How I Invest with David Weisburd

E30: Alan Feld, Co-Founder of Vintage Investment Partners on How to Handle Succession in VC

Jan 4, 2024

Alan Feld, Co-Founder of Vintage Investment Partners, shares his experience and insights on product-market fit, building an enduring VC firm culture, and engaging with General Partners. They discuss successful GP cultures, investment allocation, and VC-LP relationship transparency. They also explore the importance of self-reflection and learning from mistakes, hiring operators, and long-term thinking in venture capital.

48:03

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Episode guests

Alan Feld

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Quick takeaways

Building a successful venture fund requires attracting great entrepreneurs and prioritizing long-term sustainability over short-term economics.

Creating a culture of humility, honesty, and self-reflection is crucial for success in the VC industry.

Focusing capital on the best-performing companies and building enduring partnerships between LPs and GPs maximize returns and long-term success.

Deep dives

Building a Long-Term Franchise

The key to building a successful venture fund is to focus on attracting great entrepreneurs and giving them the support they need to succeed. This requires a culture of humility, honesty, and self-reflection within the firm. The ability to admit mistakes, learn from them, and make tough decisions is crucial. It is important to prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term economics. Building enduring relationships with entrepreneurs and being a supportive partner throughout different market cycles is essential for success.

Introduction

2min

Structuring Vintage Investment Partners and the Importance of Understanding Underlying Companies

5min

Protecting Downside and Determining Product-Market Fit in VC

2min

Building a Successful Business in Venture Capital

2min

Self-reflection and Learning from Mistakes in Venture Capital

16min

The Importance of Hiring Operators

18min

Investment Strategies, Concentrated Winners, and Long-Term Thinking

4min

Alan Feld sits down with David Weisburd to talk about his experience founding Vintage, the significance of product-market fit in VC, and how Vintage has thrived over two decades. They discuss the impact of personal history on investment decisions, building an enduring VC firm culture, and engaging with General Partners. They also touch on successful GP cultures, investment allocation, and VC-LP relationship transparency. (0:00) Introduction and Alan's journey to founding Vintage (6:37) Importance of product-market fit and sector-based fund structure in venture capital (8:57) Sponsor: Bedav Insurance Group (9:46) Lessons learned from managing and growing Vintage over 20 years (17:05) Role of personal history in shaping successful entrepreneurs and investment decisions (21:29) Building an enduring venture capital firm: Culture, succession, and economic sharing (28:27) Regrets, reflections, and Vintage's approach to engaging with General Partners (33:40) Cultures at GPs that consistently return alpha and importance of humility and honesty (41:30) Allocating investments, follow-on investing, and the value of transparency in VC-LP relationships (46:36) Wrap-up: Reflections on building a lasting venture fund

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How I Invest with David Weisburd

E30: Alan Feld, Co-Founder of Vintage Investment Partners on How to Handle Succession in VC

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Building a Long-Term Franchise

The Importance of Honesty and Humility

Allocating Investments for Impact

Partnership and Transparency

Learning from Mistakes and Continuous Improvement

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts