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

Sahil Lavingia and Steve Schlafman on new VC structures

Oct 13, 2020

Sahil Lavingia and Steve Schlafman discuss new VC fund structures, the rise of solo capitalists, and the impact of AngelList on venture capital. They explore disruptive structures, evolving trends in funding models, and the accessibility of venture capital for founders and LPs.

58:40

Creator website

Episode guests

Steve Schlafman

Sahil Lavingia

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Sahil and Steve view their venture fund structures as experimental and open to change, allowing for continuous evaluation and adaptation of investment approaches.

Sahil explores the horizontal scalability of his rolling fund model to increase deal flow while maintaining quality and efficiency, aiming for greater impact and diversification.

Both founders prioritize collaboration and gradual growth in their fund strategies, maintaining a friendly image, fostering supportive environments, and balancing experimentational flexibility with long-term vision.

Deep dives

Short-term experimentation with fund models

Both Saheel and Steve view their current venture fund structures as experimental and open to change. Saheel describes his rolling fund as fitting into his philosophy of experimental growth, allowing for ongoing evaluation and adaptation of his investment approach. Steve sees his traditional fund structure and potential shift to a rolling fund as part of a continuous learning process, not committing fully to a long-term strategy but open to evolution based on performance and feedback.

Introduction

1min

Navigating Transitions in the Tech and VC Landscape

5min

Evolving Trends in Solo Capitalists and Venture Capital Landscape

16min

Exploring Angel-less Funds and Fund Structures

8min

Disruptive Structures in Venture Capital

11min

Rethinking Traditional Funding Models

15min

Discussion on VC Structures and Easy Access for Founders and LPs

3min

In this special episode of Origins, we discuss new VC fund structures with Sahil Lavingia, the founder of Gumroad and manager of one of the top rolling funds on AngelList, and Steve Schlafman, who combines professional coaching through his firm High Output with active angel investing using a traditional fund on AngelList. Both operators and investors, Sahil and Steve provide a fascinating look into how the venture industry is evolving, and how they combine their experiences operating and investing in new, more flexible structures. We discuss their professional backgrounds, why they started investing, time spent at more traditional VC firms, and why AngelList and other alternative fund structures are increasingly attractive to "solocapitalists." Finally, we dig into how they see these structures, as well as the industry at large changing in the years to come, and why these new structures are here to stay, for both VCs and LPs.