How I Invest with David Weisburd

Michael Wallach, Vice President of Investment at Levy Family Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the unexpected challenges of working at a family office, how to leverage expert insights to drive high-impact investments, and critical mistakes LPs should always avoid.

Les Baquiran, Founder of Alpine Capital Advisors, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss insights on building LP relationships globally. In addition, they discuss reasons GP’s hire placement agents, benefits of family offices as LPs, and non-traditional structures LPs like to invest in.

Tony Meadows, Partner at Sinefine sits down with David Weisburd to discuss what initial investment choice could make or break your portfolio, when to dive into early-stage investments, and how strategic timing can turn ordinary investments into extraordinary gains.

John Gleeson, Founder & General Partner at Success Venture Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the underappreciated secret to Venture Capital success, why operator LP’s outperform, and the math behind portfolio concentration.

Steve McLaughlin, CEO at Financial Technology Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the hidden values and success of top fintech companies, insider perspective on the work-life balance myth, and the powerful face-to-face strategies that elite companies swear by.

Renee Hanna, Managing Director of Investments at Baylor University sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how Baylor balances allocation between public and private investments, how its private investments are built around returns hurdles, and thoughts on appropriately sizing commitments.

Marius Weber, Founding Partner, and Jocke Martelius, Investment Solutions Manager of Alpha Q Venture Capital sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the comparison between US and European VC markets, strategies for conducting due diligence on emerging VC funds, and the impact of political and economic factors on European VC.

Iyan Unsworth, Vice President of AXA Venture Partners sits down with David Weisburd to discuss about on how a Fund of Funds backed by one of the world's largest insurance companies is revolutionizing the venture capital landscape.

Dave Neumann, investor at Molten Ventures, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss fund of funds deployment strategies, how GPs should approach fund size and interesting power law data derived from Molten’s 2,500 underlying portfolio companies.

Jamie Biddle (Founding Partner and CEO) & Steve Kim (Partner, Investment Strategy and Risk Management) of Verdis Investment Management, sit down with David Weisburd to discuss how Verdis has managed to invest into 41 unicorns by indexing early-stage venture capital funds, how they came up with the venture index thesis, and the practical considerations of executing on their venture index strategy. They also discuss the purpose of venture in a diversified portfolio, the benefits of QSBS for taxable investors, and avoiding adverse selection in venture capital.

Michael Miller, CIO at Crewcial Partners, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how nonprofit institutions invest, how they think about portfolio construction, and how they manage liquidity.

Mikhail Blancovitch, Co-Founder of Unicorn Strategic Capital, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss strategies for raising capital from different types of LPs, how fund managers can craft a compelling story that resonates with LPs, and sources of growth for alternative asset AUM.

Justin Dyer, Chief Investment Officer of AWM Capital, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how AWM manages investments for professional athletes. Justin details AWM’s adherence to liability-driven portfolio construction, how it invests in venture and unique considerations when investing capital for athletes.

Michael Ashley Schulman, Chief Investment Officer at Running Point Capital, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Michael’s views on venture capital, manager selection across private asset classes, and risks/benefits of investing in spinout managers.

Fernando Saiz, Co-Founder of Azet Capital, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Azet Capital’s fund of funds strategy in venture capital. Fernando shares his diligence process for selecting venture funds, what differentiates the funds Azet invests in vs. the ones they pass on, and Azet’s strategic value-add to venture GPs.

Ryan Serhant is the Founder & CEO at SERHANT., a star in the Netflix show “Owning Manhattan” and Bravo show “Million Dollar Listing New York”, and a 3x bestselling author. In this episode, Ryan and David Weisburd discuss SERHANT.’s meteoric rise as a top real estate brokerage in New York City, Ryan’s unique approach to sales, sales training, and branding, and what it’s like for a founder scaling a business in hyper-growth.

Matt Farrell, Senior Investment Manager at WE Family Offices, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how families with $50M-$1B+ invest their capital. They also cover balancing risk tolerance and liquidity needs, where alpha is in the market today, and characteristics of an ideal private fund manager.

Mike Maples, Founding Partner at Floodgate, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Mike’s new book “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future”. This is a masterclass on early-stage venture investing. Mike shares his views on identifying ideas and founders that led to his early investments in Lyft, Twitter, and Okta. They also cover how Mike thinks about fundraising from LPs, his learnings from legendary LP David Swensen, and the power and importance of pursuing non-consensus ideas.

Dr. Russell Read, current CIO at 10X Capital, and former CIO at CalPERS, CIO of Alaska Permanent Fund and CIO of the Gulf Investment Corporation sits down with David Weisburd to discuss his extensive career as a premier investment professional. They dive into how large scale pensions allocate to private markets, how those plans structure co-investment programs and design a theoretical allocation strategy.

Justin Pollack, Managing Director at PineBridge Investments, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss PineBridge’s investment thesis. They also breakdown the secondary markets, discuss the structural differences between private equity & public market investing, and ways to analyze spinouts.

Josh Porter, Co-Founder & General Partner at FirstLook Partners, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss FirstLook’s process for evaluating and selecting emerging managers. They also cover typical terms for co-invest, managing conflicts of interest, and the importance of strong personal relationships in venture capital.

Dionne Chingkoe and Samer Yousif of Insight Partners sit down with David Weisburd to discuss Insight’s direct and fund of funds investment strategies. They cover the importance of adding value beyond capital to both founders and emerging managers, the landscape of multi-stage VCs investing in emerging managers, and check size driving fund strategy for GPs. Insight Partners’ 20/20 Vision Capital Fund supports diverse-led, top-tier, early-stage venture funds providing growth and seed capital to companies in the US and abroad. Insight believes that partnering and investing with these GPs is an effective way to drive much needed diversity in the venture capital industry.

Venus Phillips, Managing Director at Kresge Foundation, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the Kresge Foundation’s venture strategy. They cover mission-driven investing, opportunities and risks investing in China and India, and building true partnerships between general partners and limited partners.

John Merrill, Partner at GroveStreet sits down with David Weisburd to discuss GroveStreet’s $10.5B SMA model. In addition, they talk about the keys to building long-term SMA relationships, a highly selective set of criteria for managers and reasons why GP’s should prefer rigorous, discerning LPs vs. fast-followers.

Jamie Rhode sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Screendoor’s strategy of backing emerging managers. In addition, they discuss friction points between LPs and emerging managers, leveraging insights from GPs and LPs in manager selection, and how to diligence a first time fund.

Ben Black, Co-Founder of Akkadian Ventures, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the RAISE Global Summit, the largest LP/GP conference. This is a masterclass on how venture capital GPs can raise venture capital funds and develop long-term relationships with LPs. David and Ben also delve into what differentiates the top venture funds, the importance of operational excellence in fund entrepreneurship, and prioritizing and managing relationships.

Alex Edelson, Founder of Slipstream Investors, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the benefits and tradeoffs of investing in venture capital fund of funds. They also touch on Slipstream’s investment thesis, portfolio construction, and due diligence process.

Peter Teneriello, former Senior Portfolio Manager at Texas Municipal Retirement System, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how TMRS deployed $1B into venture capital. In addition, they discuss institutional allocation pacing models, the importance of aligned investment teams and why investors may allocate to median performing managers.

Jeff Smith, Managing Director of Private Investments at the Smithsonian’s endowment, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the Smithsonian endowment’s advantage in accessing the best managers in venture capital. They also discuss the importance of continually allocating throughout cycles, knowing when to exit, and communicating effectively with LPs. They conclude by covering what Jeff looks for when evaluating new venture managers.

Muthu Muthiah, CIO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how he developed the governance, systems, and team to deploy $2 billion dollars at Inatai Foundation. They also delve into the endowment style investment philosophy, the importance of asset allocation relative to manager selection, and the venture strategy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Erin Harkless Moore, Senior Director of Pivotal Ventures, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Pivotal Ventures’ $1B mission to drive equality and returns. In addition, they discuss how Pivotal works to close the gender gap, ways to manage teams more thoughtfully and the capability of venture dollars to drive exponential impact.

Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the institutional investment case for Bitcoin and digital assets. In addition, they discuss the diversification benefits of digital assets for portfolio construction, bull arguments for Bitcoin, and expanding the GDP of the internet through increasing use cases of public blockchains.

Eric Satz, CEO of Alto, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how startups can access $13 trillion in retirement capital. In addition, they discuss why to invest in alternative assets via retirement capital, strategies for personal venture portfolio construction and how cryptocurrency fits into alternative asset investing.

Chris Rizik, CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Renaissance’s unique approach to venture. In addition, they discuss how large corporations participate in venture, when to admit a loss vs. doubling down and signals of a strong fund manager.

Trish DiGirolomo, investment manager at Babson College sits down with David Weisburd to discuss scaling Babson College’s endowment via disciplined strategy and process. In addition, they discuss the advantages of patience and a focus on cash on cash returns, criteria for manager selection, and leveraging experienced alumni in the investment process.

Erik Iverson and Mike Partsch of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) sit down with David Weisburd to discuss how WARF supports innovation while driving financial returns. In addition, they discuss the case for investing in life sciences, how inventions turn into portfolio companies and the importance of maintaining relationships through market cycles.

Michael Downing sits down with David Weisburd to discuss emerging manager venture funds, the MDSV Capital Extension Program, and the effect of market conditions on fundraising. They also discuss the role of MDSV in the venture capital landscape, portfolio construction, LP expectations, and Michael’s background as an entrepreneur and investor. The conversation wraps up with a discussion on the importance of not overlooking emerging managers as a key part of the venture ecosystem.

Jordan Nel sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how to spot winning venture funds. In addition, they discuss portfolio construction and concentration, the scalability of venture funds and difficult conversations with GPs.

Claude Grunitzky sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Claude's journey as a venture-backed founder, securing an investment from Goldman Sachs, the importance of mentorship in venture capital, and Claude’s approach to spotting potential. They also delve into the creation of The Equity Alliance, the firm’s investment process, and their involvement with Serena Ventures.

Eric Poirier sits down with David Weisburd to discuss insights from the platform’s investment data on nearly $6 trillion in assets. They also talk about the top performing asset classes, the future of asset management and how to manage talent to scale a business.

Robert Rodriguez sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the role of creativity in filmmaking, cost-effective film production, and the influence of technology and AI in film. The discussion also covers Rodriguez's film fund, strategies for creating profitable movies, and the importance of living a creative life.

Eric Sippel sits down with David Weisburd to discuss criteria used to identify top quartile managers, GP follow-on strategies and how LP value-add can increase alpha.

Frank Tanner sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Anthony 'Pomp' Pompliano's role at Morgan Creek as well as the company's origin, growth, and guiding principles. They dive into understanding power laws in venture capital, early-stage investing, and Morgan Creek's manager selection process.

Harisha Haigh sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the art of building and managing relationships in venture capital. They delve deep into Northwestern's venture and crypto strategies, dissect common mistakes made by top VCs, and evaluate the ideal characteristics of a venture manager. They also discuss the leading indicators of success of a venture fund, investment decision-making processes within VC firms, and how to approach underwriting the track record of a spin-out manager.

Hunter Somerville sits down with David Weisburd to discuss StepStone's unique approach to venture capital, their transition to leading deals, and their full life cycle approach to investing. They delve into accessing companies in the secondary market, identifying potential in emerging managers, and StepStone's value-add to funds and companies.

Ron Diamond sits down with David Weisburd to discuss how $1B+ family offices generate alpha in venture capital, the #1 way family offices can avoid adverse selection, how family offices may disrupt private equity, and venture capital vs. private equity.

Mark Gerson sits down with David Weisburd to discuss founding GLG and growing it into a $600 million revenue powerhouse, 3i and its community of world-class private investors and the importance of an ROI driven approach to non-profit work.

David York, Founder of Top Tier Capital Partners, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Top Tier Capital's history of success, the value of partnership, and generational transfers. They also delve into their experiences with Limited Partners, the risks and rewards of backing GP "spinouts", and share reflections on David York’s 30 years in the VC industry.

Roy Swan and Christine Looney from Ford Foundation's Mission Investments team sit down with David Weisburd to discuss patriotic capitalism, their investment themes, and strategy impact. They discuss balancing financial return with social impact, Swan's advisory role with the Church of England, and the importance of fairness and morality in capitalism.

Sean Warrington of Gresham Partners sits down with David Weisburd and Erik Torenberg to discuss his investment decision-making process, extreme risk factors in diligence, and his approach to investing in emerging managers. The episode also covers reference processes in fund management, the impact of social proof and momentum in investing, and best practices of cutting-edge family offices.