While most of the money that goes into VC funds comes from institutions that are highly experienced in the asset class, some family offices and high net worth individuals also invest in VC. They’re trying to get exposure and diversification at the same time, while potentially seeing co-investment deal flow.
A lot of VC fund pitches—and I know this because I used to vet VCs for a living as an institutional limited partner at a pension fund—sound the same. They all have great networks, above market performance and some special sauce that sounds nice but you’re not 100% clear it makes sense as a way to boost returns or get access to deals.
Here are five questions I would ask any new or emerging VC fund:
In the five years before you had this fund (in case they have a short track record) what deals could you have legitimately gotten into that fit your strategy that would have been winners?
Could you have led any of these deals?
If every single fund at your size/stage/geography/strategy said yes to a deal, where are you in the order of preference for founders to accept a check from? (i.e. If you’re a Series A fund in NYC, and you, USV, Firstmark, RRE, etc all submit term sheets, who gets in and in what order?)
Explain the math that gets you to a 2-3x net (after fees) return—how many deals, how much in each deal, at what valuation, what exit expectations, follow on or not, etc. If they haven’t done this math, they shouldn’t be managing your money.
What risks have you taken that others haven’t—and why did you think they were worth taking?
If you want to learn more about how VC funds get evaluated and you’re either an accredited investor, a non-partner at a VC fund, or work on behalf of a family office, check out this event tomorrow. We are especially focused on bringing diverse attendees into the room. If you’re not sure if you qualify, e-mail me. No current non-accredited founders, please.