#27 The Playbook + VC Budget Template

Win 2023 with the playbook & Excel VC Budget Template

Gm crew! Remember, you can’t spell “fund finance” without “FUN.” 🚀😎

Welcome to the new members of @TheFundCFO crew! Every [week] or so (#goals), we’ll bring you actionable tools, real-world experiences, and insider insights for #VC CFOs and fund managers, #LP investors, and general industry enthusiasts/people who want to learn :).

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What’s a Playbook?

A “playbook” is defined as “a book containing a sports team’s strategies and plays, especially in football.” Many of us grew up playing team sports with playbooks and/or enjoy watching them for fun (or misery, depending on your team :)) today.

Here’s a secret: the most successful businesses and VC funds have playbooks as well! A VC playbook is a set of guidelines and best practices that a venture capital firm uses to evaluate potential investments, manage their portfolio companies, and run their businesses. There are many different VC playbooks out there - do you have one? If you have one, do you use it?!?!

What’s in the Best VC Fund Playbooks?

There are many different VC playbooks out there, and the best one for your firm will depend on your specific investment strategy and target market. Here are some key elements to consider when developing your playbook:

  1. Investment thesis: this is foundational. Your investment thesis should define the types of companies that you are looking to invest in, the stages of growth that you are interested in, and the markets that you are targeting. A strong investment thesis will help you focus your efforts on identifying and evaluating the right potential investments.

  2. Due diligence process: this is essential for making informed investment decisions. Your playbook should outline the steps that you will take to evaluate potential investments, including market research, analyzing financials, and conducting interviews with the team and other key stakeholders.

  3. Portfolio management: post-investment, your playbook should provide guidance on how to manage portfolio companies. This might include setting specific goals and milestones for the company to achieve, providing mentorship and guidance to the team, and monitoring the company's progress to ensure that it is on track to meet its metrics (required to raise additional capital).

  4. Exit strategy: this should outline the criteria that you will use to determine when it is time to sell your stake in the company, as well as the potential exit options that are available, such as an IPO or a strategic acquisition.

Overall, a well-developed VC playbook can help your firm make more informed / strategic investment decisions and effectively manage / grow your portfolio companies. It also allows you to run a great business!

It is important to regularly review and update your playbook to ensure that it remains relevant and effective in today's quickly changing world!

Further Reading

VC Fund Budget - Free Excel Download

We wrote about the VC Fund Budget previously and it was one of our most popular posts! Additionally, we offered an Excel download of a budget template as a starting point for VC fund managers.

We’ve had a ton of new requests recently so we’re re-sharing the link here. You can access all of our free downloads at streamlined.fund. Enjoy!

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!”