145. First Institutional VC Fund Raised-- Key Learnings (Semil Shah)

Maybe we can start off with how your investment focus has evolved since the last time you joined us.

What are your thoughts on how seed has split into pre-seed, seed, seed extension, and post seed?

Are you investing once with a company or reserving for these various stages within seed?

You just closed fund 3... tell us about the first two funds that set the stage.

Would you do things differently if you could go back?

Which raise was the hardest?

How did the expectations of LPs change from the early funds to the institutional fund?

What surprised you most about the raise?

Did you connect w/ prospectives through referrals, cold calls, a combination?

Walk us through the metrics... how many targets, meetings, avg commitment amt, etc.

Did you ever think you might not complete the raise?

What's the best advice you got on the raise and who'd you get it from?

In our first interview, you talked about how you couldn't get a full-time job at a venture firm. I'm sure you've had plenty of offers as you've built a track record. Did you ever consider making the jump?

When I sent my fund deck to you, you said "Awesome and looks good. As I always say, the deck matters much less than having capital partners who believe in you" For anyone listening that aspires to raise... talk about what you meant by this comment.