“Markets have a mind of their own.” – David York
David York's thirty plus years of industry knowledge and networks uniquely equip him to be a liaison and international ambassador not only for Top Tier’s brand, but also the broader venture community. In 2000, David joined Phil Paul to lead the fund of funds team at Paul Capital, which spun out in 2011 to form Top Tier.
David has been active in the global venture capital community since the early 1990s. As a founder of Top Tier, he has led the development of the Firm for over twenty years and has been involved in every aspect of it. His involvement in the industry has led him to participate in numerous industry events and conferences, and also the NVCA, where he is an active board member. David led the fund of funds business at Paul Capital Partners, before spinning it out and founding Top Tier. Prior to Paul Capital, David spent seventeen years on Wall Street running various trading desks. In 1999, he was Managing Director at Chase H&Q, where he ran Equity Capital Markets liquidity, and from 1994 to 1999 he ran Venture Services for Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco-based, technology-focused investment bank acquired by Chase Bank.
You can find David on his socials here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-york-2407295/
And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[02:52] David York's role models over the years
[07:06] Is the LP model broken?
[11:34] What David would like to see in private markets
[15:27] How did David raise $500M in the dotcom crash
[23:09] Breaking down when large LPs are ready to be pitched
[25:37] What does a thoughtful email look like?
[28:40] The liquidity needs of different kinds of LPs
[33:29] David's favorite restaurant in Tokyo
[36:41] David's secret starter dough recipe
[40:13] Secret post-credit scene
[40:46] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[41:47] If you learned something from this episode, I'd love it if you could share it with one other friend!
Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:
For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters
Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com
Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP