Helpful is a 10-Letter Word | Eric Sippel | Superclusters | S6E3

“I hate checklists. I like outlines. I don’t like checklists. A checklist says ‘I have to have this, and then I’m good. An outline is ‘This is my starting point. These are the kinds of things I want to talk about or kinds of things I need to look at.” — Eric Sippel

Eric Sippel currently runs his family office and is an active investor in and adviser to many venture capital, private equity, hedge and real estate funds. He is a member of the RAISE Global selection and steering committees (the premier emerging VC manager conference) and often speaks to emerging venture manager groups. Previously, Eric was the COO of Eastbourne Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund firm, and a Partner at Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg, where he was a nationally recognized hedge fund and venture capital lawyer. Eric serves on more than a dozen LPACs and has served on many for profit and non-profit boards.

You can find Eric on his socials here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-sippel-976770/

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[02:13] Why Eric's name on LinkedIn is lowercase?

[02:44] Oceanside

[04:18] Eric's grandfather and education in the family

[07:06] Basketball

[07:58] Eric's first venture fund investment in 1996

[12:05] How does Eric invest below the minimum check size requirement?

[14:51] How to decide your LP check size

[17:47] Today, when does Eric invest in a new GP?

[21:14] Time x capital 2x2 matrix

[24:32] Tough conversations with Eric

[27:00] The minimum viable value-add for LPs who write small checks

[32:02] Eric's most impactful mistakes

[35:11] How do you know if a GP is GOOD at adding value?

[43:42] How many other funds in the same space does Eric look at before investing?

[46:36] Breaking down Eric's deal flow

[49:35] How many references does Eric do?

[50:27] Who does Eric trust for LP references?

[52:34] Other references for diligence

[55:23] How does Eric approach a founder reference?

[59:09] Biggest lessons from CIA training

[1:05:16] Mike's Pizza

[1:06:18] If everything were to change tomorrow, what would Eric photograph?

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 X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP