We’re thrilled to announce that our very own @Beezer232, Partner at @SapphirePrtnrs, has been named to the @Forbes 50 Over 50 list! 🎉 This list spotlights powerhouse women who reject the conventional wisdom that their best years are behind them, and instead, are doing their most innovative, impactful work yet. For Beezer, that means being a driving force behind one of @SapphirePrtnrs' biggest moves of late: Taking on $1.4 billion in five funds from @CalSTRS and investing in emerging managers focused on early-stage companies with high growth potential. Congrats to Beezer and all the incredibly influential women featured in Forbes 4th annual 50 Over 50! 👏 Check out the full Investment List below. #Forbes50Over50

How emerging venture capital fund managers should think about their LP fundraising strategies on.forbes.com/6017GWlzd by @HaDuong_

Sapphire’s @Beezer232 makes the @WSJ Women to Watch list for launching & leading Sapphire Partners. With early vision & sustained focus, she built a fund investing platform of venture specialists that partner with visionary early-stage funds. Congrats! 🎉hubs.li/H0Zpmkh0

💰Founders: I pooled together an airtable of +500 women angel investors in the US for you. Enjoy! Get it here: airtable.com/shrzWIHSoK0gvE8… Add yourself here: airtable.com/shr4eFdg38mWfCs…

3/ @Yale has now announced their Prospect Fellowship -- an eight-week intensive program that seeks to partner with five forward thinking investment management entrepreneurs.  Want to learn from the best?  Apply below.  Want a minimum LP commitment of $25 million at launch?  Apply below.  Want a partner to help your fund go from "emerging manager" to "emerged manager"?  If you are serious about building a world-class investment firm, this is not a hard decision. It is an IQ test. Apply here: investments.yale.edu/prospec…

Actually, it underperformed NDX in the last 10 years, unless you were in the top 5% of VC funds. Also - this is TVPI, so hard to compare that apples to apples with shorter time frames due to illiquidity. Wrote about this here nextview.vc/blog/state-of-vc…

Stoked to release latest Beezer's Breakdown with @Beezer232 @SapphireVC name-dropping @cdouvos @jasonlk @eldsjal buff.ly/2qiTZkb #vc

Did you know that corporate VC passed traditional VC volume in the US in 2018? vccafe.com/2019/06/19/the-ta…

1/ 6 key takeaways & 📊s on the expanding emerging manager landscape from @StepStoneVC's recent report: Venture capital: Shedding the "access class" label. 👇 Read the full report here: stepstonegroup.com/news-insi… #VC #EmergingManagers

#OpenLP is taking it to the next level, we are launching our own Twitter account ✨. Follow for insights across the entrepreneur ➡ GP ➡ LP venture ecosystem.

Congratulations to @SapphirePrtnrs’ @Beezer232 for being recognized as a Woman of Influence in private markets by @VCJournal! 🎉 Honored for her investment prowess and described as “a lighthouse in the venture community,” Beezer has worked to democratize access to information and help create the venture landscape she wishes existed when she started her career. She was instrumental in launching @Open_LP in 2016, and last year, partnering with @CalSTRS to launch a program funding the next generation of venture investors. Huge congrats to all the incredible women featured. Learn more below. 🙌 #WomenInVC #OpenLP

🔥 Hot off the press: “What's 🔥 in Enterprise IT/VC - Issue #402” What are the implications when there are only 72 public enterprise software companies worth >$5B + there are still >1,500 🦄? whatshotit.vc/p/whats-in-ent…

1) The VC ecosystem is like all other ecosystems – players evolve to survive/thrive or risk fading away into extinction As emerging managers experience a financing crunch, $ is consolidating behind mega funds, risking the very survival of our industry 🧵 newsletter.equal.vc/p/the-ex…

1/🧵"Portfolio construction is crucial. Winning the best deals will not be meaningful if capital is not deployed thoughtfully. 55% of all funds formed don’t return 1x." @bonfire_vc co-founder @DoubleMcapital shared the art & science of portfolio construction w @KauffmanFellows & gave us a peek at the deck👇

Seed Series: Sapphire Partners Managing Director Beezer Clarkson  news.crunchbase.com/news/see… via @crunchbasenews

An interesting idea. Writing long form to demonstrate differentiation to LPs. #OpenLP embracingemergence.beehiiv.c…

Net DPI Good is 0.5x net, great is 1x

has anyone looked at the demographics of VC LPs, in the same way we do at GPs? would be interesting...

The Evolving Landscape of Venture Capital: Are Emerging Managers DOA? There’s been a lot of debate lately around whether the VC ecosystem is being negatively impacted by the largest firms hoovering up LP money at the expense of Emerging Managers. The observation is real and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the venture capital industry is at a critical inflection point. But the phenomenon isn’t new. It’s been unfolding for years and was easy to spot. I wrote about it a few years back in a presentation titled “The Three Body Problem: Finding The New Stable Points In Venture Capital” and I’ll add a link in the replies if you’re interested in learning more. With this said, other experts have been writing about it as well. For instance, @wolfejosh’s recent prediction that 30-50% of venture firms may cease to exist in the coming years is not just a provocative statement, but a stark warning to Emerging Managers and many established VC firms. When we consider that only 17% of venture funds make it to fund 4, and that 44% of VC capital raised this year went to just two firms, it becomes clear that the industry is starting to consolidate. This consolidation is not just a theoretical concern to Emerging Managers - it's a very real threat to the diversity and dynamism that has long been the hallmark of the very early stage VC ecosystem. However, while the outlook may seem bleak for many Emerging Managers, I believe there is a path forward. The key lies in understanding what Founders and LP are struggling to find within the "established" VC ecosystem and aligning with these unmet market needs. For Emerging Managers, the writing is on the wall: adapt or perish. The days of simply working hard and expressing a desire to LPs that you deserve to be a VC are long gone. Today's landscape demands true differentiation and specialized skill. Emerging Managers will do best if they position themselves firmly within one of two key boxes: The Solo VC or the Non-Consensus Alpha seeker. Hunting in thematically consensus spaces or chasing serial Founders with many options is a good way for an Emerging Manager to fail. The Solo VC Option Not all Emerging Managers fit in the Solo VC box. It requires a unique combination of skills, experience, and network that can provide outsized value to founders. Solo VCs win deals not because they can write the biggest checks, but because they can provide the most value per dollar invested. They are often industry veterans, serial entrepreneurs, or individuals with deep expertise in specific sectors. Their ability to provide hands-on mentorship, make crucial introductions, and offer strategic guidance is their competitive advantage. They need to be a “brand” in and of themselves, and if they aren’t, they’ll struggle to source and win deals. The Non-Consensus Alpha Option Non-Consensus Alpha seekers are those willing to venture in sectors, themes, specific businesses and Founder profiles that others avoid. These are the VCs who are not afraid to back ideas that seem outlandish or premature to the mainstream. They have the courage to invest in overlooked geographies, underrepresented founders, or technologies that are super risky and have yet to prove their commercial viability. Their differentiation comes from their willingness to take calculated risks on ideas and teams that larger, more conservative firms might pass on. Attracting LP Capital But identifying with one of these archetypes is just the beginning. To attract LP money in this competitive landscape, Emerging Managers need to be incredibly crisp in articulating their differentiation and path to victory. They need to clearly demonstrate how they can "see" great deals that others miss, "analyze" them effectively to pick the winners, and then "win" those deals by being the investor of choice for great Founders. This means developing a compelling narrative around their unique value proposition. For Solo VCs, this might involve showcasing their track record of successful exits, their deep industry connections, or their ability to provide hands-on operational support that will kink the curve on outcomes. For Non-Consensus Alpha seekers, it could mean demonstrating their thesis-driven approach to identifying overlooked opportunities, their unique deal flow sources, or their ability to help Founders navigate from non-consensus to consensus. Sharp thinking and a highly differentiated approach will be critical to success in this space and being able to explain your strategy and skills will be critical to attracting capital. What’s clear is that being a passive “first check writer” who can’t lead, doesn’t have the capital to follow-on, and isn’t about to provide differentiated advice and connections to Founders isn’t going to cut it anymore. These firms won’t survive the current wave of consolidation and will be culled from the ecosystem by being starved of LP capital. For Emerging Managers, it's crucial to understand that in today's environment, LPs are not just looking for generalists with decent short-term markups and interesting logos. They're seeking specialized expertise, unique angles, and differentiated strategies that can generate alpha in an increasingly competitive market. Emerging Managers who can rise to this challenge will find that there's still plenty of room for success in the VC industry. So, while Josh Wolfe's prediction may well come true for a significant portion of the industry, it doesn't have to be a death knell for all Emerging Managers. The VC ecosystem of the future may (will) be more concentrated, but it could also be more specialized, more differentiated, and ultimately, more effective at identifying and nurturing the transformative companies of tomorrow.

Have spoken a lot about venture fund sizes recently but too often, I've hear it boiled down to "big fund size = bad, small fund size = good". More nuance of course is required to assess the VC market properly. I wanted to go deeper in this topic as we start the new year, so wrote about it in my first article of the year (see in comment for link)

1/ 🆕episode of Origins is out now! @WillManidis, founder of @ScienceDotIO & now SVP of AI at @Veradigm, joins @nchirls & @beezer232 to talk about how data > models, why he was building LLMs before OpenAI blew up, & what venture looks like if we start from scratch.👇

I launched a #vc podcast playlist featuring the voices of female leaders in venture capital. Adding new episodes every week so I can listen and learn from diverse perspectives in #vc on my commute to @BoostVC! lnns.co/depiDjM1XvQ

Some numbers on the fundraise for our $50M Fund III: -Took 108 first calls with LPs, 28 committed -Took over 80 first calls in three weeks to start the raise, ran a tight process how a startup might (this was a gamble but it worked) -$38.5M of the $50M are from 6 LPs -Raised the entire fund in 5 months -Have never given up part of the management co -Welcomed our first institutional investors in Fund III

And then finally, what about fund returners - companies that returned 100% or more of the committed capital of the fund that backed them. Just 121 companies (1.1%) hit this mark. /8

Beezer Clarkson on Her New $1.4B Emerging Manager Fund w/CalSTRS | E16 Hot on the heels of @SapphirePrtnrs’ announcement with @CalSTRS– one of the biggest allocators in the world – I recently caught up with @Beezer232, Partner at Sapphire Partners, to discuss how this new partnership will allow them to expand their ability to support the next generation of VC managers – all while continuing to focus on investing in the established. Key insight & timestamps, episode directly posted on the X platform 👇 “Historically speaking, the odds of an emerging manager going from Fund I to Fund IV are 17%. If you take that same data set and ask, how many Fund IVs make it to a Fund VIII, it’s 22%.” #OpenLP @turpentine @eriktorenberg Thank you to our sponsor @Tactyc. (00:00) Episode Preview (00:57) The Importance of LP Voices and Sapphire’s Partnership with CalSTRS (02:15) Why Investing in Emerging Managers Have Such a Unique Dynamic (04:09) The Role Emerging Managers Play in the Construction of a Compelling Portfolio (06:16) Thousands of Emerging Managers vs Forty Established Funds (07:30) Does Excess Capacity Translate to Adverse Selection? (08:17) “LPs are like Snowflakes and They’re all Different.” (10:49) Common Reasons Why LPs Don’t Re-up (13:48) What Makes for a Great Manager? (16:27) Episode Sponsor: Tactyc (17:34) What Sapphire Looks for When Evaluating a New Manager (19:00) Who Wins: Generalist v. Specialist (21:57) Will Solo GPs be able to Survive in this Market? (24:38) Beezer’s Predictions on Spinouts (26:34) The Bias and Rationale Behind Institutional LPs Desire to Re-up in Existing Managers (28:14) The New CalSTRS Program’s Investment Rubric on Checksize, Fund Size, Return Profile and Audit Requirements (30:37) How LPs Can Bring Value to a Fund (34:31) Why LPs are All Examining Their Portfolios (36:42) Should GPs Focus on DPI or TVPI? (39:01) Why Venture Needs More Innovation (40:19) How LPs Diligence Managers (44:15) The Importance of Transparency within the LP Ecosystem (51:57) What Sapphire Invests In (53:26) Lessons Learned from Previous Downturns

Just released the latest episode of #VentureUnlocked with @jodij co-founder of @AllRaise and @AlignedPartners and early @KauffmanFellows member She gives tips on all things VC and discusses LPs' role in ensuring momentum stays strong w/gender diversity ventureunlocked.substack.com…

Heard from VC LPs this week: Heading into 3Q marks, much discussion about pending write downs and how much value created in recent years will actually turn into $$ distributed to LPs. Historically, Top Quartile DPI has exceeded 2x in only a small handful of years.

71% of exit dollars in 2024 came from a new avenue : secondaries. Historically, IPOs and M&A have been the dominant exit paths for venture backed companies. Some years IPOs dominate, other M&A dominates, but in 2024 secondaries captured the super majority. When a company sells new shares to investors in exchange for dollars, they create new shares in the company - primary shares. When existing shareholders sell their shares to new investors, we call this a secondary sale. An employee tender is a secondary sale offered to employees of the company. But secondary sales can also occur between one venture capitalist and another venture capitalist. The secondaries market is incredibly opaque. So the figures gathered here are extremely rough estimates but should be directionally correct. There has been a huge challenge in liquidity since 2022 with the IPO market effectively silent, and M&A also stymied. In response, capital markets respond in a way they always do. They flood capital where there’s opportunity. And now the primary path to liquidity within venture are secondaries. This is based on a Pitchbook analysis of the overall secondary market released in Q1 of 2025. This mirrors the private equity industry. I’ve written previously about how venture capital and private equity have parallel paths. Here I’m using a slightly different and narrower dataset, but you can see the announced transactions that have been reported that are outside the scope of private exchanges are roughly 20 to 30% within both private equity and venture capital. Over the last 10 years private equity has averaged about 28% secondaries as a form of liquidity. As in private equity, we should start to expect secondaries to become a permanent and significant part of venture capital liquidity for both employees of companies and also investors. With the target ARR required to achieve an IPO growing from $80m in 2008 to approximately $250m today, secondaries will become a permanent fixture in venture capital markets. It’s not just a temporary anomaly, but a structural evolution in how venture capital will function and ultimately evolve to look a bit more like private equity. tomtunguz.com/the-exit-path-…

Fresh data from 2,079 US venture funds that use Carta. We dig into IRR, TVPI, DPI, and much more. Fund sizes range widely, but most are concentrated below $100M AUM. We include top decile performance marks for the first time. Full report link in following post

We’re hiring an Associate & VP to join the @SapphirePrtnrs team in SF! 💫 Know of any aspiring LPs or one looking to make their next move? 🔗Please share and encourage them to apply here: boards.greenhouse.io/sapphir… #VC #Hiring

This week's newsletter shares the deck we used for Alpha Bridge Fund I with slide by slide commentary from @cdouvos! Want to see what an emerging manager's deck looks like? Want to see how an LP really thinks about your story? Now is your chance! labyrinth.substack.com/p/alp…

Fundraising as a fund manager is tough for 90% of firms of the market. As I've mentioned, we are extremely likely to move into the hardest fundraising cycle I've seen since 2008. So, what to do in these markets to understand/adapt? 🧵