When VC Funds Become Firms, Part 2 | Lisa Cawley, Ben Choi, Jaclyn Freeman Hester | Superclusters

“We overcomplicate almost nothing as LPs. And this is a criticism of myself. And I think we oversimplify almost everything. Because by definition, we’re the customer of the end product. [...] LPs watch the movie, but don’t read the book.” – Ben Choi

We're doing a three-part series with some of our fan favorites over the last three seasons on the LP perspective of succession-planning and VC firm-building.

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.

Ben Choi manages over $3B investments with many of the world’s premier venture capital firms as well as directly in early stage startups. He brings to Next Legacy a distinguished track record spanning over two decades founding and investing in early-stage technology businesses.

Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry’s partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs.

You can find Lisa on her socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/31mml/ Screendoor: https://www.screendoor.co/contact

You can find Ben on his socials here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/benjichoi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bchoi/

You can find Jaclyn on her socials here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jfreester LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclyn-freeman-hester-70621126/

And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[02:00] Questions Ben asks GPs to see if they're thinking long-term

[06:50] Questions Jaclyn asks GPs to assess long-term thinking

[09:45] What does leverage look like for a GP?

[20:13] The role of AI internally at a firm

[21:06] Advice to people looking to take junior VC roles

[25:33] Questions Lisa asks GPs to assess long-term thinking

[29:19] When does a fund turn into a firm?

[31:26] Lisa: What do LPs often oversimplify vs overcomplicate about firm-building?

[35:31] Ben's answer to oversimplification vs overcomplication

[41:00] What do emerging and established GPs oversimplify and overcomplicate?

[45:06] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!

[46:07] If you can't wait for Part 3 of this conversation, leave us a like or comment! 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 Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters