OpenLP

Venture’s brightest AI investors reflect on 2025’s defining moments — in this special Origins compilation, @beezer232 & @nchirls revisit standout moments from 2025 to spotlight how the AI boom is reshaping firm strategy, LP priorities, & real-world impact. @sarahtavel (@benchmark), @dhaliwas & @dauber (@AmplifyPartners), @micahjay1 (@fcollective), & @ZachWeinberg discuss: 📌 Why just using ChatGPT doesn’t make you AI-native 📌 The rise of $20M term sheets for pedigreed AI founders 📌 Why VCs are often 7 years late to paradigm shifts Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts — links below👇

Michael Larsen of Cambridge Associates has sat in on ~5,000 GP meetings & spent nearly 2 decades advising institutional investors & family offices. On @DWeisburd's How I Invest, he shared a few lessons from his experience for LPs building VC portfolios: • Venture decisions often take a decade or more to fully play out. Staying in the seat long enough to see outcomes builds real pattern recognition. • Allocation size matters more than perfect selection. Some of the best-performing family offices simply commit more to venture and private growth — a 40% allocation can outperform a smaller allocation with “perfect” manager selection. • Think in terms of firms, not just funds. When backing a GP, LPs should assume they’re entering a multi-fund relationship. • Great LP portfolios look generational. The strongest programs blend established managers, rising firms, & next-generation bets. 🎧 All this & more LP wisdom in the episode here: youtu.be/JMSo0m6767o?si…

Does portfolio size change risk tolerance? Research suggests more diversified GPs may take more risks because they can afford more misses. And always, research > speculation. Venture is full of “what we’re seeing…” but in the latest Origins episode, @credistick reminds us to turn to data for evidence, not anecdotes. @Beezer232 & @NChirls reconvened for a minisode to unpack Dan’s research on fundraising & LP behavior. 🎧 A quick ~12 min listen here or whenever you get your podcasts! 👇 youtu.be/GVdDTu7QYY0?si…

@JCassidyHogan Agreed 🙌

The LP's job is to allocate to managers who will still be managing money in Fund IV and beyond. The GP's job in fundraising is to make that case credibly - not just "I'm good" but "here's why this fund has durable structural advantages that compound over time." Most FTFs don't answer that question.

40–70% of total venture gains over the last decade were generated by new & emerging managers, according to Cambridge Associates. And yet 2025 marked the first net decline in active VC firms since the dotcom era, as capital continues consolidating around established brands. So why do Funds I–IV continue to show up disproportionately among top performers by vintage year?

For more insights from Dan listen to the latest episode of Origins with @Beezer232 where they unpack what’s happening beneath the surface in venture right now: youtu.be/YBd65oN5RL4?si…

@credistick synthesized data from Cambridge Associates, @PitchBook, Greenspring Associates, & @SapphirePrtnrs in his latest piece, Too Big to Succeed, making a clear case: emerging managers remain one of the most overlooked opportunities in venture capital. While LP capital gravitates toward scale & brand, much of the alpha continues to be generated outside of it. 🔗 Read why Dan believes emerging managers might outperform their established peers: blog.joinodin.com/p/venture-capi…

5 Tips for GPs Building a Reference List that Actually Helps You Close LPs 📝 @jvmaltby offers concrete advice on who to include + how to prep them, including: 1️⃣ Cover both dimensions: Pick references that speak to investment skill & firm operations. 2️⃣ Include co-investors who reinforce your market reputation: They should articulate what you're known for. 3️⃣ Choose LP references with nuanced context: Beyond your largest checks, include LPs who took a genuine leap to back you. 4️⃣ Include founder references from challenging times: When founders say they'd choose you again after navigating a tough stretch together, it demonstrates humility & consistency. 5️⃣ Prep your references with specifics: Send a short note reminding them of projects or interactions you worked on together. open.substack.com/pub/juliamaltb…

The language barrier between GPs & LPs is real & can trip up emerging managers early in their journey. As @chudson notes in conversation w/ @miafarnham & @Beezer232: "LPs will tell you things, but you don't hear it because you don't understand the way they communicate." With only 17% of firms reaching Fund IV, many failures aren't about bad investing - they're about misalignment that could have been caught earlier if managers knew how to decode what LPs were really saying. Great conversation on fund manager survival rates & how expectations evolve as firms mature: youtube.com/watch?si=0spfW…

/2 ▶️ YouTube: youtu.be/YBd65oN5RL4?si… 🍎 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ven… 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0G9XP4…

🎧 New Origins: @credistick surveyed early-stage VCs to decode what's really driving fundraising struggles. He breaks down his findings with @beezer232 & @nchirls: 📊LPs are making fewer, more concentrated commitments. Not because LPs are investing more per fund, but because fund sizes have shrunk while LP commitment sizes have stayed roughly flat. 🏢Brand is the dividing line. The "haves" have strong brands built on network + access (though this doesn't predict performance). ⚖️Venture has split into two businesses: small firms offering idiosyncratic risk vs. large firms offering systematic risk. Different products, different LP bases. 📍Investments outside SF/NYC surprisingly drive more outperformance (pricing efficiency).

Venture may run on numbers, but at its core, it’s still a people business. On "How I Invest", Kate Simpson of GEM joined @DWeisburd to share how top LPs actually evaluate venture funds 👇 🔎 Sourcing is the real edge Elite LPs invest heavily in tracking who’s raising, when, + which founders GPs truly have relationships with. 🗣️ The best references are the ones where you have to interrupt the founder because they can’t stop talking about the GP. ⚖️ Top LPs normalize for fund size, entry price, ownership, & reserves before comparing returns, otherwise they’re comparing apples to oranges. Listen to their convo: youtu.be/QgHHWP4y0gY?si…

📬ICYMI the newest OpenLP newsletter has landed! It’s packed with fresh data, frameworks & practical LP/GP insights: ✅ New market analysis from @Beezer232: the first industry-wide contraction in modern venture history, powered by 20 years of @SapphirePrtnrs graduation rate data ✅ The Reserves Paradox - when follow-on capital actually improves fund performance by @credistick ✅ @infoarbitrage on what it really takes to build a seed-stage venture firm from scratch ✅ ILPA’s DDQ 2.0: the LP checklist every GP needs today, including terms, governance, valuation, ESG & more 📩 Read the full newsletter news.sapphireventures.com/openlp-newslet… 🔔 Subscribe for monthly insights subscribe.OpenLP.vc Big thank you to this month’s contributors! 🙏 @NChirls @KateClarkTweets @nbt @DWeisburd @Nic_DeTommaso @Jaltma @RohitYadav_

Raising a VC fund? Here is the MOST comprehensive LP questionnaire I've seen for fund diligence. The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) Due Diligence Questionnaire 2.0 is the industry’s default checklist for how LPs evaluate fund managers. The ILPA DDQ covers the following topics related to fund diligence: 1. Firm: General Information 2. Fund: General Information 3. Succession Planning / Key Persons 4. Investment Strategy 5. Co-Investments 6. GP-Led Secondaries / Continuation Funds 7. Credit Facilities 8. Investment Process 9. Team 10. Alignment of Interests 11. Market Environment 12. Fund Terms 13. Firm Governance / Risk / Compliance 14. Track Record 15. Accounting / Valuation 16. Reporting 17. Legal 18. Data Security / Technology /Third-Party(s) 19. ESG 20. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion This is gold for any GP currently raising a fund or thinking about raising a fund! Can't believe this is the first time I'm seeing it. PDF: ilpa.org/wp-content/upl… --- If you're an emerging manager looking for fund admin tooling that can make fundraising seamless and can scale with you, I partner with Verivend to help get funds formed. Get a demo: lnkd.in/grrJxqxq Repost to help emerging managers!

🍎 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wha… ▶️ YouTube: youtu.be/nQ2FkGsus54?si… 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7DQRao…

Venture’s brightest AI investors reflect on 2025’s defining moments — in this special Origins compilation, @beezer232 & @nchirls revisit standout moments from 2025 to spotlight how the AI boom is reshaping firm strategy, LP priorities, & real-world impact. @sarahtavel (@benchmark), @dhaliwas & @dauber (@AmplifyPartners), @micahjay1 (@fcollective), & @ZachWeinberg discuss: 📌 Why just using ChatGPT doesn’t make you AI-native 📌 The rise of $20M term sheets for pedigreed AI founders 📌 Why VCs are often 7 years late to paradigm shifts Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts — links below👇

Brand-new analysis from @Beezer232 has arrived showing that we may be seeing the 1st meaningful industry-wide contraction in modern venture history. 📊❗ Drawing on 20 years of fund survival data from @SapphirePrtnrs, she separates headline fund counts from active investors to understand firm endurance & the pace of replenishment in a contracting market. Full data + analysis: linkedin.com/pulse/i-see-de…

The most important companies that get built in a given year are rarely aligned to the trend that was "hottest." The deals that people were fighting for "access" to.

🌱How do you build a seed-stage venture firm from scratch? If you’re an emerging manager (or aspiring to become one), read Roger Ehrenberg’s @infoarbitrage blueprint for building a venture firm, from Fund I to the scaling lessons of Funds II & III. 💡 Key takeaways: ✔️ Treat your firm like a startup—your LPs certainly will ✔️ Early decisions lay the foundation for long-term trust ✔️ What Institutional LPs want 📖 linkedin.com/pulse/building…

"While reserves can occasionally boost returns, they can, and more frequently do, bring down fund multiples. They also (dare I say) sometimes create potential conflicts of interest with LPs." Awesome recap of great thought pieces on reserves, including OpenLP co-founder @LauraLPThompson's blog: "Dirty Secret: Venture Reserves are Not Always a Good Thing" & a new guide to reserves for EMs by @credistick! 👇 TY for sharing @credistick! sapphireventures.com/blog/dirty-sec…