What I Learned at the WVCS
-- by Jessie Gabriel
Last week I had the immense pleasure of attending the Women’s Venture Capital Summit in Half Moon Bay. This was a big moment for All Places–it was the first time we sponsored an event of this magnitude. When I walked into the Emerging Manager Forum on Tuesday morning it was almost shocking to see the All Places logo up on the screen. We have arrived!
Yes, these conferences are great for spending time with GPs and other ecosystem partners who are supporting this community. For me, though, I also go for the content. I love hearing from fund managers, allocators, fund admins, economists, CVCs, and founders about how they are thinking about the industry. For those of you who were unable to attend, I wanted to share some of my takeaways from those three beautiful days on the California coast.
When you’re talking to potential LPs . . .
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Don’t forget that LPs are human beings. Winning an allocation, just like most sales, is about relationships. Treating an LP like a faceless bank who exists only to give you money is not a great strategy. This isn’t just about LP ego. They watch to see how you behave so they can get a sense of how you’ll be with founders. If you don’t know how to build relationships, it’s not encouraging.
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Ask questions. If you’re a VC, you spend a lot of time listening to pitches. You know interest wanes quickly when you’re just being talked at. All founders (and GPs are also founders) have the capacity to speak ad nauseum about their creations. Resist that desire. Check in with your audience. What is on their minds? What questions do they have? What are they having trouble understanding? Does your strategy fit with their thesis? Does what you’re saying interest them at all? Make the most of the time in that meeting so you aren’t wondering after why you got ghosted.
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Have real differentiators, not just blah blah blah we’re the best. Before you go out and start pitching, spend some thoughtful time getting crystal clear on your differentiators. The language you use to describe them should be crisp, compelling, and credible. We’ve all read decks from founders or VCs who purport to have the very best and most unique track record, product, team, deal sourcing system, network, advisors. Just saying that is not enough. You need to convince your audience that there truly is something special about what you do and that can be hard to communicate.
When you're tracking down deals . . .
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In the end, it’s all about winning over great founders. Most successful founders get to a point where they start creating a dream investor list. These are the investors that, if they could work with anyone, this is who it would be. If the founder is lucky enough to have that kind of leverage, you want to be at the top of their list. This is a long play. You need to develop your brand in the market and that takes time.
- Educate yourself on secondaries. Liquidity events continue to be in short supply, which has led to fast growth in the secondaries market. LPs put money into venture funds with the expectation of getting that money back and then some. When liquidity is delayed, LPs spend more and more time out-of-pocket with nothing to show for it. IPOs and acquisitions aren’t the only option for exiting an investment. Instead, you can sometimes sell your position to another investor. On the flip side, secondary purchases can provide a late entry option into an existing company that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. If you haven’t spent time getting comfortable with the secondary market, now’s the time. Want a shortcut? Sign up for our Advanced Topics in Fund Management series.
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Avoid the “hot” rounds. Some say being a great investor involves getting access to the most high-demand companies. Others say that, particularly if you are an emerging manager, your focus may be better spent identifying companies before they get so hot. This allows you to get in early at a more reasonable valuation and at a time when you are much more likely to get an allocation (without competing with big-name funds who can easily outbid you).
A little food for thought for all of you who are spending the first half of 2025 raising your fund, making investments, or both. We know it’s hard out there and we love being able to share our own learnings with you.
Where are we going to be next? SXSW! Will you be there too? Drop me a note and let me know what you’ll be doing there. I’m still putting together my itinerary and don’t want to miss anything awesome!
