Looking to change the world for the better through technology, investing & partnerships. MD @ LGT Capital Partners. ✍️ at @Open_LP , Co-host Origins Podcast 🎤
Joined April 2009
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Apr 7
Personal news update! … I’m joining the venture platform at LGT Capital Partners.
It’s been nearly 15 years since I joined @NinoMarakovic at @SapphireVC to help build @SapphirePrtnrs - and hard to believe our working relationship started another 15 years before that at Morgan Stanley waayyy back in 1994.
Since that time, it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside him, and to help build what Sapphire Partners has become.
I’m incredibly proud of the team, the relationships, and the managers we’ve had the chance to partner with along the way. That’s always been the most meaningful part.
I’m lucky to be making this move alongside @LauraLPThompson , @natewcl , Dan Clayton, Vittorio Reynoso-Avila, and Anna Jacoby.
This wasn’t an easy decision, but over time it became clear this was the right step—for our team, for Sapphire, for LGT, and for the managers we support.
The opportunity came together naturally through our long relationship with @TKtwitster and the LGT team. I’ve known Thomas for over a decade and have always respected his thoughtful approach to venture.
At a high level, this is about alignment and continuing to build—just at greater scale. We’re not changing what we do, just expanding where and how we do it.
What made Sapphire so special to me, though, was always the people—the ones who made the work meaningful every day.
While I won’t be in the same place day to day, this isn’t a goodbye—just a different way of working together.
Grateful to everyone at Sapphire who made the past 15 years so meaningful 💙
I’m taking a short break before starting at LGT on April 15—spending some time with my son before he heads off to college this Fall. A big transition for both of us. 🤲
Looking forward to what’s ahead. 💫✨
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May 30
It’s going to be an interesting next second half of the year! 👇
🚨 Just 3 IPOs could determine the future of VC.
According to @PitchBook, North American VC AUM could reach $2T by 2030. A key variable: anticipated IPOs from @SpaceX, @OpenAI & @AnthropicAI.
3 companies that could raise as much as all US VC-backed IPOs over the past decade combined. A liquidity event this massive could restore LP confidence and restart the flow of capital back into venture.
📊 Read the report:
pitchbook.com/news/reports/q…
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May 29
1/ Venture investing is often framed as a strategy game, but it’s just as much an exercise in emotional calibration. And who you have behind you matters.
@nchirls & I unpack a new framing “cynical optimism” in the new Origins minisode.
My🔑Takeaway 👇
youtube.com/watch?v=B3RczQ9B…
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May 29
3/ The job isn’t simply cheering mgrs on.
It’s helping them get down the field as successfully as possible, while being honest ab cycles, risks, timing, & changing market realities.
The best long-term partnerships create space for both conviction and realism.
~19 min listen⬇️
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May 29
YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=B3RczQ9B…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0T9…
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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May 21
“Knowing thyself is probably the number one thing I would attribute to all of the best investors I’ve met.”
Couldn’t agree more, Nicholas Csicsko - TY for joining @nchirls & I on Origins!
This episode jam packed w LP 💎s, my favorite below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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May 21
🔷 The best investors pair optimism w realism, understanding both the upside & the risks.
🔷 LPs are increasingly focused on liquidity & DPI, reflecting growing scrutiny around private market valuations.
🔷 Great venture mgrs deeply understand their competitive landscape rather than simply following market narratives.
🔷 Building a firm should reflect who you are as an investor, not just what the market says a venture platform should look like.
🔷 Long-term conviction comes from truly knowing your partners, esp during periods of uncertainty, because “you can’t borrow conviction in times of stress.”
youtube.com/watch?v=a2kz5AKB…
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May 14
🧵How does a Juilliard-trained classical musician wind up managing a $6B endowment at a church in Manhattan older than the United States itself?
That's the story of our fascinating Origins guest: Nicholas Csicsko, MD of Investments, Trinity Church Wall Street 👇
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May 14
3/ Key takes from this episode:
👉 Whether excess capital is eroding venture’s illiquidity premium
👉 The disconnect between private & public market valuations
👉 Why “cynical optimism” matters in venture
👉 Whether VC firms are scaling in ways that actually make sense
👉 Why venture could become much more interesting again soon
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May 14
I love an unconventional path to venture because it usually means wisdom and independent thinking the industry doesn't know it needs. Nicholas epitomizes this and I loved his thoughtful POV on the landscape at large.
Episode out now, give it a listen!
youtube.com/watch?v=a2kz5AKB…
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May 6
1/ Power law still holds at scale - just at a different magnitude.
On Origins, @daveclark85 walks through the math (w/ @NChirls). If you’re allocating to $1B funds, the assumptions matter.
What has to be true:
→ Exit markets need to support massive outcomes
→ Even a $6B fund can produce fund returners
→ A return-driven lens ≠ IRR-driven lens
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May 6
2/ Zooming out:
👉 2025 may mark the first real industry-wide contraction in modern venture
👉 The bar to survive is rising fast
Only ~50% of Fund Is make it to Fund II
~17% make it to Fund IV
What separates managers who go the distance?
Find out 👇
youtube.com/watch?v=xuiqht5r…
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Apr 30
A masterclass in venture as told by Fred Wilson. 🙏 @mignano
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Apr 29
Fred Wilson is one of the greatest VCs of all time. He is also my new partner at @USV and I'm lucky to say that. We've known each other for years, but becoming partners felt like a reason to get to know him even better.
So a few weeks ago, we walked around Union Square and caught up about what @fredwilson has learned over nearly 40 years of VC, how AI may be making the profession obsolete, how to build an investment thesis, why he believes the Knicks will win the NBA title this year, and a few of his long held grudges.
Here's a video of that conversation, set at Union Square, Madman Espresso, the USV office, and Leon's on Broadway.
Chapters:
3:22 - That time Fred wrecked Mike on Twitter
6:01 - Pre-Internet VC in NYC
9:50 - Early Internet Investing and Raising for Flatiron Partners
11:59 - The Dot-com Crash Killed Fred’s First Firm
14:28 - Fred’s Grudge Against Coffee Shop
16:35 - How to Pick the Right Team at Right Time
18:28 - AVC blog, Gawker’s Nick Denton, TypePad.com
20:44 - Jim Kramer invented Tweeting
21:46 - Why Fred Bet on Twitter Early
23:39 - Building Agents on Claude Code and Tasklet
26:20 - Claude Mythos and Doomerism
27:27 - The Original USV Thesis
29:19 - Network Effects and Brad’s Thesis
31:29 - Coinbase: Thesis, Investment, Outcome
33:18 - Investing in Decentralized AI
34:59 - Open Source AI
36:55 - AI Kill Zone: Legal AI is Dead, Energy Investments
42:37 - USV Agents Will Replace Its Partners
47:00 - Are VC’s building themselves out of a job?
48:30 - Leon’s, NYC’s New Tech Watering Hole
50:52 - Generative Art
53:18 - SOLIENNE: AI Artist trained by Kristi Coronado
54:25 - What About AI Scares Fred
55:40 - Societal Backlash to AI
58:10 - Advice to Early Career VCs: There’s More Risk in Not Doing Deals
1:00:48 - Fred’s Biggest Regrets: Saying No Because of Price
1:04:17 - Fred’s Bold Prediction for the Knicks and the Mets
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Apr 16
🧵What happens to venture after a major correction?
"Fewer managers, but bigger." — @daveclark85 (CIO, VenCap) called this back in 2023, and the data is proving out.
🆕Origins 👇
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Apr 16
4/ ♻️ What’s important is that this isn’t permanent. As the cycle turns, history suggests we'll see expansion again — new LPs re-entering the asset class and more managers getting funded.
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Apr 16
5/ So the question isn't *if* we come out of this consolidation phase. It's whether you're building something durable enough to be around when we do.
We cover this and a lot more (power laws, DPI, liquidity, fund scale…) in the episode.
youtube.com/watch?v=qtDPrgKN…
cc @nchirls
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