Roles & People
The people and positions that make up the venture capital ecosystem — GPs, LPs, analysts, partners, and founders.
32 terms
Active Investor
An investor who provides ongoing support, introductions, and strategic guidance beyond simply providing capital.
Angel Investor
An individual who invests their own money in early-stage startups for equity, usually before institutional venture funds will write a check.
Builder
A founder or operator actively creating products or companies rather than purely investing or advising.
Corporate Venture Capital
Investment arms of large corporations that invest in startups for both strategic and financial returns.
Crossover Investor
Investment firms that participate in both private and public markets, often investing in late-stage startups approaching IPO.
Deal Attribution
The assignment of credit for sourcing, winning, and managing specific investments within a VC firm, which affects carry allocation and reputation.
EIR
Entrepreneur in Residence — an experienced operator or founder who joins a VC firm temporarily to explore new startup ideas, evaluate investments, or eventually spin out a new company.
Emerging Manager
A fund manager early in its institutional life, usually raising Fund I, II or III with a small asset base and a short verifiable track record.
Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR)
An experienced founder or executive temporarily based at a VC firm to evaluate deals, support portfolio companies, and develop their next venture.
Executive in Residence
An experienced executive hosted by a VC firm who evaluates deal flow, supports portfolio companies, and often launches or joins a portfolio company as CEO or C-suite executive.
Fund Administrator
An outside firm a fund manager hires to keep the partnership's books, strike net asset value, issue call and distribution notices, and report to investors.
GP
General Partner — the managing partner(s) of a venture capital fund who make investment decisions, manage the portfolio, and are compensated through management fees and carried interest.
General Partner
The general partner is the entity that manages a fund, chooses its investments, bears its liabilities, and earns the management fee and carried interest.
General Partner (GP)
The managing partner(s) of a venture fund — responsible for investment decisions, fund management, and bearing unlimited liability for fund obligations.
Growth Investor
An investor specializing in later-stage companies scaling revenue.
Independent Sponsor
A deal-by-deal investor who sources and manages transactions without a committed fund, raising capital from LPs on a per-deal basis.
LP
Limited Partner — an investor in a venture capital fund who provides capital but has no role in investment decisions and whose liability is limited to their committed amount.
Limited Partner (LP)
A fund investor in a limited partnership who supplies capital, has no management authority, and is shielded from partnership debts while not controlling the business.
Operating Partner
An experienced executive embedded within a VC firm who provides hands-on operational support to portfolio companies.
Operating Partner Model
A VC firm structure employing experienced operators who work hands-on with portfolio companies to accelerate growth, distinct from traditional investment-only partner roles.
Operator
An experienced executive or founder who has run operations inside a company — often contrasted with pure investors, and increasingly sought after as VC partners.
Operator Angel
A startup operator who invests personal capital into startups while still actively working in the industry.
Operator Investor
An investor who previously built or ran companies in the same industry.
Platform Team
The non-investment staff a venture firm employs to deliver services to portfolio companies, such as recruiting, marketing, go-to-market, technical help and policy work.
Portfolio Company Governance
The framework of board oversight, reporting requirements, and decision-making processes that VCs establish at their portfolio companies.
Second-Time Founder
An entrepreneur starting another company after previously founding one.
Seed Investor
An investor who writes the first institutional check into a company, usually before there is enough revenue to underwrite and usually on a safe or a small priced round.
Solo GP
A venture capital firm run by a single general partner rather than a partnership of multiple GPs — increasingly common at the seed stage.
Super Angel
A prolific individual angel investor who writes many checks across numerous startups, often at institutional scale — blurring the line between angels and micro-VCs.
Venture Capitalist
A professional who invests a fund's money, raised from limited partners, into private companies, paid a management fee plus a share of the profits.
Venture Partner
A senior person a venture firm engages part-time or deal-by-deal to source and evaluate investments or support portfolio companies, usually not as an employee.
Venture Partner Agreement
A contractual arrangement defining a part-time partner's role at a VC firm, including deal sourcing expectations, board responsibilities, carry allocation, and time commitment.