How should GPs manage the timeline and process of raising a fund from LPs?

Harry Stebbings · Sep 23, 2022

Emerging managers should ask every committed LP for three subsequent introductions to build a flywheel in the LP acquisition funnel

An LP who has already committed is incentivized to help you get the fund off the ground

28:13 20VC: Why Greed is the #1 Enemy of Venture Returns, Why Not Enough VCs Play to Win and Lessons from Scaling to $100M and 1,200 Employees and Then Cratering with Julio Vasconcellos, Founder @ Atlantico

Harry Stebbings · Nov 21, 2022

The best LP discovery tactic is to ask every LP who commits for three named people with a similar mindset and then relentlessly pursue those intros

Once they commit to specific names you can hound them for the introductions, creating a flywheel

24:02 20VC: Semil Shah on The Biggest Mistakes VCs and LPs Made Over the Last 24 Months, Why LP Churn is Coming, Core Lessons on Scaling from $1M Haystack Fund I to Today and How To Find, Win and Manage LPs as an Emerging Manager

Harry Stebbings · Apr 21, 2023

Systematically asking every new LP for one or two referrals to like-minded LPs creates a self-sustaining fundraising flywheel

Each meeting generates further warm introductions, so the pipeline compounds on itself

Scope: He does two new LP meetings per week

15:23 20VC: Who Wins in AI; Startup vs Incumbent, Infrastructure vs Application Layer, Bundled vs Unbundled Providers | From 150 LP Meetings to Closing $230M for Fund I; The Fundraising Process, What Worked, What Didn't and Lessons Learned with Tomasz Tunguz

Julio Vasconcellos · Sep 23, 2022

Getting a first-time fund off the ground is slower than expected and takes many more conversations than raising with an established track record

LPs need to understand your strategy and your edge, which takes more meetings than when a track record already exists

Scope: a strong personal investing and operating track record helps

26:35 20VC: Why Greed is the #1 Enemy of Venture Returns, Why Not Enough VCs Play to Win and Lessons from Scaling to $100M and 1,200 Employees and Then Cratering with Julio Vasconcellos, Founder @ Atlantico

Ophelia Brown · Mar 17, 2023

First-time fund raising is a long-term relationship-building process, not a three-month 'one and done' close, and it is legitimate for LPs to want to see performance and execution over months first

She came to market expecting to close in three months and realised, especially lacking pre-existing LP relationships, why the process necessarily takes time

Scope: especially for managers without deep existing LP relationships

37:23 20VC: Why Growth Investors Ruined the Venture Market, Why Marketing in Venture Has No Substance, Why Follow-On Investing Can Damage Returns and The Mistakes VCs Made in the Last 18 Months with Ophelia Brown, Founder @ Blossom Capital

Terrence Rohan · Feb 5, 2024

New seed managers should expect LP fundraising to be slow — twelve to eighteen months, hundreds of no's, and months-long decision timelines are normal, not a failure

The LP world operates on a completely different pace and protocol from the fast front-office deal world seed investors are used to

Scope: especially true for fund one; hardest for angel investors used only to front-office speed

61:49 20VC: The Biggest Misconceptions & Hardest Truths About Seed Investing Today; Why The Best Founders Don't Need You, Why Uncapped SAFEs Are Good, Why Reserves Are Bad, Why Signalling is BS, Why Price Doesn't Matter with David Tisch & Terrence Rohan

Julio Vasconcellos · Sep 23, 2022

There are no shortcuts to raising a first-time fund: find the product-market fit for your fund by starting with people who already know and trust you, then expand to others who think like them, rather than following a formula

It took him hundreds of meetings and many no's; there's no magic way to find who wants to back you and your strategy

27:37 20VC: Why Greed is the #1 Enemy of Venture Returns, Why Not Enough VCs Play to Win and Lessons from Scaling to $100M and 1,200 Employees and Then Cratering with Julio Vasconcellos, Founder @ Atlantico

Harry Stebbings · Dec 14, 2022

The number one fundraising mistake fund managers make is going after big tickets first instead of first securing small, friendly checks

Like a restaurant, you need people inside first to attract more people in

28:43 20 Sales: Webflow's Maggie Hott on When to Start and How to Scale the Best Outbound Sales Team, Why Founders Should Not Hire a Head of Sales First, The Must Ask Questions When Hiring Sales Reps and How To Structure the Process

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Unless you have an anchor pushing money at you, first-time managers should raise from friends for social validation, ask each friend for three subsequent LP intros and a reference, and build a flywheel to a minimum viable first close

All LPs really want to know is that you're actually in business with no risk of the fund not happening, and friend-sourced intros with references compound

Scope: assumes no forceful anchor is available

15:06 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023

Pre-meeting fundraising materials should be used as prequalification, screening out LPs whose mandate doesn't fit, just as an SDR would qualify leads

LPs have different mandates — some won't back solo GPs, some only invest in the US, some prefer a stage — so materials save time by surfacing mismatches early

8:38 20VC: Who Wins in AI; Startup vs Incumbent, Infrastructure vs Application Layer, Bundled vs Unbundled Providers | From 150 LP Meetings to Closing $230M for Fund I; The Fundraising Process, What Worked, What Didn't and Lessons Learned with Tomasz Tunguz

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023 · hedged

Sending an LP the deck before a first meeting is fine, though a detailed blurb that withholds some information is useful because it creates an obvious next step for qualification

People want the information, so give it to them; but an incomplete teaser leaves a concrete next step that helps you qualify LPs and manage your time

Scope: 'you can go either way'; 'I don't know, for the most part'

24:19 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023 · hedged

The speaker prefers sending a more detailed blurb rather than a full deck ahead of an LP meeting, because LPs often find a reason to say no in the deck

LPs frequently find a reason to say no inside the deck before you ever meet them

24:45 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Harry Stebbings · Apr 21, 2023

Progress updates to already-committed LPs turn them into active advocates who introduce you to more LPs

Seeing new institutional commits signals to an existing LP that the manager will be a winner, prompting them to make introductions

13:51 20VC: Who Wins in AI; Startup vs Incumbent, Infrastructure vs Application Layer, Bundled vs Unbundled Providers | From 150 LP Meetings to Closing $230M for Fund I; The Fundraising Process, What Worked, What Didn't and Lessons Learned with Tomasz Tunguz

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should invest in lines not dots with LPs — meet new LPs continuously while not fundraising, ask each for two further introductions, and send personalised quarterly updates

Two new LP meetings a week plus two intros each creates a flywheel of four new relationships weekly, and the relationship built over time converts far better than a cold fundraise

31:26 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should build continuous, natural relationships with LPs rather than engaging them strategically around fundraise windows

LPs are smart and you learn from them; ongoing informal contact beats manipulating relationships to align with a raise

36:58 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Harry Stebbings · Nov 21, 2022

GPs should be meeting new LPs continuously even when not raising, because meeting an LP for the first time while you are actively fundraising leaves you no chance

The relationship has to predate the raise

24:56 20VC: Semil Shah on The Biggest Mistakes VCs and LPs Made Over the Last 24 Months, Why LP Churn is Coming, Core Lessons on Scaling from $1M Haystack Fund I to Today and How To Find, Win and Manage LPs as an Emerging Manager

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023

The most sophisticated fund managers treat capital formation as a permanent full-time job — always in market, referencing LPs and building pipeline — and long-term LP relationships are the biggest driver of a successful raise

He interviewed sophisticated capital formation people after his raise and found this is how they operate; the long-term relationships he could lean on were what worked best for him

Scope: Learned after his own raise; wishes he had done these interviews before

14:15 20VC: Who Wins in AI; Startup vs Incumbent, Infrastructure vs Application Layer, Bundled vs Unbundled Providers | From 150 LP Meetings to Closing $230M for Fund I; The Fundraising Process, What Worked, What Didn't and Lessons Learned with Tomasz Tunguz

Semil Shah · Nov 21, 2022

GP fundraising diligence is far more demanding than what an entrepreneur goes through, so managers need reputation, name-checkable references, and a full set of collateral ready

LPs call around on you and you need material tailored to different people at different times, reducing friction at every step

25:05 20VC: Semil Shah on The Biggest Mistakes VCs and LPs Made Over the Last 24 Months, Why LP Churn is Coming, Core Lessons on Scaling from $1M Haystack Fund I to Today and How To Find, Win and Manage LPs as an Emerging Manager

Adam Besvinick · May 29, 2023

Emerging managers should err on the side of formality in fundraise materials — sub docs ready, a data room with every investment memo, and regular transparent LP letters

It shows prospective LPs his thought process at the time of investment and how transparently he communicates; in fund one he was caught without sub docs ready

Scope: lesson learned from fund one

11:10 20VC: Why Financial Models at Seed, $5M Seed Rounds & The Fear of Signalling Risk is all BS | Why Multi-Stage Firms Have Destroyed Seed & Who Wins and Who Loses in the Next 10 Years of Venture with Adam Besvinick, Founding Partner @ Looking Glass Capital

Harry Stebbings · Mar 17, 2023

New managers should do a first close and then start investing rather than focusing purely on fundraising, because building a book of business demonstrates what and how you invest and makes the rest of the raise easier to sell

Pure fundraising focus is more productive in the short term but leaves you with no portfolio to show LPs

Scope: acknowledges the pure-fundraising route makes sense on productivity grounds

39:06 20VC: Why Growth Investors Ruined the Venture Market, Why Marketing in Venture Has No Substance, Why Follow-On Investing Can Damage Returns and The Mistakes VCs Made in the Last 18 Months with Ophelia Brown, Founder @ Blossom Capital

Larry Aschebrook · Jun 16, 2025

When the money is there, a new manager should close it, start deploying, build a portfolio and show improvement in NAV — it is inertia that makes subsequent raising easier

Momentum and demonstrated portfolio progress are what make raising the next dollars easier

Scope: advice specifically for emerging managers

10:41 20VC: How We Made $800M on Coursera | We Lost Money on Uber and Made Money on Lyft | We Did 3x on Postmates in 18 Months | DPI is King, MOIC is BS | We Dodged Theranos and I Still Lost Millions with Larry Aschebrook @ G Squared

Jake Gibson · Jul 14, 2023

New managers should hold a first close as soon as possible, even a small one.

Having a fund and having made a first investment gives credibility so LPs take you seriously, and after a 10% capital call you can get a line of credit to fund more deals

Scope: a 10% first capital call is a lot but workable

19:37 20VC: Why Fund Sizes Should Be Smaller, Should Founders Also Have Their Own Funds, Is Emerging Markets Investing Gone, Is Fintech Investing Dead & Who Will Be The Winners and Losers in VC in the Next 10 Years with Sheel Mohnot, Co-Founder @ BTV

Mark Suster · May 1, 2024

Fund managers should take a first close at the minimum amount that lets them start operating rather than holding out to be 'one and done'

Closing early means you stay in business even if the rest of the money never comes, you start deploying and build three to five deals for future LPs to evaluate, and you typically have a year to raise the remainder

Scope: contrary to conventional industry advice; requires a narrative explaining why the early LPs committed first

17:19 20VC: Mark Suster on The Biggest Fundraising Lessons for VCs, Why the Correction in Venture is Still to Come, Why Private Equity Will Replace IPOs and M&A as the Exit Path & The Woke Left and a Trump Administration; What Happens?

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023

The way to create urgency in a fundraise is to email the whole LP base with every new commit, because what you must convince investors of is the inevitability of a successful close

Any data point that supports the inevitability of a positive conclusion is hugely helpful in getting investors to move

13:30 20VC: Who Wins in AI; Startup vs Incumbent, Infrastructure vs Application Layer, Bundled vs Unbundled Providers | From 150 LP Meetings to Closing $230M for Fund I; The Fundraising Process, What Worked, What Didn't and Lessons Learned with Tomasz Tunguz

Adam Besvinick · May 29, 2023

Manufacturing urgency with LPs via deadlines doesn't work; the only effective lever is demonstrating compounding momentum through consistent updates

LPs smell a bluff a mile away and notice when a deadline comes and goes; steady updates on markups, new investments and co-investors show inertia and that others are moving

Scope: frames it as the hardest part of fund manager fundraising

16:28 20VC: Why Financial Models at Seed, $5M Seed Rounds & The Fear of Signalling Risk is all BS | Why Multi-Stage Firms Have Destroyed Seed & Who Wins and Who Loses in the Next 10 Years of Venture with Adam Besvinick, Founding Partner @ Looking Glass Capital

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

The two-email follow-up rule is wrong: managers should keep following up with LPs because the cost of another check-in email is very low and the potential payoff is high

He emailed one LP weekly for fifty weeks and got engagement on week fifty-one; the cost is low and the benefit is high, especially if each note carries news or humor rather than a bare ask

Scope: works best when paired with humour and news rather than pure asking

29:56 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

LP nos and meetings that don't convert are not a waste of time, so managers should stop taking them personally and let relationships compound

Their largest LP today passed repeatedly from fund one through fund four before committing in fund five, at the cost of only a handful of meetings and emails; people move platforms and fit changes unpredictably

43:04 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

LPs should never be surprised by your fundraise timeline on subsequent funds — you should pre-sell the timing well in advance

LPs have planning and deployment cycles; if you surprise them they can't allocate even if they like you

Scope: applies to subsequent funds where relationships already exist

34:33 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should signal their fundraise timing 18–24 months ahead and then deliver on it, because LPs find predictability reassuring

Many existing managers came back a year or two early during hot markets and wrecked LP planning, so hitting the timeline you projected differentiates you and is comforting to LPs

Scope: some LPs track this closely, others need reminding

34:55 20VC: How to Raise a Venture Fund from Deck to First Meetings to Final Close, Why Venture is a Young Person's Game and Why Multi-Stage Funds Have Not Ruined Seed with Rob Go, Co-Founder @ Nextview

Hussein Kanji · Jan 20, 2025

Emerging managers should raise a fund against a fixed time window (e.g. ninety days) rather than a target fund size, take whatever they get, and start deploying.

A smart manager can do portfolio construction with more or less money; getting points on the board and proving the investments are good is what lets you come back and raise more capital, whereas an open-ended raise wastes years of your life begging.

11:55 Raise against a fixed time window not a target fund size

Harry Stebbings · Nov 21, 2022

A common fatal flaw in emerging manager pitches is a lack of correlation between prior track record and the strategy being raised, e.g. an operator with Series B logos raising a seed fund

The prior track doesn't support where they say they want to go

26:22 Mismatch between prior track record and the strategy being raised is a common fatal fundraising flaw

Semil Shah · Nov 21, 2022

If institutional LPs aren't already name-checking you and others aren't talking about your work, it is almost impossible to raise institutional capital at any check size

LP conviction comes from the chatter zone — doing good deals and being seen as uniquely helpful or insightful — not from materials

27:08 Lp conviction comes from being name checked in the chatter zone not from materials or decks

Semil Shah · Nov 21, 2022 · hedged

The way to create urgency with LPs is to set a deadline, accept a no in any format, and move on your own timeline rather than waiting on them

Most LPs have plenty of time to decide, so waiting by the phone cedes control; as an adult you have to be willing to walk away

28:40 Setting a deadline and accepting any form of no while moving on your own timeline creates real urgency

Harry Stebbings · Mar 17, 2023

Emerging managers should not send LPs a data room at all — instead ask what specific material each LP wants and send only that

A data room creates a paradox of choice: with twelve documents in there LPs defer it to later, whereas giving them the one thing they asked for gets engagement

36:18 Ask lps what specific material they want rather than sending a full data room

Ophelia Brown · Mar 17, 2023 · hedged

A first close should be at roughly 50% of the target fund size

It was the advice she was given and followed

38:20 First close at roughly fifty percent of target fund size

Harry Stebbings · Mar 17, 2023

A first close materially below 50% of target is too small

It isn't a sure enough base to be in business from

38:28 First close materially below fifty percent of target is too small to be viable

Ophelia Brown · Mar 17, 2023

Many LPs who took meetings after her first close were never going to invest — they were curious and were waiting to see what investments the fund made before the final close

The LPA's twelve-month window to final close gave them the option to wait and observe the portfolio being built

38:31 Many lps take meetings to observe portfolio progress before committing not genuine early interest

Ophelia Brown · Mar 17, 2023

It takes about eight meetings to close an LP, because LPs don't expect you to come back

Persistence itself is the differentiator — most managers stop showing up

44:03 Persistence across roughly eight meetings closes lps since most managers give up early

Immad Akhund · May 12, 2025

Building a fund off many small friend checks of $250k takes forever, so anchor fund-of-funds LPs are the practical route to scale

Reaching $26M via small individual commitments is too slow; three anchor LPs plus easy friend checks got it done in three weeks

43:27 Anchor fund of funds lps not many small checks scale a fund fast

Jason Lemkin · Aug 9, 2023

Fundraising today only looks brutal because 2020-2022 is being used as the reference point; it is still far easier to raise a fund than it was a decade ago

It was nearly impossible to raise a fund when he started in venture and when he raised his first fund in 2016, so the current market is easy by historical standards

56:20 Fundraising only looks hard relative to the 2020 2022 boom but is easier than a decade ago

Mark Suster · May 1, 2024

Managers should put the smallest number they could possibly raise on the front of the pitch deck and aim to end up oversubscribed

Closing $20M against a $100M target looks like failure, while closing $20M against a $50M target is far less damaging, and you need a positive narrative that you'll get to the higher number

18:45 Target the smallest viable fund size on the deck to end up oversubscribed

Mark Suster · May 1, 2024

It is acceptable to give first-close LPs extra economic incentives — a fee discount, a slight carry discount or similar — to reward committing first

No one wants to commit first, so if an LP negotiates hard you should be willing to give them something

19:14 Reward first close lps with fee or carry discounts

Mark Goldberg · Oct 25, 2024

Emerging managers should pre-screen LP meetings by asking which first-time funds the LP has recently backed; an LP who hasn't done one in two years probably won't

Many LPs take meetings out of shiny-object interest rather than genuine appetite for a first fund

28:30 Pre screen lp meetings by asking about recent first time fund backing

Jake Gibson · Jul 14, 2023

Setting an artificial closing date does not create urgency in a first fundraise — LPs know they can invest later if they want to; real urgency only comes from genuine excess demand

In Fund I the date was ignored and the raise took a year; in Fund II there was more demand than space, so existing LPs all committed by the deadline

23:44 Artificial closing dates fail in first funds since lps know they can wait only genuine excess demand creates urgency

Harry Stebbings · May 29, 2023 · hedged

LPs often do not go through fundraise documents efficiently, so a large volume of documents risks losing their engagement (raised by the interviewer)

11:52 Large volumes of fundraise documents risk losing lp engagement

Adam Besvinick · May 29, 2023

Fund managers and founders should push all their material out at once (full data room) rather than drip-feeding information to the other side

Drip-feeding relies on the recipient asking exactly the right question to unlock the next piece; better to over-provide and let them choose whether to engage

12:09 Push all material out at once rather than drip feeding information

Adam Besvinick · May 29, 2023

The key skill in fund fundraising is identifying the phenotype of LP who will understand your strategy, as early as possible

It's no different from a founder finding the VC who understands their business; being able to describe your ideal LP makes it far easier for others to make the right introductions

18:32 Identify the lp phenotype who understands your strategy early

David Tisch · Feb 5, 2024

New fund managers need an explicit reason and vision for starting a fund, including whether fund one is the endpoint or not

Starting a fund is not easy and the timeline for ROI in this business is egregious, so doing it just because it seems easy is a mistake

63:04 New managers need an explicit vision for why and how long theyre starting a fund

Miles Dieffenbach · Aug 4, 2025

GPs should spend the least amount of time fundraising possible and target a tight, pre-planned close timeline

Fundraising isn't the job — GPs make their money investing; lining up LPs, sub docs and legal work before first close keeps it short

34:20 Gps should minimize fundraising time with a tight pre planned close

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023

An LP fundraise should be run like a software sales process — build a funnel sized against an assumed ~15% close rate to hit your target

Sales-assisted software motions close around 15%, so pipeline math tells you how many LP meetings you need

5:44 Run lp fundraise as a sales funnel sized to an assumed close rate

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023

The mystique around having a single fund close is misplaced — a close date is an arbitrary organizing device, not a signal of quality

The only function of a close date is to drive LPs to a cadence you set; multiple closes cost nothing and let you show progress and create reasons to re-engage LPs

11:48 Single close mystique is misplaced a close date is an arbitrary organizing device

Harry Stebbings · Apr 21, 2023

One of the biggest mistakes emerging managers make is letting verbal LP commitments go stale instead of closing them as fast as possible

LPs who committed months ago forget or reallocate the money elsewhere, and fast closing also demonstrates momentum

12:38 Letting verbal lp commitments go stale is a critical fundraising mistake

Tomasz Tunguz · Apr 21, 2023 · hedged

There is no correlation between meeting LPs in person and conversion — roughly a quarter to a third of his LPs he only met in person after they committed

An overhang from COVID, when many funds were raised entirely virtually, has made LPs comfortable committing remotely

15:09 In person lp meetings show no correlation with conversion post covid

David Frankel · Oct 14, 2024

A small fund can afford to welcome LPs bowing out and to spend almost no time fundraising

Because the fund is small, losing an allocation below $10M doesn't hurt; he spends roughly 3% of his time on fundraising and 95% on finding and supporting companies

33:45 Small fund size permits minimal fundraising effort and lp attrition

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

LPs essentially only care about the deck and the track record; all other materials are just ammunition for them to sell the deal into their investment committees

In his experience LPs spend roughly 90% of their time on the deck and track record, and other assets only matter as supporting fodder

12:03 Lps care mainly about the deck and track record other materials are just committee selling ammunition

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Both an anchor-first raise and a bottom-up 'minimum viable first close' raise are viable fundraising strategies

An anchor requires a long process but makes subsequent yeses easy; the bottom-up approach gets you into business quickly and buys time to cultivate slower institutional LPs

13:36 Both anchor first and bottom up mvp first close are viable fundraising strategies

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Growth-stage funds can't practically do a minimum viable first close and need a meaningful anchor or big dollars behind them before closing capital

Closing at half or a third of target would force a materially different strategy, so you need size certainty before you close

15:35 Growth stage funds need a meaningful anchor before closing unlike mvp close strategies

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

When raising a first fund, the most useful LP intelligence comes not from your closest GP relationships but from peer funds that have recently raised themselves

Recently-raised peer funds shared lead lists, background intel on LPs and how each one thinks, which was more actionable than warm relationships alone

22:18 Peer funds who recently raised provide more actionable lp intel than close gp relationships

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should qualify LPs on geography, check size and existing portfolio — an LP writing $25M checks into your $30-40M fund, or one that has never backed your geography, is effectively disqualified

Mismatched check size or being the first fund in a new geography for that LP makes a yes very unlikely

26:07 Qualify lps on geography check size and portfolio fit before investing time

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should fight hard for great introductions but not for the meeting itself — forcing a meeting with an LP who doesn't want to take one has little value

If someone doesn't want you, they don't want you; he isn't a good enough salesperson to convert someone already leaning away, and there are better uses of time

27:29 Fight hard for introductions but not for forcing meetings with reluctant lps

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

A fundraising data room should be intentionally incomplete, with a second-stage data room offered only to LPs who actually dig in

Gating information lets you see who opened it and who prosecuted it, which tests whether an LP is genuinely serious — like levels in a video game

28:16 Gate the data room in stages to test genuine lp interest

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Follow up with an unresponsive LP twice but never a third time; stopping proactive outreach doesn't mean the relationship is dead

It never hurts to ask twice, but after being ignored twice you should move on — fundraising processes are long and circumstances can bring them back later

29:24 Follow up with an unresponsive lp twice but never a third time

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Repeatedly asking an LP for a next step or meeting without offering something in return is hopeless

31:16 Repeatedly asking an lp for a next step without offering something in return is hopeless

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

The two-ask limit applies only to asks — a manager should never be shy about sharing good news with LPs repeatedly

The problem is asking without offering something, not frequency of contact per se

32:07 The follow up limit applies only to asks never to sharing good news

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

A close date works as a forcing function because some fund of funds and endowments pride themselves on being in a first close — and if it doesn't move an LP, that reveals they aren't serious in your time frame

Certain LPs are known for being the first yes, so the deadline appeals to them; failure to respond to it is itself useful qualification information

32:34 A close date deadline attracts first close seeking lps and tests seriousness

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should give LPs a 14–21 day window to make a declarative decision on a fund commitment

Too short a timeline forces a no; 14–21 days is enough time to internalize and not unreasonable, and setting it signals confidence and progression

33:35 Give lps a 14 21 day window to make a declarative decision

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Creating urgency with LPs gets easier in later funds because you can credibly cite existing LP re-ups and limited remaining allocation

With most LPs increasing allocation, there is genuinely only room for one or two more, which lets you be selective and set a timeline

34:12 Urgency is easier to create in later funds by citing limited remaining allocation

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

There are strategically better times of year to raise: Q1 is optimal for endowments with fresh allocation buckets, Q3 is worst, and late Q4 can be good if they have leftover allocation

Institutions receive fresh allocation buckets at the start of the year, so capital availability varies predictably by quarter

36:02 Seasonal quarter timing affects lp capital availability q1 best q3 worst

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023 · hedged

The seasonal timing advantage in fund raising may be eroding because nearly everyone now starts in the latter half of the year to target a Q1 close, and there is probably no way to zig while others zag

The logical timing to capture the bulk of the market has become common knowledge, so everyone crowds into the same window

36:31 Seasonal timing advantage erodes as managers crowd into the same window

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Some GPs are not constitutionally suited to always-on fundraising and are better off running concentrated, simultaneous fundraise bursts

Same pattern as founders: some are great at continuous investor conversations and others are not, and each should play to that

37:30 Personality fit determines continuous vs burst fundraising style

Rob Go · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should run an organized fundraise but not manage it too tightly, leaving room for serendipity rather than jamming LPs into a framework

First-time managers don't know enough to run it like a fine-oiled machine; LP decisions are often entirely about the LP's own timing, and one LP cultivated since fund one came in nine months after a close

41:13 Run an organized process but leave room for serendipity rather than rigid structure

Harry Stebbings · Jun 23, 2023

Managers should be human on LP calls — asking personal questions and building real relationships rather than defaulting to shirt-and-tie pitch mode

LPs are people like anyone else; the personal conversation is what builds a real relationship

43:57 Be personally human on lp calls not formal pitch mode