Drew Myers, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at CrossLayer Capital sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the key to small funds thriving in pre-seed investing, how time diversification tame crypto volatility, and identifying persistent top quartile crypto funds. (0:00) Introduction to Drew Myers and Crosslayer Capital; Identifying top firms in China (1:30) The rarity and strategy of crypto fund of funds (2:45) Differences between closed and open-ended funds in crypto; Early stage crypto investment comparisons (6:12) Diligence, alignment, and lessons learned in the crypto space (10:15) VC judgment, value add services, and mapping the crypto venture market (13:35) Early mistakes in crypto investments and corrections (15:28) Sponsor: Message and call to action (16:01) GP/LP interests and alignment; Investment frameworks and systematic approaches (18:27) Portfolio construction and the role of established managers in a fund (20:54) Top quartile comparison in crypto vs. venture capital; Pre-seed deals significance (24:11) Managing risk and volatility in crypto; Time diversification strategies (25:37) Differentiating between articulate managers and sophisticated investors (27:26) Persistence of returns and signs of potential depreciation in fund performance (30:41) Advice for institutional LPs entering crypto; Reflections and regrets from Crosslayer's early years (33:33) Closing remarks and subscription reminder

Michael Wallach, Vice President of Investment at Levy Family Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the unexpected challenges of working at a family office, how to leverage expert insights to drive high-impact investments, and critical mistakes LPs should always avoid. (0:00) Investment philosophy and mission alignment (0:20) Pet peeves with emerging managers and destructive behaviors by LPs (1:24) Overview of Levy Family Partners and investment strategy (2:14) Differentiating alpha from beta and holistic portfolio management (3:34) Sourcing funnel, grading system, and initial diligence process (5:17) Capital preservation strategies and drawdown planning (7:13) Remedies for liquidity issues and data room preferences (9:45) Transparency, trust, and co-investor relationships (11:02) Asset class allocation and lessons from Levy Family Partners (12:34) LP strategies for returns and GP pain points (15:57) Advantages and advice for joining a family office (17:25) Closing remarks and gratitude

Les Baquiran, Founder of Alpine Capital Advisors, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss insights on building LP relationships globally. In addition, they discuss reasons GP’s hire placement agents, benefits of family offices as LPs, and non-traditional structures LPs like to invest in. (0:00) Introduction to Les Baquiran and Alpine Capital Advisors (1:16) Les Baquiran's career journey and insights from Park Hill (3:26) Fundraising challenges and strategies in venture capital (6:22) Navigating relationships with LP consultants and Fund of Funds (7:56) Role and impact of placement agents in GP fundraising (10:05) Building GP relationships and visit frequency in Latin America (12:23) LP behaviors and the effect of regional differences (14:01) Family office capital: advantages and considerations (17:07) Exploring non-traditional investment structures and co-investments (19:13) Addressing current market challenges for LPs (21:22) Managing illiquidity and the denominator effect (22:00) Evaluating GP character and the importance of communication (23:34) VC valuation practices and LP responses to uncertainty (27:21) The art of building LP-GP relationships (33:25) The role of LP roundtables in fostering community (35:17) Advice for new managers and the value of passion in placement (39:09) The dynamics of operating a marketplace for LPs and GPs (40:25) Conclusion and closing thoughts

Tony Meadows, Partner at Sinefine sits down with David Weisburd to discuss what initial investment choice could make or break your portfolio, when to dive into early-stage investments, and how strategic timing can turn ordinary investments into extraordinary gains. (0:00) Overview of Tony Meadows' Career and Co-Investment Strategies (2:04) GP Relationships and Adverse Selection in Investments (5:40) Quick Processing and Governance in Co-Investments (7:03) Portfolio Construction and Fund Size Strategies at PCERS (9:46) Venture Capital Challenges for Large Capital Investors (11:20) Pension Funds' Approaches to Venture Capital (13:10) Pension Funds in Private Equity and VC: Pros and Cons (14:14) Building a Successful Venture Book for Pension Funds (15:51) Entry Point Strategies and Multistage Investment Dynamics (17:22) Fund Performance and Outsourced Investment Strategies (19:24) Emerging vs. Established Manager Performance (21:34) Cinefina's Mission and Focus on Women-led VC Firms (23:52) Investment Criteria and Challenges at Cinefina (26:37) Gender Dynamics among General Partners (28:11) Reducing Bias and the Daughter Effect (31:16) Portfolio Construction and Diversification at Cinefina (35:16) Improving Pension Fund Returns and Evaluating Managers (37:45) Closing Remarks and Open Invitation for Dialogue

John Gleeson, Founder & General Partner at Success Venture Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the underappreciated secret to Venture Capital success, why operator LP’s outperform, and the math behind portfolio concentration. (0:00) Introduction and importance of customer success in early-stage growth (0:32) Henry Ford vs. Steve Blank: Approaches to product market fit (1:44) The inception and goals of SuccessVP (3:43) Value of customer success in startups (6:00) Founders' common mistakes in customer success (7:40) Hiring practices and biases in customer success (8:43) Sales vs. customer success: Finding the right balance (10:53) Role of customer success in leadership longevity (12:30) Steve Blank's influence on integrating customer feedback (14:54) AI and its effects on customer success (15:20) Silicon Valley's undervaluation of customer success (17:26) How macroeconomic shifts influence business strategies (18:08) SuccessVP's investment thesis and strategy (20:07) Success stories and scaling SuccessVP for future funds (22:24) The role of incrementalism in startups (23:13) Building and leveraging LP relationships (25:03) Operator LPs and their advantages (25:59) Recognizing leaders in customer success (26:25) Discussing portfolio construction and collaboration with industry experts (28:43) Closing remarks and preview of upcoming events

Steve McLaughlin, CEO at Financial Technology Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the hidden values and success of top fintech companies, insider perspective on the work-life balance myth, and the powerful face-to-face strategies that elite companies swear by. (0:00) Introduction to Feet Partners and Fintech focus (1:25) Introduction by David Weisburd (3:45) The inception of Feet Partners and differentiation in Fintech (7:06) Client engagement and success stories (10:28) Long-term strategy and incentivizing employees (14:16) The importance of compounding returns (17:03) Podcast ranking and listener engagement (17:23) Scaling Feet Partners while maintaining quality (20:08) Leveraging data science and AI for value creation (21:23) Storytelling and accuracy in investment banking (22:44) Case studies: Revolut and Cloudwalk (24:47) The role of investment bankers in capital raising (27:16) Valuation insights from PayPal and Mastercard experiences (30:31) Balancing professional and personal life (32:44) The significance of in-person meetings in business (33:33) Delegation and focus areas for Steve (35:00) Managing client relationships and firm operations (36:05) Team and client showcase at Feet Partners (36:28) Fintech's global impact and future prospects (37:16) Final thoughts on mission-driven companies and Worldcoin (37:26) Closing remarks and call to action

Renee Hanna, Managing Director of Investments at Baylor University sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how Baylor balances allocation between public and private investments, how its private investments are built around returns hurdles, and thoughts on appropriately sizing commitments. (0:00) Overview of Baylor's $2 billion endowment and asset management strategy (0:43) Different shades of liquidity and investment strategies (1:13) Introduction and welcome (2:26) Evolution and allocation of the private investment portfolio (4:06) Permanent vs. flexible asset allocation and diversification trade-offs (6:22) Evaluating inferior asset classes and venture investment strategies (9:14) Sizing commitments and managing risks in venture capital (13:13) Correlation between asset classes and GP/LP relationships (15:43) Vetting qualitative factors for GPs and referencing potential managers (18:02) Preference and diligence process for spinouts (19:16) Lessons learned and career insights before the financial crisis (21:57) The role of governance in outperforming large endowments (23:48) Personal insights, alignment with Baylor's mission, and closing remarks

Marius Weber, Founding Partner, and Jocke Martelius, Investment Solutions Manager of Alpha Q Venture Capital sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the comparison between US and European VC markets, strategies for conducting due diligence on emerging VC funds, and the impact of political and economic factors on European VC. (0:00) Introduction and comparison between European and US seed investments (1:07) Introduction of guest Marius Weber and the founding of AQVC (2:31) Role of Jocke Martelius at AQVC and criteria for evaluating VC funds (5:45) Challenges for first-time funds and the AQ Discovery platform (8:18) Key elements of a data room for emerging managers (10:43) Transparency and communication best practices in VC (15:33) Sponsor: Message and call to action (15:54) AQVC Discovery's solutions for problem cases (17:31) Maintaining LP relationships and fundraising strategies (21:00) Fundraising comparisons across startups, VC funds, and fund of funds (22:18) European venture market overview and impact fund diligence insights (26:07) The economics of becoming a successful GP (28:22) How AQVC differs from traditional venture capital LPs (32:31) AQVC's added value to GPs and future vision (34:21) Advice for emerging managers and European VC ecosystem constraints (36:43) Conclusion, thanks, and subscription reminder

Iyan Unsworth, Vice President of AXA Venture Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss about on how a Fund of Funds backed by one of the world's largest insurance companies is revolutionizing the venture capital landscape. (0:00) Introduction to AXA Venture Partners and emerging manager mistakes (1:10) Introduction to the podcast and guest (1:16) Overview of AXA Venture Partners' LP investments and strategy (3:17) Ideal GP characteristics and the current funding landscape (5:42) Venture capital's role and the flight to quality (7:42) Over-indexing on partnership in GP evaluation and value attribution (17:30) Podcast engagement and the importance of fund sizing (20:05) Venture capital deal attribution and diligence processes (22:03) International GP meetings and insights on venture secondaries (24:22) Closing remarks and subscription reminder

Dave Neumann, investor at Molten Ventures, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss fund of funds deployment strategies, how GPs should approach fund size and interesting power law data derived from Molten’s 2,500 underlying portfolio companies. (0:00) Introduction and Molton Ventures background (0:16) Balancing GP hunger, ambition, and experience (0:32) Fund structure and LP returns timeline (1:18) Lessons from Axon Partners and attractiveness of spin-out managers (3:23) Prime years and success factors for GPs (5:24) Common mistakes by early-stage GPs (7:49) Listener milestone and portfolio strategy debate (9:43) Insights and focus areas of Molton Ventures (12:01) Portfolio companies and secondary market opportunities (14:01) Closing remarks and thank you