Growth Investor with GrowthCap‘s RJ Lumba Accomplished Tech Investor: Goldman Sachs’ Growth Equity Co-Head Darren Cohen
Jul 17, 2024
Darren Cohen, Co-Head and CIO of Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, shares insights from his 25+ years in tech investing. He discusses the evolution of Goldman’s growth equity strategy, emphasizing a collaborative team culture and innovative deal sourcing models. Cohen highlights key investment themes in enterprise software, fintech, and healthcare, including the rise of robotics and telehealth. He also reveals the importance of providing scalable capital and resources to founders, enhancing their growth potential.
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Strategic Consolidation Enabled A Fund Model
- Goldman consolidated its alternatives businesses into Asset & Wealth Management and launched a fund-driven growth equity platform in 2021.
- The move enabled external capital from high-net-worth clients and scaled a $5.2B first fund.
Hybrid Sourcing Drives High-Quality Deal Flow
- Deal flow combines strong outbound thematic sourcing with unique Goldman channels like banking and internal engineering teams.
- Enterprise software makes up ~50%, fintech ~30%, and healthcare software ~20% of their focus.
Scale AUM Without Diluting Senior Focus
- Grow AUM thoughtfully and keep senior partners focused on a small number of active deals.
- Limit senior leads to roughly five to eight portfolio companies to preserve attention and performance.