Superclusters is a podcast designed to help the emerging LP think like an established LP allocating to venture capital as an asset class. Our goal is to answer one question: How do the world's wealthiest institutions and individuals pick VC firms to invest in?
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Talent Networks are your Greatest Asset | Adam Marchick | Superclusters | S4E9
Season 4 · Episode 10
Monday, January 13, 2025 • Duration 45:21
“When investing in funds, you are investing in a blind pool of human potential.” – Adam Marchick
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.
The Dao of Investing in VC Funds | Jay Rongjie Wang | Superclusters | S4E8
Season 4 · Episode 9
Monday, January 6, 2025 • Duration 01:29:49
“The first layer is setting up your own strategy. The second layer is portfolio construction. How do you do your portfolio construction based on the strategy you set out to do? And then manager selection comes last. Within the portfolio construction target, how do you pick managers that fit that ‘mandate?’” – Jay Rongjie Wang
Jay Rongjie Wang is the founding Chief Investment Officer of Primitiva Global, where she runs a family-backed Multi-asset Strategy. She also works extensively with emerging VC managers, and sits on the Selection Committee of Bridge Funding Global.
Jay's background uniquely combines software engineering (at the world's largest fintech platform) and institutional investing (at top funds including Fidelity and Sequoia), as well as general management (3x executive in tech startups). Jay has lived in 5 different countries across 9 major cities, giving her a global perspective.
Jay obtained her B.A and M.Sci in Physics from Cambridge University and M.B.A from INSEAD. In 2023 she was listed as an Entrepreneurial Pioneer Under 35 by Hurun Wealth.
[24:24] The motivations behind Jay's career shifts
When VC Funds Become Firms, Part 3 | Lisa Cawley, Ben Choi, Jaclyn Freeman Hester | Superclusters
Season 3 · Episode 13
Monday, October 7, 2024 • Duration 43:53
“When you bring people in as partners, being generous around compensating them from funds they did not build can help create alignment because they’re not sitting there getting rich off of something that started five years ago and exits in ten years. So they’re kind of on an island because everybody else is in a different economic position and that can be very isolating.” – Jaclyn Freeman Hester
We're doing a three-part series with some of our fan favorites over the last three seasons on the LP perspective of succession-planning and VC firm-building.
Lisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor, a highly respected LP of GPs, investing in firm-builders by firm-builders, with a unique model for partnering with allocators to access the emerging manager ecosystem.
Ben Choi manages over $3B investments with many of the world’s premier venture capital firms as well as directly in early stage startups. He brings to Next Legacy a distinguished track record spanning over two decades founding and investing in early-stage technology businesses.
Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry’s partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs.
When VC Funds Become Firms, Part 2 | Lisa Cawley, Ben Choi, Jaclyn Freeman Hester | Superclusters
Season 3 · Episode 12
Monday, September 30, 2024 • Duration 47:09
“We overcomplicate almost nothing as LPs. And this is a criticism of myself. And I think we oversimplify almost everything. Because by definition, we’re the customer of the end product. [...] LPs watch the movie, but don’t read the book.” – Ben Choi
We're doing a three-part series with some of our fan favorites over the last three seasons on the LP perspective of succession-planning and VC firm-building.
Lisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor, a highly respected LP of GPs, investing in firm-builders by firm-builders, with a unique model for partnering with allocators to access the emerging manager ecosystem.
Ben Choi manages over $3B investments with many of the world’s premier venture capital firms as well as directly in early stage startups. He brings to Next Legacy a distinguished track record spanning over two decades founding and investing in early-stage technology businesses.
Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry’s partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs.
When VC Funds Become Firms, Part 1 | Lisa Cawley, Ben Choi, Jaclyn Freeman Hester | Superclusters
Season 3 · Episode 11
Monday, September 23, 2024 • Duration 38:19
“You can map out what your ideal process is, but it’s actually the depth of discussion that the internal team has with one another. [...] You have to define what your vision for the firm is years out, in order to make sure that you’re setting those people up for success and that they have a runway and a growth path and that they feel empowered and they feel like they’re learning and they’re contributing as part of the brand. And so much of what happens there, it does tie back to culture [...] There’s this amazing, amazing commercial that Michael Phelps did, [...] and the tagline behind it was ‘It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light.’” – Lisa Cawley
Lisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor, a highly respected LP of GPs, investing in firm-builders by firm-builders, with a unique model for partnering with allocators to access the emerging manager ecosystem.
Ben Choi manages over $3B investments with many of the world’s premier venture capital firms as well as directly in early stage startups. He brings to Next Legacy a distinguished track record spanning over two decades founding and investing in early-stage technology businesses.
Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry’s partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs.
How to Build an Emerging Manager Community | Rick Zullo | Superclusters | S3PSE1
Season 3 · Episode 10
Monday, September 9, 2024 • Duration 01:44:58
Rick Zullo is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Equal Ventures. which invests into the future of four verticals: climate, insurance, retail, and supply chain, and boasts a portfolio including the likes of Threeflow, Leap, Smarthop, Ghost, Starday, David Energy, Leap, Odyssey, Vquip or Texture, just to name a few — many of which Rick serves on the board of.
Prior to co-founding Equal Ventures, Rick was an investor at Lightbank, an early-stage venture fund based in Chicago, where he led investments in companies like Riskmatch (acquired by Vertafore), Vettery (acquired by Adecco), Neumob (acquired by CloudFlare), Expel and Catalytic amongst others. Prior to Lightbank, Rick worked with investment firms Foundation Capital, Bowery Capital, and Lightview Capital, investing in technology companies across the capital spectrum from seed-stage to buy-out and began his career as a strategy consultant at Deloitte Consulting.
Rick received an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School and graduated from the University of Richmond where he studied Economics and Leadership Studies.
[00:42] Rick's book and how Rick thinks about his habit of writing
[05:45] How Rick became a VC
[11:36] The speed Rick listens to audiobooks
[12:38] How Sendbird closed their first customer
How to Get Access into Top Tier Funds | Felipe Valencia | Superclusters | S3E9
Season 3 · Episode 9
Monday, August 26, 2024 • Duration 01:45:42
Felipe Valencia is one of the co-founders of Veronorte, a venture capital investment firm based out of Colombia. In the first decade, Veronorte focused on managing Corporate Venture Programs for some of the largest Corporations in Latam.
These days, they’re diving into a Fund of Funds investment strategy in the Venture Capital space. For the last 12 years, Veronorte has invested in over 25 startups across the U.S., India, Europe, Mexico, and Colombia, and in more than 12 Venture Capital funds, primarily in the U.S.
With over 20 years of experience under his belt, Felipe has dabbled in various fields like robotics, the internet, international trade, and infrastructure project management.
Felipe graduated summa cum laude with a Mechanical Engineering degree from EAFIT University. He also holds a Master’s in Web Communication from the European Institute of Design in Rome and an MBA from the University of Chicago, where he focused on entrepreneurship and finance.
Felipe’s journey has taken him all over the world: He worked for AVG – Robotics in Los Angeles, did research and development in Mechatronics at Siemens in Germany, and was the Commercial and Strategic Director of Indexcol in Colombia. He also served as the Commercial Attaché at the Colombian Embassy in China and led the Proexport office there. Most recently, he was involved in business development at Pierson Capital in Beijing and managed infrastructure projects in Mexico.
You can find Felipe on his socials here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felipevalencia/
Veronorte: https://veronorte.com/
And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[02:54] Felipe's teenage years under a life of terror
[10:01] How Medellin has changed over the years
[13:12] Tales from Felipe's travels across 10 cities in 4 continents
[17:53] How did Felipe made his foray into VC?
[22:46] How did Felipe meet his co-founding partner Camilo?
[26:31] How Felipe pitched a VC fund without a track record
[39:16] How did Felipe and Camilo think about compensation in Fund I?
[47:40] How did Veronorte transition from a VC fund to a fund of funds?
[55:14] The Monte Carlo simulation of fund of funds strategies
[1:03:04] How much better does a venture fund need to do than public markets?
[1:05:46] How did Veronorte get into top tier established funds?
[1:12:00] What coffee brand did Felipe bring on his visits to the US?
[1:13:38] How did Veronorte close Latam family offices in their fund of funds?
[1:17:04] How does Veronorte communicate with their LPs?
[1:23:58] The difference between an emerging firm and a frontier firm
[1:28:55] Portfolio construction at Veronorte
[1:34:50] What podcasts does Felipe listen to?
[1:38:19] Felipe's advice for the wanderlust
[1:43:39] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:44:39] If you enjoyed this episode, albeit longer, please do leave a like and share it with one friend who'd enjoy this episode!
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For podcast show notes:
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Why Trust is Built from the Small Things | Ben Ehrlich | Superclusters | S3E8
Season 3 · Episode 8
Monday, August 19, 2024 • Duration 01:12:39
“If you want to build trust with someone [on your team], if they screw up, you have to be okay with them screwing up because you put them in the situation.” – Ben Ehrlich
Ben Ehrlich is the founder and General Partner of First Momentum Capital, where he helps seed a new generation of venture capital firms. He is also the Director of Strategy at the Long Term Stock Exhange. Previously Ben worked across the venture ecosystem supporting companies in the Canadian Technology Accelerator, OutCast Communications and Cribspot (YC 15). In his free time Ben takes his Irish setter doodle hiking and enjoys watching the University of Michigan football team (mostly) win.
[03:43] The origins of the Out of the Crisis podcast
[06:54] Ben's advice for rookie podcasters
[08:35] How did Ben first meet Eric Ries?
[11:46] The play-by-play for Ben's interview with LTSE
[13:36] What do decisions and conversations look like at LTSE?
[16:23] Building trust among team members
An Inside Peek into the Mind of an Individual LP | Susan Kimberlin | Superclusters | S3E7
Season 3 · Episode 7
Monday, August 12, 2024 • Duration 01:01:27
Susan Kimberlin builds and invests in things that are Good & Useful. She is an angel investor, limited partner and product leader with a career that is equal parts building SaaS software products, and investing in companies, funds, teams, and projects that promote social equity with practical solutions for real-world problems. She is committed to bringing more diverse people into investing and the innovation economy. With a background in building search and natural language products for companies like PayPal and Salesforce, she leverages her experience to help her portfolio companies with product and fundraising strategies. Susan believes that bringing diverse perspectives to creative and practical challenges is the best way to create durable and impactful change.
In addition to her tech roles, Susan co-owns and manages Tammberlin Vineyards, growing Rhône wine varietals in Bennett Valley, Sonoma County. She works on documentary and narrative film projects as an executive producer, supporting creative projects that raise awareness, start conversations, and bring joy. She is a lifelong singer, and has been singing with pop a cappella group The Loose Interpretations for nearly 20 years.
[10:10] How to balance high expectations for your team and the trust that they will get there
The Art and Science of Reference Checks | Raida Daouk | Superclusters | S3E6
Season 3 · Episode 6
Monday, August 5, 2024 • Duration 01:09:01
“The more constraints you have, the more conviction you will have in each manager.”
Raida started her career in banking before moving to the investment team of BY Venture Partner, a venture fund with offices in Beirut and Abu Dhabi. She quickly climbed the ranks within the company and ultimately became a Venture Partner.
Recognizing a void in the market for personalized venture consulting services, Raida established Amkan Advisory, a boutique consultancy firm specializing in assisting family offices and high-net-worth individuals in identifying venture funds that align with their specific strategies. Given that first-time fund managers often possess the most aligned incentives with their investors, she understood the significant value they bring to the venture capital landscape.
However, Raida also understood the reluctance of family offices to commit capital to relatively unproven managers. By curating a portfolio of carefully selected funds, she aims to mitigate the perceived risk associated with investing in first-time managers while still accessing the high-growth potential of emerging ventures.
Amkan Ventures emerged to offer LPs access to emerging managers beyond their direct reach. Focusing on small Funds I and II led by ambitious managers with a conviction-driven approach, the firm prioritizes delivering returns and nurturing opportunities in the venture arena.
Amkan Ventures’ first close occurred in April 2024, with one investment already made in a $30M fund I out of NY and one more about to be announced.
Raida currently serves on the Selection Committees of RAISE Global and The Bridge Platform.
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[01:55] Lisa on documenting the how and why behind decisions
[05:52] Ben on leadership transitions at VC firms
[08:08] GP commits by young GPs at established firms
[11:56] What makes Kauffman Fellows special
[14:33] Should Kauffman sponsor Superclusters?
[15:34] A rising tide raises all ships
[16:41] Partnerships that choose to stay together
[18:21] Jaclyn on leadership transitions at VC firms
[25:48] The economics of succession planning
[31:28] Lisa on succession planning vs wind-down planning
[33:10] Jaclyn on pros & cons of succession planning & committee decisions
[41:50] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[42:51] If you liked this 3-part series, do let us know with a like or a comment below!
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP
Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters
Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters
And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[02:00] Questions Ben asks GPs to see if they're thinking long-term
[06:50] Questions Jaclyn asks GPs to assess long-term thinking
[09:45] What does leverage look like for a GP?
[20:13] The role of AI internally at a firm
[21:06] Advice to people looking to take junior VC roles
[25:33] Questions Lisa asks GPs to assess long-term thinking
[29:19] When does a fund turn into a firm?
[31:26] Lisa: What do LPs often oversimplify vs overcomplicate about firm-building?
[35:31] Ben's answer to oversimplification vs overcomplication
[41:00] What do emerging and established GPs oversimplify and overcomplicate?
[45:06] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[46:07] If you can't wait for Part 3 of this conversation, leave us a like or comment!
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP
Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters
Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters
[30:42] What was the pitch to close First Momentum's first fund?
[33:54] How does Ben underwrite Fund I managers?
[36:42] How does Ben measure a GP's future deal flow (as opposed to today's)?
[45:40] What does a "No" from Ben look like?
[57:50] Thoughts on fund governance
[1:05:57] What is the role of serendipity in Ben's life?
[1:08:17] Commisso Bakery in Toronto
[1:10:35] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:11:35] If you enjoyed the episode, I'd appreciate it if you could share it with one friend!
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP
Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters
Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters
[14:53] How does Susan recognize drive and excellence in others?
[21:49] What made Susan's founding LP check in Backstage Capital so unique?
[26:01] Difference between LP stakes and GP stakes
[38:51] The smokes and mirrors behind the first pitch
[43:54] Susan's investment strategy as an individual LP?
[50:21] What topic would Susan give a TED talk in that's not startups or venture?
[59:24] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:00:25] If you enjoyed this episode, could you share this with one other friend?
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP
Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters
Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[02:45] The impact of biology on Raida's career
[06:24] If Raida were to teach a founder psychology course
[08:42] Raida's definition of "running through walls"
[10:16] Similarities and differences between founders and fund managers
[11:36] What does GP-thesis fit look like?
[14:38] How Raida got to a yes on Nebular Ventures?
[20:35] The personas of different kinds of references
[26:05] The one question that Raida always asks during reference calls
[28:31] Is there such a thing as too many references?
[31:57] What if you don't have a network of references as an LP?
[35:26] How does one set up the venture arm of a family office?
[40:28] What is the GCC?
[43:58] The best way to build relationships in the GCC
[47:54] The origin story of Amkan Ventures
[52:19] How did Raida build a strong understanding of the foodtech space?
[53:58] Where did Amkan's name come from?
[58:26] What fund is in Raida's anti-portfolio?
[1:00:30] What's Raida's take on solo GPs?
[1:03:10] How does your mindset change as an LP if you had evergreen capital?
[1:06:58] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:07:59] If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean a lot if you could share this with one other friend!
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP
Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters
Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters
