Category: Insights

A 2026 Guide to Back-Office Infrastructure for Emerging VC Managers Teel Lidow recently wrote a thorough breakdown of the different fund admins available to emerging managers with funds under $100M. It’s worth reading, and we encourage you to subscribe to his Substack as well. While he brought up a lot of great points and contrasts between platforms, we felt like one big thing was missing from the conversation: the role of AI in fund administration, and how the job of a fund admin is evolving far beyond accounting. Most comparisons treat fund admin as little more than back-office software that does the boring stuff so you can do the fun stuff. For a solo GP managing a sub-$50M fund and competing against firms with three or four more zeros under management, that’s not good enough.…

Fundraising momentum can stall for many reasons. Here’s how to stay top of mind and maintain your pipeline during any slow period. Why LP Relationships Go Cold Every fund manager experiences it: LPs who were engaged and responsive suddenly go quiet. Commitments that felt imminent are suddenly on hold. People start giving vague responses about “reconsidering timelines” or “circling back next quarter.” This isn’t unique to you. Fundraising naturally ebbs and flows based on market conditions, seasonal patterns, annual planning cycles, and countless other factors outside your control. The first three weeks of January are notoriously dead every year. August is typically slow. Q4 gets complicated as LPs focus on year-end allocations. Economic uncertainty creates hesitation. Political events trigger caution. The point isn’t to predict when slowdowns will happen.…

Watch the full video of our latest Venture Underground episode where we break down how governments can build thriving VC ecosystems: About ten years ago, an entrepreneur in Latin America noticed something absurd: if you bought a car and wanted insurance, you might wait two months just to get the paperwork. The solution was obvious. Build a company that delivers insurance the next day-or even the same day. The startup did exactly that, creating a courier network that could reach customers anywhere in the country. The company exploded. Of course it did. Would you rather wait two months or get your insurance card tomorrow? But then they hit a wall. “They became huge because you can buy insurance and wait two months, or you can buy insurance and get it the next day,” says Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group.…

Watch the full video of our latest Venture Underground episode where we break down how governments can build thriving VC ecosystems: California is the fifth-largest economy in the world. Not the United States. California. That single fact should terrify every government official, economic development leader, and policy maker outside of Silicon Valley. Because it reveals just how concentrated the world’s innovation engine has become, and how dangerous that concentration is for everyone else. “You don’t need to be a great theoretician or mathematician or economist to see that these timelines line up,” says Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group, which has helped launch nearly 1,000 venture funds globally. “What does California have that Portugal or Spain don’t? Great weather? They all have great weather.…

The Cheat Code for Building Venture Ecosystems You don’t need to become Silicon Valley. You need Silicon Valley’s infrastructure, localized to your strengths. That’s the message Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group, has delivered to governments from Singapore to Chile to Colombia over the past two decades. Having helped launch nearly 1,000 venture funds globally and supported startup ecosystems in 200+ cities through the Founder Institute, Ressi has developed what he calls the “cheat code” for venture ecosystem development. “Decile Group has an indispensable cheat code for how a city, country, or region can develop a must-win venture ecosystem within five to ten years,” Ressi says. The playbook isn’t theoretical. It’s been tested and proven across vastly different cultures, economies, and regulatory environments.…

The Race for Regional VC Leadership in the Middle East  There’s no dominant venture capital leader in the Middle East… yet. That single fact represents both an enormous opportunity and an urgent call to action. Because someone is going to claim that title in the next five to ten years, and the city or country that moves fastest will reap benefits for generations. “There’s not a dominant regional leader yet, although Dubai is in the pole position to be that leader,” says Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group, which has helped launch nearly 1,000 venture funds globally in the last four years. Ressi is traveling to the UAE in February to speak at the Forbes Middle East Summit and meet with government officials about venture ecosystem development.…

Here’s why launching your own fund is the smarter path. The Scout Trap Every week, talented investors source deals, make introductions, and help established funds access opportunities they’d never find on their own. In return, they earn a fraction of the value they create. This is the venture scout model, and it’s fundamentally broken for the scout. The venture capital industry has long operated on a traditional model where talented investors spend years generating returns for established firms or work as venture scouts earning modest fees while the real upside flows elsewhere. You do the work. Someone else captures the value. But what if you could capture that value for yourself? The barriers that once made launching your own fund prohibitively expensive and complex have largely disappeared.…

There are obvious reasons why nations, states, cities and even communities work hard to attract venture capital ecosystems, affixing the word “Silicon” to whatever natural landmark is nearby. Silicon Beach. Silicon Wadi. Silicon Gulch. Historically, most of the growth in the United States economy post World War II can be traced back to the growth of the venture capital ecosystem and all that came from it. It’s a big reason that California, just this one state, is a top-five global economic powerhouse with a $4 trillion GDP, rivaling Japan and the United Kingdom. And yet, there are case studies upon case studies of governments making things worse for local venture capital ecosystems, not better. Decile Group was originally spun out of Founder Institute, which has chapters in more than 100 countries.…

Investment returns aren’t the only thing that counts Watch the full session: Mastering Your Cohort 20 Application The Misconception Holding You Back “I don’t have enough investment experience to launch a fund.” This is one of the most common reasons people hesitate to start raising. And it’s based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what track record actually means. “This is one of the most misused terms in the industry,” says Mike Suprovici, Head of Acceleration at Decile Group. “People think track record means I’ve invested in X number of companies. It’s not just that.” What Track Record Really Means Track record is proof that you can generate value in the area where you’re claiming expertise. Investment returns are one form of that proof.…

The insider guide to standing out in a pool of 3,000 applicants Watch the full session: Mastering Your Cohort 20 Application The Numbers You’re Up Against Every cohort, VC Lab receives roughly 3,000 applications. About 300 get accepted into the program. And by the end, maybe a third of those finish because you have to hit real milestones along the way. Those are tough odds. But here’s the good news: most applications make the same avoidable mistakes. “We actually give you a little guide even in the application,” says Mike Suprovici, Head of Acceleration at Decile Group. “Fit it in this, put it in these brackets. And then sometimes we get people putting in a dissertation with two paragraphs of the thesis.…

What you do now determines whether institutions will ever invest in you Watch the full episode: Venture Underground Ep 9 The Long Game You Might Not Be Playing Most Fund I managers won’t get institutional LP money. That’s just reality. Less than 3% of new funds do. But here’s what many managers miss: what you do in Fund I directly determines whether institutional LPs will ever invest in you. Fund III. Fund IV. Fund V. “All of this stuff is easily discoverable when you do due diligence on a firm and a fund,” says Adeo Ressi, founder of VC Lab. “One day you’ll be in late due diligence and they’ll say, ‘Sorry, we can’t invest right now. We’re overallocated.’ They’ll never tell you why, but it’s because of one of these things.”…

Why that big institutional check might be the worst thing for your Fund I Watch the full episode: Venture Underground Ep 9 The Dream vs. The Reality Every new fund manager dreams of landing a big institutional check. A sovereign wealth fund. An endowment. A major pension fund. It feels like validation. It feels like you’ve made it. But here’s what most managers don’t realize: early institutional money often comes with strings that can cripple your fund’s performance. “The less proven you are, the more strings you’re going to expect with institutional capital,” says Adeo Ressi, founder of VC Lab. What Are Side Letters? When institutional LPs invest in your fund, they typically require side letters. These are additional agreements that outline special terms and requirements beyond your standard LP agreement.…

Why those fancy dinners might not mean what you think they mean Watch the full episode: Venture Underground Ep 9 The Roses Have Thorns You’re a new fund manager. A sovereign wealth fund wants to take you to dinner. Their average check size is $30 million. Great news, right? Not so fast. In the venture capital industry, there’s a term called “LP love.” And while it feels amazing to receive, it can be one of the most dangerous distractions for emerging managers if you don’t understand what’s really happening. “You think you want these institutional LPs,” says Adeo Ressi, founder of VC Lab. “But be careful. Those roses may have thorns attached to them.” What Is LP Love? Large institutional LPs (sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, and large corporations) have dedicated teams whose entire job is to scout managers to invest in.…