The Exchanges

Q So talk to me, Lyndall. How did we make the way into the world of LPs in the start? Was it a childhood dream or was it serendipity? What's your kind of entrance into the industry?

A I've yet to meet anybody that this was a childhood dream for. Uh, it'd be an interesting person indeed. I, uh, I totally backed into this. Friend of mine found an internship. Uh, it was a paying internship. So those are good at UTEMCO during business school. Uh, I liked the idea of income. Uh, I also liked the idea of finding out more about institutional money as a young professional, even as a, as a, as a kid, I had been exposed to retail money, you know, Schwab fidelity of the sort here in the U S but I hadn't really thought about who managed the pools of capital, like retirement accounts, uh, insurance or endowments, or even, you know, how foundations are actually funded. So for me, that was an interesting piece of it. The actual internship was finding artful ways to say no to hedge fund managers. It was a lot of fun. Uh, my friend Darren, uh, who had found the internship for us, we sat next to each other, goading one another on the phone. An interesting thing when I look back at that time is that funny enough, investing kind of at any level is about having the ability and actually the fortitude to always say no without fear of missing out and to only say yes when everything lines up. And I think that's something that even as an intern, I began to learn by getting so many repetitions on how to say no, you know, to hedge fund managers. And actually, for the audience members, …

AI assessment note: “I totally backed into this. Friend of mine found an internship... at UTEMCO”

Q Absolutely. And then why did you decide to leave Utimco in the end, after so many successful years there for Foundry? What was the incentive behind the move to join the team at Foundry?

A Well, you know, I got lucky originally at UTEMCO by joining the private equity team where I was more suited, and that really was my friend Darren joined the hedge fund team, I joined the private equity team, and we actually found a place to live on Lake Austin, so that everything was working out great. And in actuality, for 13 years, UTEMCO was a great place for me, so I'm very thankful for the opportunity I had there. But really, when you think about Foundry, I mean, Brad, Jason, Seth, and Ryan are my friends. I mean, who doesn't want to work with their friends? I don't think That changes. It's also the case that I get most excited personally about technology, so it was natural for me to focus there. And yeah, it helped that my best returns were in venture too.

AI assessment note: “Brad, Jason, Seth, and Ryan are my friends. I mean, who doesn't want to work with their friends?”

Q That's hilarious. With USV, though, this one's from Beezer now, Beezer at Sapphire. She asked, because it wasn't a hugely popular round when USV first went out to raise, so what did you see then that others didn't see in USV early funds?

A I think timing was important there, and USV was actually my first venture investment, so certainly I got lucky in making that a part of it, and luck undoubtedly plays a role in all of it. I do think it helped that I was young, Uh, I was 29, 30 years old at that time. I grew up with computers. I had an Apple IIgs. It was my first computer. It was, it was great. I still thank my dad for buying that for me. Uh, that was back in AOL chat room times. Uh, so I understood the network thesis. That made sense to me. Yep, the fund size was right, and frankly, we could get a big piece if we moved early. It was helpful that it wasn't a quick round, and I think we had the opportunity to get 20% ownership, and that's what we wanted, just like all the VCs do in companies. At UTEMCO, and frankly, today, we like being an important part of the capital base. The big thing, though, for Fred and Brad and USV was the way they balanced each other, and that's the thing we always look at is partnership dynamics. If you look at Foundry, that's certainly the case, too, with a very balanced partnership. Importantly, Fred and Brad had experience and history together, and I think if, if you were to say, what is it I pick on, it's always about partnership dynamics and decision making, and if you eliminate all the noise, and frankly, you There's often a bunch of male posturing nonsense in these venture capita…

AI assessment note: “I understood the network thesis... The big thing, though... was the way they balanced each other”

Q I recently had Mike Maples from Floodgate on the show, and he said, venture is a game of picking, and LP is a game of access with the likes of the top LPs. Uh, getting the best access. To what extent do you agree with this assessment of the primary importance being access and not picking?

A Access is just as important for VCs. So I, I would argue with Mike about that some, uh, I always look at sourcing advantage is what I call it, but that's access by another name is to, you know, why do deals come to you and why do you get access to a given set of entrepreneurs who are really the talent in all of this? Uh, when you think about the difference between, uh, A VC and an LP, I would argue what we were doing is just one level up. It is more diversified so that you certainly, but you're still picking a team against a given strategy or mandate, and it's something they haven't built yet. It's something they're saying they're going to build because you don't invest in existing funds or old funds. You invest in the new fund.

AI assessment note: “Access is just as important for VCs. So I, I would argue with Mike”

Q I recently had Mike Maples from Floodgate on the show, and he said, venture is a game of picking, and LP is a game of access with the likes of the top LPs. Uh, getting the best access. To what extent do you agree with this assessment of the primary importance being access and not picking?

A Access is just as important for VCs. So I, I would argue with Mike about that some, uh, I always look at sourcing advantage is what I call it, but that's access by another name is to, you know, why do deals come to you and why do you get access to a given set of entrepreneurs who are really the talent in all of this? Uh, when you think about the difference between, uh, A VC and an LP, I would argue what we were doing is just one level up. It is more diversified so that you certainly, but you're still picking a team against a given strategy or mandate, and it's something they haven't built yet. It's something they're saying they're going to build because you don't invest in existing funds or old funds. You invest in the new fund.

AI assessment note: “Access is just as important for VCs. So I, I would argue with Mike”

Q So talk to me, Lyndall. How did we make the way into the world of LPs in the start? Was it a childhood dream or was it serendipity? What's your kind of entrance into the industry?

A I've yet to meet anybody that this was a childhood dream for. Uh, it'd be an interesting person indeed. I, uh, I totally backed into this. Friend of mine found an internship. Uh, it was a paying internship. So those are good at UTEMCO during business school. Uh, I liked the idea of income. Uh, I also liked the idea of finding out more about institutional money as a young professional, even as a, as a, as a kid, I had been exposed to retail money, you know, Schwab fidelity of the sort here in the U S but I hadn't really thought about who managed the pools of capital, like retirement accounts, uh, insurance or endowments, or even, you know, how foundations are actually funded. So for me, that was an interesting piece of it. The actual internship was finding artful ways to say no to hedge fund managers. It was a lot of fun. Uh, my friend Darren, uh, who had found the internship for us, we sat next to each other, goading one another on the phone. An interesting thing when I look back at that time is that funny enough, investing kind of at any level is about having the ability and actually the fortitude to always say no without fear of missing out and to only say yes when everything lines up. And I think that's something that even as an intern, I began to learn by getting so many repetitions on how to say no, you know, to hedge fund managers. And actually, for the audience members, …

AI assessment note: “I totally backed into this. Friend of mine found an internship.”

Q That's hilarious. With USV, though, this one's from Beezer now, Beezer at Sapphire. She asked, because it wasn't a hugely popular round when USV first went out to raise, so what did you see then that others didn't see in USV early funds?

A I think timing was important there, and USV was actually my first venture investment, so certainly I got lucky in making that a part of it, and luck undoubtedly plays a role in all of it. I do think it helped that I was young, Uh, I was 29, 30 years old at that time. I grew up with computers. I had an Apple IIgs. It was my first computer. It was, it was great. I still thank my dad for buying that for me. Uh, that was back in AOL chat room times. Uh, so I understood the network thesis. That made sense to me. Yep, the fund size was right, and frankly, we could get a big piece if we moved early. It was helpful that it wasn't a quick round, and I think we had the opportunity to get 20% ownership, and that's what we wanted, just like all the VCs do in companies. At UTEMCO, and frankly, today, we like being an important part of the capital base. The big thing, though, for Fred and Brad and USV was the way they balanced each other, and that's the thing we always look at is partnership dynamics. If you look at Foundry, that's certainly the case, too, with a very balanced partnership. Importantly, Fred and Brad had experience and history together, and I think if, if you were to say, what is it I pick on, it's always about partnership dynamics and decision making, and if you eliminate all the noise, and frankly, you There's often a bunch of male posturing nonsense in these venture capita…

AI assessment note: “so I understood the network thesis. That made sense to me.”

Q How's being at Foundry and having the new platform changed how you think about investing then?

A I mean, there are certainly changes. My mandate's different, the portfolio construction is different, so it's definitely different investments that we're targeting. I think, though, that you think about risk differently Every time you have a different portfolio strategy. I think many GPs miss on portfolio strategy. That's, that's probably the place that when we ask questions, GPs just flail about, especially newer or emerging GPs. And they're unaware of the risk characteristics that are different, you know, in a total portfolio versus an individual position. And so in our case, we have a very different portfolio strategy than I did at UTEMCO. That's the difference. The really big difference though, of course, It's having partners that can underwrite a portfolio, partners that have a twenty-year history in the venture market. They know previous mistakes, and they know some of the skeletons that are buried in the closets.

AI assessment note: “My mandate's different, the portfolio construction is different, so it's definitely different investments”

Q How's being at Foundry and having the new platform changed how you think about investing then?

A I mean, there are certainly changes. My mandate's different, the portfolio construction is different, so it's definitely different investments that we're targeting. I think, though, that you think about risk differently Every time you have a different portfolio strategy. I think many GPs miss on portfolio strategy. That's, that's probably the place that when we ask questions, GPs just flail about, especially newer or emerging GPs. And they're unaware of the risk characteristics that are different, you know, in a total portfolio versus an individual position. And so in our case, we have a very different portfolio strategy than I did at UTEMCO. That's the difference. The really big difference though, of course, It's having partners that can underwrite a portfolio, partners that have a twenty-year history in the venture market. They know previous mistakes, and they know some of the skeletons that are buried in the closets.

AI assessment note: “we have a very different portfolio strategy than I did at UTEMCO”

Q Absolutely. And then why did you decide to leave Utimco in the end, after so many successful years there for Foundry? What was the incentive behind the move to join the team at Foundry?

A Well, you know, I got lucky originally at UTEMCO by joining the private equity team where I was more suited, and that really was my friend Darren joined the hedge fund team, I joined the private equity team, and we actually found a place to live on Lake Austin, so that everything was working out great. And in actuality, for 13 years, UTEMCO was a great place for me, so I'm very thankful for the opportunity I had there. But really, when you think about Foundry, I mean, Brad, Jason, Seth, and Ryan are my friends. I mean, who doesn't want to work with their friends? I don't think That changes. It's also the case that I get most excited personally about technology, so it was natural for me to focus there. And yeah, it helped that my best returns were in venture too.

AI assessment note: “who doesn't want to work with their friends?”

Q Absolutely. And, and in terms of the privatization and moving to the private money, do you think this is a continuing trend that we'll see with institutional rounds, uh, not increasing their adventure on venture?

A Well, you know, I come from a large institution background, and I think we were one of the better staffed large institutions out there. And Even in that scenario, it was difficult to focus on venture because you're not able to put, you know, large checks to work, and in some ways, that's, that's part of the problem I'm solving here with Foundry Group Next is solving some of that challenge for some of those larger institutions, recognizing what I had seen myself. I do think you're going to see institutions continue to support venture. That, that's, that shows up in the fundraising numbers. I don't think that I'll say writ large North American institutions do a great job of incentivizing their staffs. Probably a whole nother podcast with you on that, but the population here in the US has a real concern about retirement accounts and how those are invested, and I think we've got a real problem when you look at that.

AI assessment note: “I do think you're going to see institutions continue to support venture.”

Q Absolutely. And, and in terms of the privatization and moving to the private money, do you think this is a continuing trend that we'll see with institutional rounds, uh, not increasing their adventure on venture?

A Well, you know, I come from a large institution background, and I think we were one of the better staffed large institutions out there. And Even in that scenario, it was difficult to focus on venture because you're not able to put, you know, large checks to work, and in some ways, that's, that's part of the problem I'm solving here with Foundry Group Next is solving some of that challenge for some of those larger institutions, recognizing what I had seen myself. I do think you're going to see institutions continue to support venture. That, that's, that shows up in the fundraising numbers. I don't think that I'll say writ large North American institutions do a great job of incentivizing their staffs. Probably a whole nother podcast with you on that, but the population here in the US has a real concern about retirement accounts and how those are invested, and I think we've got a real problem when you look at that.

AI assessment note: “I do think you're going to see institutions continue to support venture.”