Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kim: VCs who pledged against weapons in 2019 now lead defense
“You can go back at 2019, and the vast majority of venture capital firms say, we will never invest in weapons. This is the hottest area right now. The same people who said they would never invest in weapons are actually now leading the weapons charge.”
Insight
Kim: Funds generally tap out at twice their first close amount
“If your first close is a billion dollars, you tend to tap out at two billion. Because your first close almost always is your hard re-elect number. That has been my experience.”
Insight
Kim: Investors are not risk-loving, they rationalize risk away
“I don't really think there's such thing as risk loving, risk aversion. I think that there are only people who actually Perceive there's no risk. I think that no one actually really invests with a lot of risk. I think that, that people actually convince themsel…”
Insight
Kim: Friends and family capital is the most expensive money
“I think the most expensive money is borrowing money from your friends, because if you don't give the money back, your friendship is not the same anymore, but they trust you, and they want to see you do well, and their desire minus fear, which is, we talked abo…”
Assertion Supported
Kim: Very few limited partners are compensated on fund returns
“The dirty secret to the relationship is that very few, some do, very few limited partners are actually Compensated on the returns that the general partner makes.”
Insight
Kim: Investment committees never make contrarian bets by default
“I have never seen a committee, a consensus decision-making process, make a contrarian bet, unless the group is designed to make contrarian bets.”
Insight
Kim: Scaling VC funds must accept losing early contrarian LPs
“You have to have the courage, then, To lose the people who actually were the people who invest with you because you were contrarian. In other words, you have to have the courage to get past the innovator's dilemma. And so, if there's a set of folks, high net w…”
Insight
Kim: Logic is the output of a sales pitch, not the input
“So the first mistake that everybody makes is that they think that the logic Is where you're winning it. The logic actually is an output of a successful sales pitch, not the input.”
Opinion
Kim: Ex-deal partners and investment bankers make the wrong fundraisers
“So when I meet somebody who says, well, the reason why I could be such a great fundraiser as an investment banker, as an ex-deal partner, is because I understand the system. I look and go, that's exactly the wrong person. The person that you want as Secretary …”
Insight
Kim: Fundraising is a way of life, not mere persuasion
“Fundraising isn't just a idea of persuasion. It's actually a way of life, that, that the actual interacting with people through the lens of them as the center of your conversation is a way of life, and that way of life requires a certain Level of responsibilit…”
Insight
Kim: Logic creates belief, but closing capital requires emotional trust
“So many people do such a good job of using logos or logic to actually get somebody to a yes. And they still say no, because it's the difference between belief and trust.”
Insight
Kim: Fundraising power is track record plus differentiation divided by complexity
“This is your track record plus your differentiation, and you divide all that by the complexity of your story.”
Insight
Kim: Identifying a prospect's perceived victimization enables heroic pitch positioning
“In a sales pitch, when, if you already know that this person is feeling victimized or feeling something somehow, some ways happening to them, if you can find out what that is, it is very easy then to craft a story that allows you to alleviate that pain. And if…”
Insight
Kim: A great fundraiser must function as a fund's Secretary of State
“So therefore you have to have a secretary of state that actually allows you to interact with them and helps you create that and can represent you when you're not there. That's what a great fundraiser is. When You can send that person in and say, ah, this perso…”
