Topic
How venture capital funds are structured, managed, and how they generate returns.
72 pieces of content
66 articles
Not every firm runs a traditional scout program. Bessemer Venture Partners and others are pioneering fellowship and talent-pipeline models that achieve similar results through different means.
Inside Sequoia Capital: from Don Valentine's founding in 1972 to their $85B evergreen fund structure. Portfolio, partners, strategy, and how to get funded.
The complete PE software stack — from CRM and deal flow to portfolio monitoring, fund administration, and LP reporting. Pricing, best-fit guidance, and how to build your tech stack on a budget.
12 portfolio management books organized by level — from beginner classics like A Random Walk Down Wall Street to VC-specific picks like The Power Law. Honest reviews, key takeaways, and who should read each one.
PE fund administration covers NAV calculations, waterfall distributions, K-1 prep, and regulatory filings. Here's what PE fund admins do, how they differ from VC fund admin, and the top providers to consider.
Harry Markowitz's Modern Portfolio Theory revolutionized public markets. But VC returns follow power laws, not normal distributions. Here's where MPT works in venture — and where it completely breaks down.
Affinity is the CRM most institutional VCs use, and it does not publish prices: plans start around $1,500 to $1,800 a user a year and Enterprise runs $3,000+. 4Degrees, its closest competitor, starts around $1,200 a user a year, roughly half of Affinity Professional, with faster onboarding and a simpler interface.
You can't just "become" a VC. But there are 5 real paths in — from scout programs to micro-funds. Here's what actually works and what's a waste of time.
The top 5% of VC investments generate 60%+ of all returns. Most funds return less than 1x. The power law isn't just a concept — it's the reason VCs behave the way they do.
The investment memo is the core deliverable in VC. Most are mediocre. Here's the section-by-section template top funds actually use, with examples of what good vs. bad looks like.
From $80K analyst salaries to $20M+ in career carry, VC compensation is wildly misunderstood. Here's the real breakdown by level, fund size, and how carry changes everything.
90% of exits are M&A, not IPOs. Here's how each exit type works, who gets paid what, and how liquidation preferences change the math at different exit prices.
The power law rules VC. Seed funds do 25-40 deals, Series A funds do 15-25. Here's the math behind check sizes, reserves, ownership targets, and concentration risk.
Management fees, carried interest, GP commit, J-curve, waterfalls. The actual math behind running a venture fund, explained with real numbers on a $100M fund.
How VC fund profits are distributed between GPs and LPs. The 4-tier waterfall, American vs European models, and clawback provisions.
What actually happens after a VC says "we're interested." The complete due diligence process: market, product, team, financial, and legal. Plus red flags and timelines.
The most fundamental relationship in VC, explained clearly. Who GPs and LPs are, what they do, how the money flows, and what happens when they disagree.
30 real VC interview questions organized by category: technical, market thesis, deal evaluation, and behavioral. With frameworks for answering each one.
The real paths into VC, what firms actually look for, salary ranges at every level, and how to build a track record before anyone gives you a shot. No MBA required.
Women write just 16% of VC checks but control some of the best-performing funds in the industry. Meet the 17 investors reshaping venture capital with better returns and broader deal flow.
Q1 2025 saw $78B deployed globally. AI grabbed 62% of mega-rounds, climate tech got real, and fintech consolidated hard. Here's what the biggest deals tell us about where the money is going.
How to think about follow-on investments in your angel portfolio — pro-rata rights, signaling risks, reserve allocation, metrics to evaluate, and when it's smarter to walk away.
TVPI, DPI, IRR — fund performance metrics sound like alphabet soup. Here's what they mean, what good looks like, and why vintage year changes everything.
AI is eating venture capital. Here are the 10 firms deploying the most capital into AI right now, what they're looking for, and how to get on their radar.
The math behind angel investing allocation — portfolio sizing as a percentage of net worth, check size calculations, follow-on reserves, and why $5K checks usually don't work.
Fund administration is the back-office infrastructure that keeps a PE fund running. Here's what it covers, who the major providers are, what it costs, and how to choose the right one.
DPI, TVPI, and MOIC are the core metrics in VC fund performance — but they measure different things. Here's how to read them together and avoid the most common misinterpretations.
Solo GP venture capital is one of the fastest-growing fund models in the industry. Here's how to structure, launch, and run a one-person VC fund that LPs will back.
The ILPA DDQ is the standard framework institutional LPs use to evaluate fund managers. Learn what's inside it, how to complete it, and best practices for emerging managers.
Fund of funds in VC pool LP capital across multiple venture funds, offering diversified access to top managers. Here's how they work and who the leading players are.
The 2 and 20 fee structure is the backbone of hedge fund, VC, and PE compensation. Here's exactly how management fees and carried interest work — with real calculations.
The hurdle rate determines when PE managers earn carry. Learn how the formula works, what the 8% benchmark means, and how it compares to IRR.
MOIC and IRR measure very different things — and using them wrong can cost you LP trust. Here's how each metric works, with formulas, benchmarks, and real comparisons.
Gross IRR and net IRR can differ by 600–1,000bps in venture capital. Here's what LPs and GPs need to know about the difference — and how to avoid being misled.
Launching Fund I? Here are 10 tools across fund admin, legal, banking, CRM, and portfolio ops — plus what to use before you even pick a fund admin.
Honest breakdown of what's free on VC Beast (a lot) and what costs money (targeted tools for active fundraisers and fund managers).
GP/LP structure, investment committees, partner dynamics, consensus vs conviction—a complete breakdown of how venture capital firms organize and make investment decisions.
Part-time vs full-time, sourcing vs investing, carry allocation—demystifying one of the most misunderstood roles in venture capital and how to become one.
DPI vs TVPI, track record, team stability, differentiated access, fund size discipline—here's what limited partners actually evaluate when committing to a venture fund.
Check sizes, reserve ratios, concentration vs diversification, follow-on strategy—the math behind how top VCs structure their portfolios to maximize fund returns.
Learn how to build and stress-test a VC investment thesis that drives deal flow, earns LP trust, and produces repeatable returns — with real-world examples.
VC platform strategy has evolved from a differentiator to a baseline expectation. Learn how leading firms build platform teams that drive real value for portfolio companies and win competitive deals.
Learn how venture capital distribution waterfalls work, when LPs receive proceeds, and the key tax implications every fund manager and LP needs to understand.
Pro rata rights can make or break your fund's returns — but only if you know when to exercise them. Here's a practical framework for making smarter follow-on decisions.
Learn how to size and deploy follow-on reserves in VC — with benchmarks by fund stage, reserve modeling frameworks, and LP reporting best practices.
A structured investment committee process is critical for small VC funds. Learn IC best practices, a practical IC memo template, and how to run disciplined investment decisions.
Learn how top GPs structure their LP annual meetings to build trust, drive re-ups, and strengthen investor relationships — with a full agenda breakdown and best practices.
Emerging managers face a critical choice: what fund admin to outsource vs. handle internally. Here's a practical framework covering costs, functions, and common mistakes.
Learn how to structure an LP Advisory Committee, define its responsibilities, and follow LPAC best practices that satisfy institutional LPs and support sound fund governance.
Capital call mechanics govern how VC funds draw down LP commitments. Learn how notices work, drawdown schedules, pro-rata rules, and what happens when LPs default.
Inbound vs outbound, warm intros, scout networks, thesis-driven sourcing—here's how top-tier venture firms actually find the companies they invest in.
Rolling funds changed how emerging managers raise capital. But they're not right for everyone. Here's a data-driven framework for choosing your fund structure.
Family offices now account for nearly 30% of emerging manager LP capital. Here's how to navigate their unique decision-making, build relationships, and structure terms they'll accept.
Biotech VC is a different animal: 10-year timelines, binary FDA outcomes, and massive capital requirements. Here's how the best biotech fund managers structure for success.
Climate tech venture has matured beyond cleantech 1.0 hype. The winning fund strategies combine deep science with practical market timing and creative capital structures.
Micro-funds now account for 75% of all venture funds raised. They're outperforming larger funds and reshaping how startups get funded. Here's the complete picture.
Transitioning from angel investor to fund manager is the hardest career leap in venture capital. Here's the step-by-step playbook used by GPs who've successfully made the jump.
Most emerging managers get portfolio construction wrong because they rely on intuition instead of math. Here's the quantitative framework that top-performing seed funds actually use.
Solo GPs now manage over $10B in venture capital. The data shows they're not just surviving — they're outperforming multi-partner funds at the seed stage. Here's why.
Management fees, carried interest, GP commit, clawbacks — the economics of a venture fund are more nuanced than most emerging managers realize. Here's the definitive breakdown.
Everything you need to know about launching a venture capital fund — from legal structure and fundraising to portfolio strategy, operations, and the realities most first-time GPs face.
How special purpose vehicles work in venture capital — SPV structure, economics, legal requirements, and when they make sense for angel syndicates, co-investments, and emerging managers.
How rolling funds work — the subscription-based venture capital model that lets managers raise continuously, LPs commit quarterly, and everyone skip the traditional 18-month fundraise.
Over 70% of first-time fund managers never raise a second fund. Here's what separates the survivors from the statistics — and the five mistakes you can avoid starting today.
A clear explanation of how venture capital funds are structured, the roles of limited partners and general partners, fee economics, and how fund structure affects startup founders.
How solo general partners and micro funds under $50M are disrupting traditional VC, offering founders faster decisions, deeper expertise, and more aligned incentives.
6 guides
Most LP updates are skimmed or ignored. Here's how to write quarterly updates that LPs actually read, remember, and use to justify re-upping in your next fund.
Most VC fund models are built on hope, not math. Here's how to build a rigorous portfolio construction model with real numbers — including a $25M seed fund worked example.
Customer reference calls are your best weapon in due diligence — if you know how to run them. Here's how to get honest answers, spot coached responses, and know when references should kill a deal.
Choosing the wrong fund structure costs you money, limits your LPs, and creates legal headaches that last for years. Here's a complete breakdown of GP entities, fund LP structures, offshore feeders, and SPVs.
The complete VC due diligence framework: team DD, market DD, product DD, financial DD, legal DD, and customer interviews. With red flags and deal-breakers for each track.
The complete investment committee memo structure every VC uses: all 11 sections explained with examples, plus the difference between a deal memo and a formal IC memo.