It’s tempting to think of Venture Capitalists as the top of the food chain, but in reality, we are closer to founders. VCs build an investment thesis and then go test that thesis, both in the fundraising marketplace and in doing their investments. Just like with founders, sometimes the marketplace demands VCs to pivot and change their thesis, sometimes dramatically. And always—always—VCs are held accountable by their investors, known as Limited Partners, or LPs. Our guest today is Jeffrey Rinvelt, his work at Renaissance Venture Capital finds him investing as an LP across many funds. He’s got some great insights into what LPs are thinking, and what the market may hold in the coming months.

About Jeffrey Rinvelt:Jeffrey Rinvelt is a Partner with the Rennaisance Venture Capital. He was previously part of Ardesta, where he was a Director engaged in sourcing, evaluating, and conducting due diligence on investment opportunities, as well as monitoring and providing assistance to the companies in Ardesta’s portfolio. Prior to joining Ardesta, Jeff was a co-founder of GrapeVINE Technologies, providing Product Management and Marketing for their knowledge management product, eventually resulting in an acquisition by Sun Microsystems. Jeff was also part of the start-up team for MAXfunds.com, an Internet company providing complete coverage of the mutual fund industry, including hundreds of funds not available on any other site. In addition, Jeff spent five years with Ernst & Young’s Information Technology group as a senior consultant.

Jeff is a proud trustee of Western Michigan University and also lends his expertise to a number of local non-profits.

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In this episode we discuss:

02:38 Jeff’s journey into Venture Capital and why he started in Michigan05:11 How he got through the 2008 financial crisis06:11 The original investing thesis for Renaissance Venture Capital08:59 Inspiration and innovations around Renaissance10:33 What makes a good fund manager12:20 Red flags for emerging managers14:52 What’s more important for a manager, track record or technical chops?17:10 How Jeff works to give value as an LP19:33 Building a platform as an LP20:29 What the current market is like as an LP22:50 Internal conversations around deployment of funds in 202224:05 Types of returns they are looking for in the current market25:38 Are preferred returns required to get LPs27:15 Advice to new LPs28:46 Why isn’t there standardized reporting around track record for Venture30:55 The problems with current 409A valuations32:55 Thoughts on opportunity funds34:29 Why Jeff stopped doing direct investments35:12 Philosophies around co-investing opportunities36:37 Investment categories Jeff is excited about38:20 Showing off results from research and investments39:24 The best career advice he’s ever gotten

Fast Favorites

* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Cocaine and Rhinestones The History of Rock in 500 Songs

* 📰 - Favorite Newsletter/Blog: Dave Pell’s Next Draft

* 📲 - Favorite Tech Gadget: Raspberry Pi

* 📈 - Favorite New Trend: Work from Home and Walk and Talks

* 📚 - Favorite Book: The Hard Things About Hard Things

* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Longterm games with long-term people

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