Superclusters - The Emerging LP Podcast

“We’re going into a world where there will be an increase in inequality in terms of the have’s versus have-not’s. And so if you are invested in some of the have’s, I would actually bet on their acceleration of value aggregation in the later stages of scaling which is why I, personally, think a winning strategy is to hold onto them for as long as possible."Charlotte Zhang from Inatai Foundation is back! And if you've tuned into her first episode on Superclusters, you'll know exactly why. Charlotte has been one of my favorite guests on the podcast, marrying both her profound ability for deep analysis with strong framework-oriented assessments. You might remember her 4 P's to underwriting every manager from our prior episode.Naturally I had to have her back for an El Pack episode to answer your questions on how to build a venture capital fund. We bring on 3 GPs at VC funds to ask 3 different questions.99VC's Lisa Yu asks about what LPs look for in Fund I's beyond track record.Escape Velocity's Mahesh Ramakrishnan asks about recycling and what happens when you have 30% of your fund size as distributions in the first few years of the fund.Founder Embassy's Helena Gagern asks about investing in AI frontier labs where the first round of financing already puts the company at $400M+ in valuation. And also, how do you communicate to LPs that you have an "exceptionalism" bucket to invest out of?As the director of investments at Inatai Foundation, Charlotte Zhang oversees the selection of external investment managers, conducts portfolio research, and helps to institutionalize processes, tools, and resources. She previously served as a senior associate at ICONIQ Capital and, before that, Medley Partners. When not working, you can find her globetrotting (18 countries and counting), writing a Yelp review about the best bite in town, or cuddling up with a book and her two adorable cats.You can find Charlotte on her LinkedIn here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotterzhang/OUTLINE:(00:00) Intro(01:04) What's new in Charlotte's life?(04:06) LPs Charlotte would love to meet(05:41) Who is Lisa and 99VC?(09:31) What qualities does Charlotte look for beyond track record?(14:55) How does a GP know if they have a differentiated strategy?(15:49) Charlotte's pet peeve(17:29) The bottoms up exercise of building a fund strategy(18:00) Consistency of execution(20:05) The highest level of signal you can get from a founder reference(22:18) The ask(22:51) Who is better at bowling: Mahesh or David?(24:44) Who is Mahesh and Escape Velocity?(25:20) Why is Escape Velocity spelled as EV^3?(27:10) What happens when you have 30% DPI in the first 2 years of your fund?(30:19) Does early DPI matter more in Fund I than Fund III?(33:26) Should you sell secondaries at the Series B as a pre-seed/seed GP?(37:34) Venture is under siege for no DPI(38:18) Would Charlotte rather have 4X in 10 years or 7X in 15 years?(39:42) Have's and have-not's(40:35) Who is Helena and Founder Embassy?(44:45) What is Charlotte's reaction when a pre-seed GP invests in a $400M post valuation?(49:23) How do the best GPs communicate betting off-thesis?(50:44) How many GPs have an "exceptionalism" bucket to invest out of?(55:56) How much underwriting goes into a GP breaking the rules?(58:10) "A-players are obvious" but what isn't?(1:00:38) Charlotte's last piece of advice for LPs(1:03:43) Charlotte's last piece of advice for GPs(1:07:18) Why you should talk about the anti-portfolio(1:09:33) David's favorite moment from Charlotte's previous episodeFollow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFor Superclusters After Hours: https://superclusterslp.substack.com/Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP

“Once you hit a billion dollars, you should probably consider some sort of internal team. Just to mitigate risk. There’s audit risk involved when you have such a small number of people managing a huge pool of capital. It’s going to differ for everyone. That’s probably a good benchmark.” — Trish SpurlinTrish Spurlin is the Investment Director at Babson’s $800M endowment, covering private markets investing with a large focus on venture. In fact 70% of their private equity portfolio is venture capital. Quite a unique strategy for an endowment to take. Why? An endowment is required to provide, in this case, the university money every single year, anywhere from 5% to 60% of a university’s annual budget. And to invest in an illiquid asset class aka venture capital that doesn’t return capital till a decade later, if not longer, takes courage.You can find Trish on her socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishspurlin/X / Twitter: https://x.com/trishdigiOUTLINE:[00:00] Intro[01:45] Sports in Trish's life[05:10] How does success fuel inhibit ambition? How does it inhibit ambition?[07:35] How do you underwrite long term motivation?[13:21] How fast you order something might matter[16:04] Can Trish angel invest outside of Babson?[17:08] Endowment with a $80M budget[19:54] Should you hire an outsourced CIO?[24:18] Endowment with a $8B budget[27:47] Babson's liquidity requirements[30:33] How to ask about a senior partner leaving[34:05] How does Trish build trust with her GPs?[37:48] Trish's interests vs Babson's interests[45:24] Hank sauce[47:26] Why is Ocean City Boardwalk special?[48:51] What serves as a reminder to Trish we're still in the good ol' days?Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFollow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP

Adam Marchick from Akkadian Ventures joins David on El Pack to answer your questions on how to build a venture capital fund. We bring on 3 GPs at VC funds to ask 3 different questions.Cocoa VC's Carmen Alfonso Rico asks what belief Adam held firmly for years but changed his mind recently on.Good Trouble Ventures' AJ Thomas asks about how GPs can better communicate risk to first-time LPs.1517 Fund's Danielle Strachman asks about the world view Adam has that shapes his investing thesis.Over the past twenty years, Adam Marchick has had unique experiences as a founder, general partner (GP), and limited partner (LP). Most recently, Adam managed the venture capital portfolio at Emory’s endowment, a $2 billion portfolio within the $10 billion endowment. Prior to Emory, Adam spent ten years building two companies, the most recent being Alpine.AI, which was acquired by Headspace. Simultaneously, Adam was a Sequoia Scout and built an angel portfolio of over 25 companies. Adam was a direct investor at Menlo Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures, sourcing and supporting companies including Carbonite (IPO), Rent The Runway (IPO), Rapid7 (IPO), Archer (M&A), and AeroScout (M&A). He started his career in engineering and product roles at Facebook, Oracle, and startups.You can find Adam on his socials here:X / Twitter: https://x.com/adammStanfordLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammarchick/And huge thanks to Carmen, AJ, and Danielle for joining us on the show!OUTLINE:[00:00] Intro[01:22] The anatomy of a good story[02:26] The job of an annual summit[05:35] How often does VC change?[07:25] Narratives LPs are looking for at GPs' AGMs[08:25] "20% overall revenue growth in the portfolio is NOT exciting"[09:01] What founders talk about at an AGM[14:01] How does Adam spend time at an AGM[17:48] Enter Carmen and Cocoa VC[19:35] What did Adam change his mind about[21:09] How does an LP assess GP NPS?[22:16] Picking on-sheet references[24:33] The origin of Cocoa VC[26:08] What is Carmen's superpower?[27:09] What does Carmen want from her LPs?[29:09] The best answers to "what do you want from your LPs?"[31:29] Controversial decisions for the LPAC[33:39] Enter AJ and Good Trouble Ventures[34:25] Communicating risk to your LPs[35:58] What about to first-time LPs?[38:06] Where do first-time LPs come from?[39:50] What inspired AJ's question?[42:14] Is the convo different if LPs reach out vs you reach out?[43:45] The timing of LP conversations: most frequent vs most important[45:59] The trust equation[47:45] How to scale trust with LPs[51:35] How has GPs built trust with Adam?[53:29] How often does Adam keep in touch with his GPs?[56:06] Enter Danielle and 1517 Fund[58:38] What is Adam's mental model?[1:01:43] How does Adam define low entry prices?[1:03:25] Tracking trends as an LP[1:06:55] 80-20 portfolio construction[1:10:37] Would 1517's thesis 15 years ago count as market risk?[1:14:12] Adam's last piece of advice[1:15:46] Akkadian Ventures and RAISE Global[1:17:06] David's favorite moment from Adam's earlier episodeFollow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFollow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP

Kelli Fontaine from Cendana Capital joins David on El Pack to answer your questions on how to build a venture capital fund. We bring on three GPs at VC funds to ask three different questions.The Council's Amber Illig asked what happens when a solo GP is incapacitated or passes away.Oceans Ventures' Steven Rosenblatt asked why most LPs follow the decision-making of other LPs.NeuCo Academy's Jonathan Ting asked what LPs think about GPs asking for help.From investing in great fund managers to data to investor relations, Kelli Fontaine is a partner at Cendana Capital, a fund of funds who’s solely focused on the best pre-seed and seed funds with over 2 billion under management and includes the likes of Forerunner, Founder Collective, Lerer Hippeau, Uncork, Susa Ventures and more. Kelli comes from the world of data, and has been a founder, marketing expert, and an advisor to founders since 2010.You can find Kelli on her socials here:X/Twitter: https://x.com/kells_bellsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellitrent/And huge thanks to Amber, Steven, and Jonathan for joining us on the show!OUTLINE:[00:00] Intro[01:26] Kelli's new data discoveries[04:32] How did Kelli underwrite a manager with no LinkedIn?[06:19] Is too much data ever a problem?[08:18] Vintage year benchmarking[09:49] Telltale signs on GPs' social profiles[10:57] Data Kelli wishes she could collect[15:59] Enter Amber and her new podcast[18:08] Amber's background and The Council[19:08] How does Amber define top companies?[24:25] How can a solo GP set the firm up well in case they're no longer there?[26:11] Kelli's number one fear with solo GPs[28:30] Best practices for generational transfers[32:28] Solo GPs and their future plans[36:51] Enter Steven and Oceans[42:38] Would Kelli ever include AI summaries as part of the get-to-know-someone phase?[44:18] Why do LPs follow other LP's decision-making?[48:43] What are the traits of an LP who is likely to have independent thinking?[51:16] Why don't LPs talk directly with founders?[57:59] Enter Jonathan and NeuCo Academy[1:00:05] Is Kelli seeing more secondaries firms?[1:01:56] How often should GPs lean on LPs for help?[1:07:22] Are most LPs helpful?[1:12:21] What kinds of questions does Kelli get from her own GPs?[1:15:39] Kelli's last piece of adviceFollow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFollow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP

The entire Screendoor team joins David on El Pack to answer your questions on how to build a venture capital fund. We bring on three GPs at VC funds to ask three different questions.Kyber Knight Capital's Linus Liang asked about why LPs choose to bet on new managers as opposed to investing in more established funds.NOMO Ventures' Kate Rohacz asked about what parts of venture do LPs think is most opaque.Articulate's Helen Min asked if every emerging manager should scale into a larger firm.The Screendoor team is a powerhouse of experienced LPs, bringing together institutional investment experience that spans over a decade. Lisa Cawley, Layne Johnson, and Jamie Rhode have each built institutional venture programs within innovative family offices, financial institutions, and pensions. They have invested in venture capital across stages, sectors, and geographies, and in particular are known as a go-to for emerging managers.Lisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor. Previously, Lisa worked with a private multi-billion-dollar global investment firm and Ernst & Young.You can find Lisa on her socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/31mml/Layne Johnson is a Partner at Screendoor. Previously, she led the Venture & Growth Equity manager selection effort at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas ("TRS"). She had previously been at Goldman Sachs.You can find Layne on her socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/layne-johnson-4b71b571/Jamie Rhode is a Partner at Screendoor. She previously spent 8 years at Verdis Investment Management, an institutional single family office that manages capital for generations 7 through 10.You can find Jamie on her socials here:Twitter: https://twitter.com/DurationFXLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrcfa/And huge thank you for Linus, Kate, and Helen for jumping on the show.OUTLINE:[00:00] Intro[05:58] Enter Linus and Kyber Knight Capital[10:06] Why take the risk of betting on an emerging manager?[18:40] The types of pushback Linus got when he was fundraising[19:47] The incentives of an LP when investing in VC[21:49] How do GPs ask LPs how they're compensated?[24:47] Enter Kate and NOMO Ventures[28:31] What part of venture is most opaque?[38:18] The things venture LPs look at beyond the metrics[43:47] "Bad" advice from LPs[46:27] Enter Helen[46:48] Helen's new podcast, Great Chat[49:34] What is Articulate?[52:43] Should emerging funds scale?[1:00:47] How often do GPs say they want to scale[1:03:03] Layne's advice for GPs[1:03:39] Jamie's advice for LPs[1:04:55] Lisa's advice for LPs and GPs[1:07:35] David's favorite moment from Jamie's episode[1:09:53] David's favorite moment from Lisa's episodeFollow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFollow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP