The VC Framework For Optimizing Success: The Kauffman Fellows Four Pillars

The venture capital industry is as asymmetrical an industry as any; the top 1% to 4% of venture investments usually get the outsized (10x+) returns.  However, this begs the question: is investing in...

The Case for Camels: Part 2

Why backing innovators that seek balanced growth, not just growth-at-all cost, is good business and good investing......

Pitfalls LPs Need to Avoid When Co-Investing Directly in Startups

At Village Global, an early stage venture firm where I am a partner, we have the privilege of working with several of the largest family offices in the world, along with university endowments and oth...

Family Office Venture Capital Outlook 2020

At the start of 2020, Kauffman Fellows and First Republic Bank surveyed family offices (“FO”) to better understand their current investment theses and outlooks. We ran the survey again to explore ...

A New Platform For Emerging Managers

Previously, we examined the unmet needs of micro-VC and emerging managers, and the opportunities this may bring for an enterprising, emerging manager-focused LP....

Consolidation: the Face of Venture Capital Post COVID-19

In venture capital, the increasing disruption by mega-funds is driving many VCs into the classic innovator’s dilemma: I need to raise bigger funds to survive, but doing so will eventually dilute my ...

We surveyed 90 top VCs globally on investing, raising funds, and portfolio support in the COVID era

In moments of uncertainty, it helps to gather a cumulative idea of how VCs at top performing funds around the world are thinking.  We reached out directly to 90 venture capital partners at prominent ...

A Better LP Model for Micro-VC and Emerging Managers

Raising capital from limited partners is hard. It’s harder if you are pitching a micro-VC strategy. But it becomes the hardest to raise during a global crisis like we are in today. But outside of th...

This is how much harder it is to raise capital during a downturn

The recent coronavirus outbreak has shocked markets around the world and US equities, in particular, have dragged into bearish territory faster than any other tumble. But as an institution focused on ...

Silicon Valley Camels, will you please stand up

The term Camel was originally coined by Kauffman Fellow Alex Lazarow as part of his new book Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs – from Delhi to Detroit – Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon ...

The Hard Questions Venture Capital GPs Need to Be Prepared For

As a GP, courting LPs can be a very ambiguous process. You might go in with the full range of optimism and skepticism. Regardless, if you haven’t done the inner work of evaluating yourself, your par...

Deconstructing the Pipeline Myth and the Case for More Diverse Fund Managers

Entrepreneurship is influenced by many factors, including ones that may not seem obvious, like ethnicity and culture. Much has been written about diversity in the startup and venture capital worlds...

What to look for in LPs

Selecting the right Limited Partners (LPs) for your fund is a critical component for a successful, long-lasting venture capital firm. This is the second of a two-part series that explores how to partn...

Data Show that Gender-Inclusive Founding Teams Have Greater Success in Fundraising and Innovation

The glass ceiling is being chipped away more and more each year, but the task of shattering it is far from over. In the ever-evolving realm of startups and venture capital in the United States, we ...

To Follow-on or Not to Follow-on, Part 2 of Un-learnings from a VC-Turned-LP

In the investment world, FOMO, fear of missing out, runs rampant. VCs and LPs both dread “missing out” on those asymmetric exits that generate millions or billions of dollars....

Un-learnings from a VC-Turned-LP: Risk and Reward Paradigm Shift, Part 1

Ben Choi has a unique perspective on investment intuition. He started out as a venture capitalist investing in early-stage startups and then became a Limited Partner, which gives him a comprehensive ...

Intimacy and Transparency: Part 1 on VC/LP relations

In the opening chapter of Adam Grant’s “Give and Take”, Grant reminds us about the opaque nature of the venture business just 2 decades ago at the turn of millennia. Since then, we’ve seen an ...

Communication Strategies with Existing LPs: Part 2 of VC/LP Relations

In this second part of Intimacy and transparency: VC/LP relations with Chris Douvos, we dive deep into the actual output LPs want to see from their GPs. Meaning quarterly emails, annual meetings, comm...

6 Common Pitfalls VCs Make With LPs: Part 3 of VC/LP Relations

In this last part of Intimacy and transparency: VC/LP relations with Chris Douvos, we dive deep into common pitfalls that VCs and their firms oftentimes fall into when engaging with LPs during the fun...