Vertices Capital

Welcome to episode number fourteen of our series called “101 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 53. The ultimate objective is partnering with top founders, not hitting arbitrary call metrics. Founders over metrics. The real objective of any investor is building relationships with exceptional founders, no...

Welcome to episode number thirteen of our series called “101 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 49. Leadership should apply a "curiosity" lens to younger partners' unconventional deals rather than starting with judgment. Curiosity before judgment. When a junior partner brings an unconventional deal, seni...

Welcome to episode number twelve of our series called “101 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 45. The stability provided by the partnership allows individual partners the necessary freedom to pursue highly volatile, risky decisions. Partnership stability enables bold bets. The structural stability of a l...

Welcome to episode number eleven of our series called “1 O 1 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 41. The VC firm’s priority sequence is Founders first, followed by LPs, then the VC firm itself, then the broader team, and finally the individual partner. Founders First, always. The priority sequence is not...

Benchmark’s shift matters. Benchmark’s first-ever growth fund is more than a sizing change, it is a signal that even a famously discipline-first franchise believes the market now requires more capital, more stages, and a broader platform. For LPs, the key question is not whether the move is “good” or “bad,” but whether the firm can preserve the return engine that made it exceptional while expandin...

Welcome to episode number ten of our series called “1 O 1 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 37. Outliers are typically "spiky" in some direction but must possess a "heart of gold" to collaborate effectively in a team environment. Outlier partners are usually “spiky” in one dimension, technical depth, sp...

Welcome to episode number nine of our series called “1 O 1 VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 33 Highly successful people entering VC often need coaching to gain comfort with failure, as the business inherently involves being wrong half the time. Highly successful people often enter VC expecting linear p...

Welcome to episode number eight of our series called “One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”… Let’s dig in. First, number 29 VC firms use a shared vocabulary to discuss common emotional traps to prevent them, such as “separation of church and state”. VC firms need a common vocabulary because emotional mistakes are easier to se...

Welcome to episode number seven of our series called “One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VC REALLY WORKS”…Today we’re going to explore four new core principles:Number 25. Courage is necessary to swallow one’s pride and invest in a deal at a high valuation after having passed on it previously. Number 26. Courage is also required to make an investment th...

Three structural mistakes Family Offices make in Venture Capital. Most family offices entering venture capital do so with genuine intent and real capital. The underperformance that follows is rarely about access. It is about construction. Three mistakes come up consistently, and they tend to compound one another. Random deal selection. Investments arrive through personal networks, co-investor refe...

Welcome to episode number six of our series called “One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VC REALLY WORKS”…Today we’re going to explore four new core principles:Number 21. Consensus investments often look that way because they are measurable and comparable to the past, leading to being priced to consensus as well. Number 22. The most important investment...

What pension funds could learn from Yale? The core argument is structural, and not aspirational. Pension funds are not built like endowments: they carry liability schedules, coverage ratio obligations, and fiduciary constraints that make a copy-paste of the Yale model unrealistic. The adaptation requires fitting VC into existing architecture, such as aligning capital calls with payout timelines, r...

We usually talk to new and emerging LPs in venture capital, but for this particular piece of research, we want to talk to new General Partners (GPs) raising their first venture capital fund, and suggest how they can implement several best practices to increase fundraising success, particularly through cold outreach. Raising a first-time venture capital fund is a monumental task, but implementing t...

Welcome to episode number five of our series called: “One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS”. Today we’re going to explore four new core principles: Number 17. Strong “yes” or strong “no” positions are much better indicators than lukewarm consensus. Number 18. If a deal sees partners split, for example, three partners rate it a...

GPs often talk to prospective LPs who have strong misconceptions about minimum ticket sizes to become an LP in VC funds. In venture capital, the assumption that LP commitments must start at €250k or higher often comes from how larger funds are structured. In micro pre‑seed funds, this logic shifts. A €10M vehicle typically runs on lean management fees, and low overhead. Within that structure, a €5...

Welcome to episode number four of our series called “One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs, WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VC REALLY WORKS”… Today we’re going to explore four new core principles: Number 13: If a company runs, VCs must have strong ownership, a small investment of $1 million in a large fund is insufficient… Number 14: Internal data at VC firms shows that consensus versus...

Welcome to episode three of our series called "One O One VC CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPs WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VENTURE CAPITAL REALLY WORKS".Today we're going to explore four new core principles: Number 9 . VCs aim explicitly for net multiple money returns… Number 10 . In a typical fund of 25 to 40 investments, four to five investments should return 10x or more… Number 11 . Historically, two to...

Welcome to episode two of our series called "One O One VENTURE CAPITAL CORE PRINCIPLES FOR NEW LPS WILLING TO UNDERSTAND HOW VC REALL Y WORKS".Today we're going to explore four new core principles: Number 5 : Success as a VC requires active participation in the business of risk-taking.. Number 6 : The market size dictates how big a company can get. Number 7 : The founder determines how big the com...

Welcome to episode one of our new series, “101 Venture Capital Core Principles for New LPs Willing to Understand How VC Really Works.” ​Today, we’re going to explore the first four core principles: Number 1 : Venture capital is fundamentally the “outlier business”; the objective is not consistency.​ Number 2 : The goal is to find the two, three, or four outliers in any given year that will produce...

Today, we’re thrilled to announce the release of our brand-new white paper, titled “101 Venture Capital Core Principles for New LPs Willing to Understand How Venture Capital Really Works.” This comprehensive guide is designed to demystify the often opaque world of venture capital, offering fresh insights tailored specifically for emerging Limited Partners (LPs) who want to grasp the realities behi...

Family offices and other LPs should underwrite both the GP and the thesis, but when forced to choose, the repeatable quality of the GP and firm platform matters more than any standalone fund thesis. Venture is structurally hard to time, so the core of the decision should be: “Is this a manager to back across multiple cycles?” rather than “Is this thesis perfect for this vintage?”.​ A fund thesis h...

LP Advisory Committees (LPACs) serve as essential governance bodies in VC funds, comprising select LPs who provide non-binding input on key decisions like conflicts of interest, extensions, or key-person events. Family offices gain leverage by actively participating, reviewing transactions where GPs face potential self-dealing, such as investing in related entities or GP-led secondaries. This over...

For Family Offices new to being LPs in VC, they should realize that a strong focus should be on underwriting the GPs (general partners). 1 - Family Offices shouldn’t just look at quantifiable data such as fund size, they should scrutinize the GPs’ core driver. The most enduring GPs are motivated by an inherent purpose, ie a will to win rooted in a love for innovation, viewing wealth as a by-produc...

In VC, fund size and stage shape the nature of returns and risk exposure. New and emerging VC managers tend to run smaller funds, write smaller checks, and invest very early when uncertainty (and potential upside) is at its peak. These early-stage, resource-constrained funds usually can’t (may not want to) double down with significant follow-on capital. In traditional market terms, this is often d...

GP-led continuation funds have become one of the most sought-after options in VC for GPs. For family offices new to venture capital, they can be tempting, so here’s what to consider. The key challenge lies in seeing through structure to intent. A continuation fund lets a GP move mature ‘trophy’ assets from an older fund into a new one, thus extending ownership and offering liquidity to the older f...