Becoming a crypto maVeriCk.
Welcome to 🧠 The dMBA General Partner Track.
⌚️ Todays’s edition is a 6 minutes read.
To dMBA Fellows.
Building a solo GP VC firm as an emerging manager feels a bit like going to Top Gun with a Private Pilot License.
I know there's a fair share of fighting and competition to expect along the way.
I know I'm gonna have to work twice as hard to earn trust and reputation in the industry.
Compared to established professionals, I’m the underdog grappling with an unconventional background and limited resources.
How on earth do you think it’s going to be possible to pull off a Maverick-style turnaround in these conditions ?
Sorry, I know… couldn’t help mentioning this other hero of mine ! 😎
In any case, there's a challenge here, that other solo GP's have managed to turn into a unique value proposition.
The more I dive into it, the more I notice the mark that this new blend of investors are progressively leaving in the VC landscape.
Let's understand how this model can make startup funding more representative and inclusive, both for fund managers and company builders : emphasizing expertise, speed and empathy.
Welcome to the dMBA GP Track 👨🏼💼.
The purpose of the dMBA is not limited to documenting my own journey from angel investing towards building a fully-fledged VC firm.
We’re laying the foundations of something much bigger here : the first open-source business education graph, making venture careers accessible to anyone - regardless of wealth, genre, geography or personal background.
Join the movement, and subscribe below !
Becoming a crypto maVeriCk.
What’s involved ?
Solo GP's break away from a widely adopted model in large VC firms, typically built around multiple Partners. As such, they maneuver their investment fund single-handedly, without the backing of a whole team behind them.
That’s why they have to rely on a suite of infrastructure products and sometimes even external providers to be able to manage all at once : deal sourcing, due diligence, portfolio management, fund raising, investor relations and fund administration.
Under the hood
Let's take a more concrete example, and look at how solo GP's conduct due diligence or make investment decisions.
Traditional VC funds often rely on various specialists in their team to conduct a thorough analysis of investment opportunities (development, finance, legal, IP…).
While his.her due diligence process takes more time on paper, a solo GP can build on a niche expertise that compounds with each deal, and ultimately allows him.her to streamline the overall decision-making process.
This is something that I have experienced first-hand as an Angel, when I invested into B-Datagray : an highly complex infrastructure project for decentralized cloud computing, which pushed me to dive deep into the tech to be able to build context.
In fact, within a bigger structure, multiple rounds of pitches or committees are usually required to secure every layer of approval. With nobody else to convince, the speed of investments for a solo GP moves as fast as his.her conviction is built !
A partnership with a meaning
Another example : multi-partner funds often aim to build large portfolios for diversification and risk mitigation purposes, which can make it more challenging to provide individualized attention and support to each team or project.
Solo GPs, on the other hand, often invest in less companies - mainly because they manage a smaller amount of LP capital, and need to allocate it more carefully. But this allows them to provide more personalized attention and support to each startup in their portfolio.
Why it matters ?
Given this closer, hands-on involvement, a more intimate relationship can be built between founder and investor, that goes beyond the "simple" financial transaction.
In my view, this is another hidden strength that can be exacerbated in crypto. For instance, as a solo investor directly arising from the community, I’m animated by the same conviction as founders that permissionless, decentralized finance must & will have a positive impact globally.
This is because over the years I’ve developped a granular sensitivity of the crypto space, whereby larger funds tend to index their portfolio on the different trends successively hyped by the market.
Just look at what’s happening with AI right now :
has depicted this cycle pretty accurately in his Newsletter here and here.
The next steps
The Venture Capital grimoire is becoming more and more accessible by the day, as startup building and investing continues to get unbundled by creators, founders, infrastructure providers (this is one of the articles that inspired this post) or incumbents themselves.
The aim of the dMBA is precisely to curate and distill this highly valuable content into a program that gives aspiring investors the tools and confidence to embark on the adventure.
As suggested by
in the The Generalist, collectives & networks of solo capitalists could develop in the future to build on their strong value proposition, and offer an even more collaborative approach. Sharing resources, providing support & scaling their influence in the ecosystem instead of staying siloed in separate entities.I hope this trend develops into more capital getting pushed onto the blockchain, and more brainpower getting pooled into DAO's. Who knows, maybe something for the Cercle ?
The use of both for asset management is in my opinion the next critical step towards making the world of early-stage investing more transparent and accessible, regardless of background, wealth or connections.
Does this resonate with you ? Or do you have a complete opposite opinion ? Let’s continue the discussion, and level up as a community in the Chat ! Have a terrific start to the week,
Julien
Who am I ?
🏎 Former F1 engineer.
🏆 15+ years contributing to the success of high performance organizations, on & off-track.
🕵🏻♂️ 5+ years extracting signals from the crypto noise.
📊 On-chain data & crypto analytics specialist.
🧠 Unlocking access to business education with the dMBA.
👼 Open-source angel investing & VC firm building.
🌎 Check my complete profile here !
How can I help ?
If you are a founder or investor on a mission to make the global financial system more accessible, transparent & positively impactful : let’s connect. Besides fundraising, I’d be stoked to support with on-chain data, analytics or any research work specific to crypto (e.g. tokenomics, governance).
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You can of course write Notes of your own. I sincerely hope this becomes a space where each one of us can level up at its own pace, while playing an active role in making Venture & Business education accessible to everyone - inside the crypto community, and beyond.
If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. I look forward to seeing you there !
⚠️ Disclaimer : the content of this newsletter is for educational & entertainment purpose only. In no situation should it be considered investment, tax or legal advice. The reader is invited to build his/her own opinion about the views expressed, and take appropriate decisions for his/her specific situation or objectives. Digital assets are highly volatile and the risk of capital loss must never be underestimated : do your own research, and only invest what you can afford to lose.
Maverick is the way ;)