Brandon Sedloff and David Weisburd explore the hidden psychology behind venture capital fundraising and LP decision-making on The Distribution. Weisburd, co-founder of Weisburd Pierce and host of How I Invest, shares insights from hundreds of conversations with institutional allocators managing over 10 trillion dollars in assets. The discussion reveals why LP incentives often diverge from traditional performance metrics, how career risk shapes investment behavior, and why media has become a structural advantage in private markets.

They discuss:

- Why LPs use a "double gated" diligence process that most GPs misunderstand

- How the average pension CIO tenure of 6.1 years creates rational but seemingly counterintuitive investment patterns

- Why elite Ivy League endowments are shifting away from blind pool funds toward direct investments and SPVs

- The mechanics of anchor investor psychology and momentum in fundraising

- How media functions as a network effect business and relationship-building tool at scale

This episode offers a practical framework for understanding how capital allocation decisions actually get made in venture and private markets.

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:32) - David's immigrant journey and first ventures

(00:04:16) - Starting the How I Invest podcast

(00:05:29) - Growing up poor and the mindset it created

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Outro

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