Introducing Origins: A New Podcast about LPs
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Eighteen months ago, we set out to raise our first fund for Notation. We knew bits and pieces about the Limited Partner community (the firms and people that invest in VC funds), but boy did we have a lot to learn. Unlike the VC community, which has been radically transformed in the last decade by people like Fred Wilson and Brad Feld, and is now much more transparent and accessible for founders than it once was, the LP community still feels like it’s stuck in a former era. Precious few resources exist for new VCs like ourselves, other than the generosity of more established investors who have already been through the LP fundraising process.
Origins is a new podcast about LPs that we made to uncover what is still an opaque corner of the startup ecosystem. We hope it will demystify how LPs make decisions and shine some light on how the origins of startup capital might affect the companies to which it’s ultimately directed.
A close VC friend of ours had a curious reaction when we told him about Origins recently. He remarked that it sounded like a great idea, but kinda off-brand for what we’re building with Notation.
“Don’t you guys want to do a podcast about all the cool new technology you’re seeing and funding in NYC, or the NYC design and engineering community, or what’s happening in the local BK community? Why start a podcast about LP money?”
The reason is simple: Notation wouldn’t exist without it. And as we build a firm that represents the principles we value — trust, transparency, integrity — we felt that discussing the origins of venture capital was an important place to start. We hope to explore many themes with this podcast over time, some mentioned by our friend above, but in its first season, Origins is an attempt to open a window into the LP world that could be directly helpful for other VCs, as well as founders who might not even know what an LP is. We believe it’s important for founders to better understand the LP ecosystem because it can have direct funding implications for their companies.
This first season of Origins includes eight episodes, and interviews with people such as Beezer Clarkson from Sapphire Ventures, Chris Douvos from VIA, Naval Ravikant, Josh Abramson, among others. Origins is the resource we wish we had when we set out to raise Notation two years ago, so we hope you’ll enjoy it and we’d love to hear what you think.
Nick + Alex