E29: Lo Toney, Plexo Capital on How He Raised Capital from Google, the Ford Foundation, Mass Mutual

David Weisburd interviews Lo Toney about his transition from angel investor to fund manager, his role at Plexo Capital, and his approach to working with founders. They discuss the importance of patience in early-stage investments, the diligence process for managers, and the strategy behind selecting LPs.

We’re proudly sponsored by Bidav Insurance Group, visit lux-str.com if you’re ready to level up your insurance plans.

The Limited Partner podcast is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co

(0:00) Introduction and welcome to the podcast (1:19) Lo Toney's journey to founding Plexo Capital (3:05) Empathy in early-stage investing and being the first check (7:29) Differentiating first-time fund managers from first-time investors (9:56) The evolution from angel investor to fund manager (11:44) Sponsor: Bidav Insurance Group (12:33) Institutional LP requirements and their impact on alpha (14:29) The significance of DPI for institutional investors (17:42) LP strategies for re-upping with managers (20:21) Diligence process for evaluating fund managers (22:18) Techniques for delivering feedback to GPs (25:22) Assessing strong personalities and nonconsensus right GPs (32:44) Building and optimizing an institutional LP base (38:35) Experiences with family offices as LPs and managing LP relationships (43:38) The alpha of diverse GPs and the impact of diversity (48:41) Introducing the GPX initiative and its impact (50:39) GPX content, structure, and cohort experiences (54:04) Plexo Capital's global strategy and closing remarks