returns
• investment manager
• Schroders Capital
• top quartile funds

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Schroders Capital

More episodes of Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology

• The Future of Finance is AI-Native: Jonathan Sanders, CEO of Light, on Organic Software, AI Agents, and Rebuilding Business Finance · June 10, 2026 · 29 min
• Steve Domin, Founder & CEO @ Duffel – Rebuilding Travel Infrastructure, Surviving COVID, and the Future of API-First Companies · May 20, 2026 · 26 min
• Building the backbone of AI with Mahdi Yahya, Co-Founder @ Radiant on Compute, Power and the Future of Infrastructure · May 13, 2026 · 27 min
• Charlotte Palmer, VP of Venture Capital at Integra Global Advisors on Backing Emerging Managers, Access, and Venture Fundraising · May 6, 2026 · 30 min
• Inside Fuse Energy: Alan Chang on Building a $5B Energy Giant and Chasing £1B ARR · April 29, 2026 · 21 min
• Tony Jamous & Hadi Moussa at Oyster HR on leadership transition, CEO succession and unlocking global talent · April 15, 2026 · 41 min