Origins - Inside Venture Capital, Hosted by a GP and an LP

Fundraising as a Fund of Funds with Alex Edelson

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Sep 16, 2025

Alex Edelson, founder of Slipstream Investors and a savvy LP, discusses the intriguing landscape of fund of funds. He shares insights on identifying hard-to-find, high-potential funds that could outperform established players. Alongside Beezer Clarkson and Nick Chirls, they delve into strategies for capital raising and the importance of empathy in GP-LP relationships. They also debate the impact of mega-funds on early-stage investments and navigate the challenges presented by today's volatile venture capital cycles.

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INSIGHT

High Dispersion Makes Manager Selection Key

Venture has the largest dispersion of returns of any asset class, making manager selection crucial.
Small emerging funds often sit at the top of the return distribution but are hard to find, evaluate, and access.

ADVICE

Get Your Back Office Right First

Build operational knowledge before starting a fund to reduce early mistakes and vendor friction.
Set up legal, accounting, and back-office processes intentionally rather than copy-pasting a standard VC template.

ADVICE

Be Explicit About Fee Tradeoffs

Be transparent with potential LPs about the tradeoffs of a fund of funds, including fee layering and when direct investing is better.
Only sell Slipstream if the LP truly needs help accessing and selecting top small funds.

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Alex Edelson’s Slipstream is a fund of funds that focuses on firms that are “difficult to find, evaluate and access.” Together with Beezer Clarkson, Partner at Sapphire Partners, and Nick Chirls, Partner at Asylum Ventures, Alex unpacks his strategy of investing in funds he believes can outperform, how to raise capital as an LP, and how to remain competitive against LPs investing in more established firms. The three of them also dig into a recent blog post by Beezer titled “Is Venture Broken?” - which explores the role of mega-funds in the early-stage market. You can read that here.

This episode of Origins is supported by Sydecar. Visit https://sydecar.io/origins-podcast to learn more.

Learn more about Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners

Learn more about OpenLP: https://openlp.vc⁠

Learn more about Asylum Ventures: https://asylum.vc⁠

Learn more about Slipstream: https://slipstreaminvestors.com

For a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: https://subscribe.openlp.vc

Sydecar, Inc. (“Sydecar”) has acted as a financial sponsor within this Origins podcast. Sapphire Ventures, LLC (“Sapphire”) is not affiliated with or invested in Sydecar.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Welcome to Origins

2:59 Why Start a Fund of Funds?

7:39 How Do LPs Raise Capital?

16:56 I’m the LP I Wanted to Work With As a GP

21:17 What Is Similar & Different Between Now and 2021?

30:41 What Is an Advantage One Day Is Table Stakes the Next

34:18 You Don’t Need a Big Winner to Have An Amazing Small Fund

39:08 Is Venture Broken?

Origins is produced by Sapphire Ventures in partnership with⁠⁠ Pod People.⁠

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