#163 Top 7 VC CFO Posts of H1 2024

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“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

These are the top 7 posts by engagement for the first half of 2024.

Reflecting on them, the most popular had some sort of tool, playbook, or template. Readers want actionable content that makes their lives easier - noted!

I want to share a big “thank you” to everyone who read, commented, & shared these posts and others. Happy July 4th!

Top 7 VC CFO Posts of H1 2024

  1. #161 The 2024 VC Vintage & Power Law - Time to Invest?: “Is now a good time to allocate to VC?” That’s a common questions LPs are asking GPs these days. Today, we dive into a recent report from Stepstone that examines what returns looked like for VC investors in various vintage years. “We believe 2024 very well could be a power law vintage.” Read more here.

  2. #160 VC Fund Math: "Maximum Convexity" Leads to 10x+ Funds: What game are you playing in VC? Are you going for 10x+ funds or 3x+ funds? Established VC funds with large AUM can lower their return targets to 3x+. A $1b fund generating a 3x = $3b of returns, $2b of profits. That’s at least $400m of carry for the team at 20%. Not bad. I would argue (and believe most LPs would agree) that most early-stage emerging managers need to be shooting for 10x+ funds. But how do you do that?

  3. #157 VC Fund Budgets & Models, Unpacked: “Effective fund management requires an understanding of the various expenses involved. Fund expenses and management company expenses are two primary categories that every fund manager must plan for over the lifetime of the vehicle…

  4. #154 VC Fund Math: The Path to 10x+: A recent X post from Martin Tobias on VC fund math inspired us while also reminded us that VC is hard! You have to worry about things like dilution, protecting your ownership, etc. to hit a 10x return on just one investment. Then to have a great fund, you really need a 100x fund driver. That’s hard to get!

  5. #153 VC Fund Audit Retro: Insights for Mid-Year Financials & 2024 Audit: Recently VC CFOs/Finance Pros and fund managers emerged from the depths of audit and tax season (that wrapped up end of April). Each year, VC funds are required to do an audit, where a third-party comes in and reviews all your financial reporting and accounting from the prior year to confirm it’s accurate. This is required for most funds out there and necessary for accurate tax reporting / payment.

  6. #148 a16z Closes $7B: What It Means Emerging VC Managers & LPs: As reported by Axios, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed on $7.2 billion for its newest set of funds. CFO take: a16z raises capital from large investors looking to access venture capital and is a barometer for how LPs feel about the asset class. Many LPs take a “barbell approach” to venture capital. They invest in large fund vehicles like a16z to get “venture beta” (2x-3x target returns). The other side of the barbell is “venture alpha” (5x+ target returns), often represented by emerging managers. Now that many LPs have re-upped their “venture beta” bucket, expect to see them re-up their “venture alpha” allocations in emerging managers that can stand out.

  7. #142 VC Market Maps & Useful Data: “In venture, market maps have emerged as THE visualization tool for funds to articulate research insights, publish frameworks they’ve been working on, and provide an inbound call to action to signal this is a space they are investing in.”

That’s all for today folks! Thanks for your support and spreading the word! Share this on Twitter or LinkedIn to help grow “the crew!”