From “TwentyMinuteVC” to a “20MinuteLP”
What a time to be alive… and by alive, I mean interested in the venture capital landscape, and a follower of VC Twitter.
In all seriousness, this is an incredibly exciting time for the venture capital space. There is innovation. There is democratization. You *could* start a fund while on vacation(?) #werk!
Introducing… the Rolling Venture Fund from AngelList. While this appears to have been an option since late February, I first got wind of it from (the generous, resource-compiling & sharing) Paige Finn Doherty’s thread:
While all interesting and obviously valid options, as an emerging fund manager looking to disrupt both the venture and entertainment spaces, the only one that sounded possibly open to someone without many years of tech and investing experience was the rolling venture fund. But… how would someone launch one? What was the process really like? How would someone actually market/solicit to LPs? Was this legal? WAS ANYBODY DOING THIS?!
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for answers. (Reader, it was 5 days.)
What is so interesting about Sahil’s fund, and rolling funds in general, is the allowance of public solicitation through Rule 506(c). Emerging fund lawyer Chris Harvey explains it more here:
This leads us to tweets and (personally, I think really effing cool) webinars like the following:
As of August 6, the webinar recording had over 3,700 views on YouTube. Do you know how long it would take to conduct 3,700 meetings? I love math, but I’m an introvert… so I can never think about that number.
This is a huge step in the disruption of the venture capital industry. General Partners can spend less time on fundraising and administration, investors and potential LPs can freely see if someone is raising a fund (and if they can be a part of it) from a mere tweet, and traditional barriers to supporting more founders and startups are lessened.
Essentially the venture capital landscape has, in three weeks, gone from a Twenty Minute VC (+ fund) to a literal 20 Minute LP.
Given the dire outlook many have had for funding and fundraising during COVID times, especially for emerging managers, I am excited and optimistic for the future of venture funding. No shade to those already in the game… but I hope this new game looks nothing like it has; that will benefit us all.
