Why an LP of GPs is Uniquely Valuable | Lisa Cawley | Superclusters | S3E5

“If you are governing things from a point of a legal document, whatever that may be and having to refer to that in order to trigger a behavior, that often to me feels emblematic of a transaction, not a relationship.”

Lisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor, a highly respected LP of GPs, investing in firm-builders by firm-builders, with a unique model for partnering with allocators to access the emerging manager ecosystem. She’s been covering venture capital for more than a dozen years, since 2010 at Ernst and Young, a private investment firm, and now to Screendoor.

Lisa is a proud graduate of Loyola University Maryland where she's earned her MBA and MS in Finance, as well as her BBA in Accounting, with a double minor in Information Systems and Spanish. Lisa is a CFA Charterholder and holds a CPA from the State of Maryland. In addition, she's also a member of Class 29 of the Kauffman Fellows. You can find Lisa on her socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/31mml/ Screendoor: https://www.screendoor.co/contact And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[03:43] How swimming has influenced Lisa's life to date

[11:16] How does Lisa evaluate competitive spirit in others?

[14:36] The importance of understanding LP side letter terms

[21:33] Investing as a team AND individual sport

[23:45] Screendoor as the LP of GPs

[28:43] How does Screendoor align incentives with their GP advisors?

[31:05] How do GP advisors get assigned to portfolio managers?

[35:09] LP-GP fit

[37:46] Generation 1 vs Generation 5 of a family office

[43:19] How does firm-building differ from fund-building?

[49:09] Reference checking a fund manager's "unique" value-add

[55:24] Which two life lessons would Lisa canonize in a time capsule?

[57:36] What was in Lisa's last OS update?

[1:01:23] The different facets of education in Lisa's life

[1:09:09] Final words on being thoughtful as an LP

[1:14:05] Post-credit scene

[1:25:27] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!

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