Origins - A podcast about the LP and VC ecosystem.

In the first Origins episode of the year, ⁠Nick Chirls⁠ (Notation Capital) and ⁠Beezer Clarkson⁠ (Sapphire Partners) host Scott Kupor, a Managing Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In his role as managing partner, Scott invests in growth-stage companies building in the bio and healthcare industries, manages the firm’s investor relations team, and is responsible for the firm’s growth initiatives. Scott was the first employee at Andreessen Horowitz and managed the firm’s growth from $300 million in AUM to more than $30 billion. Prior to joining the firm, Scott worked as vice president and general manager of software-as-a-service at Hewlett Packard. Before that, he held numerous executive management positions at Opsware, including senior vice president of global field operations, vice president of financial planning and vice president of corporate development. Scott is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It, and serves on the boards of Cedar, Headway, Foursquare, Labster, Ultima, and SnapLogic. He also served as chairman of the board for the National Venture Capital Association. In this episode we discuss: - The evolution of Andreessen Horowitz as the firm approaches its 15th anniversary - Reflections on how Scott’s role has changed since becoming the first hire at a16z - The state of venture today with AI as an inflection point + valuation corrections - Managing LP/GP expectations in the current environment (e.g. markdowns) - a16z’s decentralized business model and keeping important cultural values - How to think about (and debate) fund size and what is the TAM today …and much more Follow us: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/nchirls⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/beezer232⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/skupor

In the last Origins episode of the year, Nick Chirls (Notation Capital) and Beezer Clarkson (Sapphire Partners) host David Clark, Investment Director at VenCap International plc. With nearly four decades of experience in investing, David has backed some of the most established VC funds across the US, Europe, China and India and shares historical figures on where to find performance in venture. David recently uncovered 30 years of data from 400+ funds with 15,000+ underlying portfolio companies and found that 50% of VC investments don’t actually return capital. So how does an LP unlock performance and find the enduring managers? Three individuals with three unique strategies - Nick (emerging manager), David (LP investing in established), and Beezer (LP investing in emerging & established) – find out how their models differ, where perspectives intersect and what David’s return data shows. Follow us: ⁠https://twitter.com/nchirls⁠ ⁠https://twitter.com/beezer232⁠ https://twitter.com/daveclark85 Links: David on TVPI vs DPI: https://twitter.com/daveclark85/status/1729188482919383202?s=20 David on power laws: https://twitter.com/daveclark85/status/1693976973079462366?s=20

In this episode of Origins, Nicholas Chirls (Notation) and Beezer Clarkson (Sapphire Partners) host Ed Sim, founder of Boldstart and Seyonne Kang, Partner at StepStone. Ed is the founder of boldstart ventures, a day-one partner and true believer for developer first, enterprise infra, & SaaS founders. He is currently a board member/observer of Snyk, Blockdaemon, Kustomer (sold to Meta), BigID, Protect AI, Env0, among many others. Seyonne is a member of the private equity team, focusing on venture capital and growth equity investments. Prior to StepStone, she was a partner with Greenspring Associates, a venture capital and growth equity investment firm that merged with StepStone in 2021. We cover a wide range of topics, including our predictions for Q4 fundraising, when the market will bottom (if it hasn't already), what happens to multi-stage firms, AI (and other) hype cycles, and how VCs can and should think about liquidity in a market like this. Enjoy! Links to articles discussed: Best startup locations in the US Raise Less, Build More

Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners and Nick Chirls of Notation host Adam Valkin, Managing Director of General Catalyst at their NYC office. Adam Valkin is a Managing Director at General Catalyst. Adam leads the firm's global early-stage practice and co-led its international expansion. He has been at GC for over ten years after joining the firm from Accel London. He has a uniquely global perspective on venture and entrepreneurship and has experience as both an operator and investor. In this episode, we cover a variety of topics, including how founders and VCs can navigate difficult moments faced in 2023, how he approaches investing, firm building, and partnering with founders, and why perhaps the current market is not as bad as many have feared. There was a wealth of wisdom in this episode, and many thanks to Adam for agreeing to do his first pod with us.

Melissa Lucas currently serves as the CIO for the investment vehicles of two extended families. She has decades of experience handling the unique investment needs of extended families, and investing across asset classes from venture capital to credit to equities. Prior to her work for families, she spent nearly a decade working at several subsidiaries of The Capital Group – first, as an investment analyst of, and later, as an investor in, the healthcare and chemical industries. In this episode we dive into topics such as where venture fits into her portfolios, the current state of the market across asset classes, how she finds new managers, and how to think about and consider family offices as LPs.

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. We're joined by our guest Beth Ferreira, a Partner at FirstMark focused on seed and Series A investing in a broad range of consumer companies, including next-generation commerce, consumer tech, and mobile startups. Prior to FirstMark, Beth was the Managing Partner of WME Ventures, was Chief Operating Officer at Fab and ran operations in the early days of Etsy. In this episode, we do a deep dive on the current state of the series A market, including what founders need to prove between seed and A for Firstmark to gain conviction, valuation compression, how to think about the tradeoffs between growth and efficiency, and why Firstmark is as excited as ever to continue leading seed and Series A rounds, even in a difficult environment. Follow us: https://twitter.com/nchirls https://twitter.com/beezer232 https://twitter.com/bethferreira Links: https://carta.com/blog/state-of-private-markets-q1-2023/

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. In this episode, we are joined by Atul Rustgi, managing partner of Accolade Partners, a top-performing venture capital, growth equity, and blockchain fund of funds. Prior to joining Accolade in 2007, Atul worked at McKinsey & Co., a leading strategy consulting firm, where he advised senior management on issues of strategy, organization, technology and operations. Before McKinsey, Atul worked at the Robin Hood Foundation, a venture philanthropy that funds and supports innovative poverty-fighting organizations in New York City. Atul holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan. Follow us: https://twitter.com/nchirls https://twitter.com/beezer232 https://twitter.com/AccoladePrtnrs

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Lan Xuezhao, founder and managing partner of Basis Set Ventures, an AI-focused seed firm based in SF. Lan is among the earliest investors in companies such as Scale AI, Quince, Path Robotics, Workstream, and Ergeon. She built and led the Corporate Development Strategy team at Dropbox during its most acquisitive time. She studied the human brain for her Ph.D and received an M.A. in Statistics, both from the University of Michigan. Follow us: https://twitter.com/nchirls https://twitter.com/beezer232 https://twitter.com/xuezhao Links referenced: The Warm Intro Myth

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. On this episode, we dig into the history of Box Group and seed investing in NYC with David Tisch. Topics covered include Box Group's unique perspective and strategy on seed investing, staying true to one's strategy and mission, the decision behind Box Group raising outside capital, and the current state of the venture market. Follow us: https://twitter.com/nchirls https://twitter.com/beezer232 https://twitter.com/davidtisch

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. On this episode, we dig into current market dynamics with our guest Kanyi Maqubela of Kindred Ventures. Topics covered include the current state of the venture market, how LPs and VCs are modifying their investment strategy, the future state of seed funds, and how to manage psychology through downturns. Follow us: https://twitter.com/nchirls https://twitter.com/beezer232 https://twitter.com/km Links referenced in the show: https://www.newcomer.co/p/new-angellist-data-shows-startup https://hunterwalk.com/2023/01/17/death-of-the-generalist-seed-vc/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/13/sequoia-capitals-alfred-lin-in-his-first-public-interview-since-the-implosion-of-ftx-video/

On this episode of Origins, we sit down with Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners to discuss the current state of the VC and LP markets, given recent dislocations. We cover what Beezer is seeing on the ground, where we might be in the current cycle / downturn, how VCs can respond both strategically and tactically, as well as her outlook for what's to come. Beezer leads Sapphire Partners‘ investments in venture funds domestically and internationally. Prior to joining Sapphire in 2012, Beezer managed the day-to-day operations of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Global Network, which then had $7 billion under management across 16 venture funds worldwide. In 2016, Beezer led the launch of OpenLP, an effort to help foster greater understanding in the entrepreneur-to-LP tech ecosystem.

Austin Clements is a co-founder and managing partner at Slauson & Co., an early-stage venture capital firm whose mission is to democratize access to entrepreneurship by bridging the gap between untapped founders and the right capital and resources required to create sustainable equity & economic inclusion. Austin is a former Principal at TenOneTen Ventures where he played a role in investing in 50+ companies across two funds, and also the founding Chairman for PledgeLA, a city-wide initiative that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in Tech. In this episode, we cover a wide range of topics, including Austin's early experience as a founder, joining TenOneTen and learning and growing as a junior VC, and finally teaming up with his partner Ajay and launching and building Slauson from the ground up. We dive deep into the LA ecosystem, what it means to be a truly inclusive firm in 2022, and the impact that they hope to have on LA and beyond in the years to come.

In this special episode of our #OpenLP podcast miniseries, Sapphire Partners’ Laura Thompson chats with Jaclyn Hester, Partner at Foundry Group, about how LPs pick funds, what good performance looks like and how everything is changing with the shift in today’s markets. Laura Thompson invests in technology-focused venture funds domestically and internationally. She is passionate about partnering with established and emerging firms to advance the thinking in the limited partner space. Before joining Sapphire Partners in 2018, Laura worked as part of the investment team at Horsley Bridge Partners, where she helped the team make hundreds of millions of fund commitments. Jaclyn Hester joined Foundry in 2016 and is active across their portfolio of startup companies and venture funds. She helped launch Foundry's partner fund strategy and works closely with partner fund managers, while also spending time on direct investments. Prior to joining Foundry, Jaclyn practiced corporate law at Perkins Coie LLP and earned a JD/MBA from University of Colorado, Boulder.

On this episode of Origins, Aram Verdiyan, partner at Accolade Partners, hosts Santiago Santos, one of the most well-respected crypto and NFT investors in the world. The discussion is far-ranging, from Santiago's discovery of Bitcoin and Ethereum many years ago, to his decision to go full-time into crypto, to current market conditions today, and themes that he's most excited about. This was a rare look into how the best crypto native investors approach investing in this unique asset class. Aram Verdiyan is a Partner at Accolade focused on venture capital and crypto. Previously, he worked on the investment team at Andreessen Horowitz. He holds an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and a B.S. from the George Washington University. Santiago Santos, aka punk #9159, is one of the top crypto and NFT angel investors in the world, and is a core member of PleasrDAO. Previously, he was a partner at Parafi Capital, a leading crypto-native investment and technology firm founded in 2018, focused on token, venture, and quantitative strategies.

Dustin Rosen is the founder and managing partner of Wonder Ventures, a top-tier pre-seed firm based in LA. He's been an early investor in companies like Whatnot, Clutter, Arcadia and Honey. He previously founded a venture-backed startup in LA and started his career at the William Morris Agency, where he helped launch their first venture fund. This was a special episode because Dustin has been one of our closest collaborators at Notation, and our journeys have very much mirrored each other's as we've built our respective firms. We discuss Dustin's decision to launch Wonder Ventures back in 2014, as well as his experience as a solo GP, the evolution of the LA tech ecosystem, SPVs, secondary and much more.

On this special episode of Origins, Marcos Veremis, partner at Accolade Partners, hosts Chris Ebeling, the Creative Director, Futurist & Co-Founder @ Virtually Human, which created Zed Run, a provably fair digital horse racing game built on blockchain technology. Marcos Veremis is a partner at Accolade Partners, a top-tier fund of funds, and one of the first firms in the market to launch a dedicated crypto fund of funds practice. Marcos was previously an MD at Cambridge Associates for more than a decade, where he focused on alternative investments, including crypto. Chris Ebeling has spent his career crafting unique visual experiences for Film, TV, Games and emerging technologies. Chris is a world-class Animator, Creative Director, Writer and Digital Artist having worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as The Lego Movie’s, The Great Gatsby, and Gods of Egypt. He has since moved on to co-found his own digital creative studio, Virtually Human, creators of Zed Run, a provably fair digital horse racing game built on blockchain technology, and a massive hit in the rapidly growing "play-to-earn" blockchain gaming category.

Jeff Morris Jr. is the founder and Managing Partner of Chapter One. He was previously the VP of Product, Revenue at Tinder. In the role, Tinder became the #1 top-grossing app in the App Store and one of the top-grossing products in mobile history. In this episode, we discuss Jeff's early career as a PM and growth specialist, his transition into angel investing, and ultimately the decision to launch Chapter One, which is now squarely focused on web3 investing.

Sapphire Partners continues their #OpenLP miniseries takeover by hosting Saul Klein of LocalGlobe and Latitude. With decades of experience in the region, Saul has been, and continues to be, an early champion of the European tech ecosystem. During the conversation, Sapphire’s Thomas Moon chats with Saul on topics including the evolution of venture in Europe over the past 20 years, the road ahead for European venture, and the journey from operator to angel to institutional seed investor.

Sapphire Partners continues their #OpenLP miniseries takeover by hosting Kim Lew, CEO and President of Columbia University’s endowment. During the conversation, Sapphire’s Nate Leung chats with Kim on topics including: How institutional managers consider and approach risk, particularly in the context of venture investing; Differences between foundations and endowments in terms of liquidity, portfolio construction, and risk allocation; What Kim looks for in new managers for the venture portfolio component of Columbia’s endowment; What quality mentorship and leadership looks like and how she cultivates investment talent; and her views on key investment trends across climate, artificial intelligence, crypto and more...

On this brand new season of Origins, we're passing the torch to our friends at Sapphire Partners to host an exciting new miniseries. Beezer Clarkson, Nate Leung and the team at Sapphire Partners are some of the most knowledgeable and experienced LPs in the industry, and we're extremely excited to listen as they interview a slew of amazing new guests. In this first episode, Beezer and Nate are hosting...well...us :-) They interview us about the history of Origins, Notation, our new fund Notation III, and what we see in store for the future of our firm and the industry broadly. We asked Sapphire Partners to host this season because they're true experts in the venture ecosystem - they partner with many of the most elite venture firms and have a deep LP network to bring exciting new voices to the show. Sapphire is hosting these next episodes in support of their #OpenLP initiative. OpenLP is a community-sourced effort that amplifies and aggregates LP and GP voices across the venture ecosystem.