Navigating Founder Succession in Venture Capital

As the first generation of investment firm founders approaches retirement age, the issue of succession to the next generation is increasingly at hand. We’ve seen several successful transitions of firms, many that haven’t survived their founders, and an entire sub-industry arise to help facilitate generational transfers across GP stakes, public offerings, and structured transactions. With both managers and allocators thinking more about the inevitability of succession, I thought it would be helpful to share what a leading allocator who reviews thousands of managers has learned about the issue. My guest on today’s show is Sarah Samuels, Partner and Head of Investment Management Research at NEPC, which advises on $1.7 trillion in assets. As part of her work assessing managers, Sarah has created a framework to analyze succession as an investment risk. She was a past guest on the show, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Our conversation covers that framework across its three key metrics: performance, age, and economics. We discuss the challenges of transitioning both economics and portfolio management, using stories and analogies to other businesses along the way.

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