The Ledger
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Douvos: Oversubscribed funds often result from LPs' lemming-like herd mentality
“Time and time again, we've seen funds kind of get attention and get, you know, kind of wildly oversubscribed only because LPs are demonstrating lemming-like behavior. And, you know, there's a favorite bell cow like, you know, Yale or Harvard or Stanford that t…”
Douvos: Outsized returns in LP investing require being right and alone
“So many people are deathly afraid of being wrong and alone because that box is the career risk box so that they'll slide over and try to do more things with the crowd. But what happens is when you move towards the crowd, then you take the right and alone box o…”
Douvos: Most LP programs will evolve into hybrid direct-partnering models within 10 years
“And I think, you know, sitting here 10 years from now, most things that we think of as fund programs today will look more like hybrid programs with, you know, kind of closer ties, partnering more closely with GPs to look at companies rather than being, you kno…”
Douvos: How VCs treat LPs predicts how they treat founders
“The way investors treat LPs gives us a lot of insight into how they treat entrepreneurs. And if they're being heavy handed and arrogant with us, their shareholders, how are they with their customers?”
Douvos: Seed-stage VC is oversaturated with capital and a poor investment
“I think today it's the, you know, almost the opposite of a good time. I think there's just so much capital in the seed stage.”
Douvos: Micro VCs suffer from undercapitalization and bad late-round terms
“Or one of the things that I think is an endemic problem to the micro VC space is that funds are undercapitalized and own too little and are kind of subject to the vagaries of later stage financing rounds where they may get, the rounds might get structured in w…”
Douvos: LPs shorten portfolio duration by shifting into later-stage funds
“What I think most people are doing to deal with lengthening horizons. They're trying to shorten the duration of their portfolios by going to later stage.”
Douvos: VIA shifts allocations toward earlier, seed-stage companies
“And so I'm actually focusing my investing efforts on Earlier. And on, you know, even more nascent companies.”
Douvos: LP arbitrage comes from doing what investment committees fear
“If I had for my fund, a tagline for my investors, it would be doing the stuff that your investment committee is too scared to let you do.”
Douvos: Outperforming VC funds capture more economic surplus through higher fees
“At the end of the day, we have to make sure that we are, you know, getting, you know, net outperformance, right? You know, over time, you'd imagine that, you know, some funds who have generated performance are then able to extract, you know, more of that surpl…”