Rethinking Fundraising: What LPs Really Value

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Apurva Mehta, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Summit Peak Investments, joins Earnest and Alexa to share his unique journey from institutional portfolio management to building a venture fund of funds. The discussion covers building strong networks and communities for allocators and GPs, adapting to the evolving and increasingly crowded venture landscape, and maintaining discipline in fund size and valuations. Key takeaways include the importance of deep relationships and responsiveness, rigorous diligence in a noisy market, and the advantages of staying nimble to deliver consistent returns and foster long-term partnerships. Also, don’t miss Shane Goudey of Sidley as he discusses venture funds practice, building a robust, full-service legal team for venture capital clients and the current surge in fund formation and liquidity as the venture market heats up at the end of 2025.

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

• The Journey of Apurva Mehta in Allocations and Investing (0:32)

• How Apurva Built A Network-First Allocator Community (3:54)

• The Inception of Summit Peak and Entrepreneurial Spirit (7:46)

• The Importance of Being the Central Node in Venture (11:09)

• Identifying New GPs and Evolving Venture Networks (15:13)

• On The Challenges of Filtering and Iterating for Success (19:20)

• The Legal and Fund Formation Landscape with Shane Goudey (22:57)

• Fund Manager Trends and What Surprises Apurva (27:53)

• Concerns About Market Valuations and Fund Size Discipline (30:39)

• Impact of Market Dynamics on Growth Deal Approaches (34:18)

• Being Proactive Versus Passive in Co-Investing (38:28)

• Trends and Predictions for the Next 10 Years in Allocations (41:49)

• Summit Peak’s Vision For Success and Staying Nimble (44:57)

Summit Peak Investments is a venture-focused investment platform backing the next generation of exceptional managers. With a dual strategy of investing in top-performing pre-seed and seed-stage funds alongside targeted Series B+ co-investments, Summit Peak partners with GPs and founders to generate long-term, outsized returns. Learn more at summitpeakinv.com. 

Sidley Austin LLP is a premier global law firm with a dedicated Venture Funds practice, advising top venture capital firms, institutional investors, and private equity sponsors on fund formation, investment structuring, and regulatory compliance. With deep expertise across private markets, Sidley provides strategic legal counsel to help funds scale effectively. Learn more at sidley.com.

Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. 

The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

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