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Jan. 24, 2025

E132: How Nichole Wischoff Raised a $50M Fund in 5 Months

E132: How Nichole Wischoff Raised a $50M Fund in 5 Months
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In this episode of How I Invest, I dive into a conversation with Nichole Wischoff, Founder and Managing Partner at Wischoff Ventures, to explore her remarkable journey of raising a $50 million fund during one of the toughest markets of 2024. Nichole shares her insights on fundraising strategies, the power of media in deal sourcing, and building a personal brand. She also discusses her unique approach to fostering relationships in venture capital and why community and authenticity are key drivers of success in this space. This episode is packed with actionable takeaways for emerging fund managers and anyone navigating the world of VC.

Highlights: $50 Million Fundraise: How Nichole secured her fund’s anchor and achieved a first close in just two months.

Building Distribution Advantage: Leveraging social media and brand-building to access top founders and close deals.

Fund Size Challenges: Overcoming objections from institutional LPs and proving scalability.

Strategic Fundraising: Nichole's timeline, drip campaigns, and tactics to convert LPs at a 26% rate.

Community-Driven Success: The value of collaboration among emerging managers and fostering trusted relationships.

The Twitter Advantage: Nichole’s journey to building a massive online following and using it as a competitive edge.

Cringe Scales: Why embracing discomfort on social media pays dividends for fund managers.

Future Focus: Nichole’s advice for navigating relationships, building a firm, and standing out in the VC world.

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Guest Bio: Nichole Wischoff is the Founder and Managing Partner of Wischoff Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups. With deep operational experience at multiple high-growth companies and a proven track record in venture capital, Nichole has built her reputation as a leader in the emerging manager space. Known for her authenticity and strategic approach, she is passionate about building her firm and brand in public while supporting the next wave of groundbreaking founders.

Our podcast now receives more than 200,000 downloads a month. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email me at dweisburd@gmail.com.

We’d like to thank @ReedSmith for sponsoring this episode!

#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP

--

SPONSOR: Reed Smith is a dynamic international law firm dedicated to helping clients move their businesses forward. With an inclusive culture and innovative mindset, Reed Smith delivers smarter, more creative legal services that drive better outcomes for their clients. Their deep industry knowledge, long-standing relationships and collaborative structure make them the go-to partner for complex disputes, transactions, and regulatory matters. Learn more at www.reedsmith.com.

--

Stay Connected: X / Twitter: David Weisburd: @dweisburd Nichole Wischoff: @NWischoff

LinkedIn: David Weisburd: David Weisburd LinkedIn Nichole Wischoff: Nichole Wischoff LinkedIn

Links: Wischoff Ventures: www.wischoff.com

Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at dweisburd@gmail.com.

(0:00) Episode preview (2:08) Leveraging social media and brand for distribution advantage (4:31) Overcoming LP objections and scaling investments (6:49) Strategies for first close and securing anchor LPs (10:29) Identifying and engaging interested LPs (13:34) Insights into decision-making of top quartile LPs and endowments (15:52) Collaborating with emerging managers and building trust (19:43) Importance of the 80/20 rule in relationships (21:27) Strategies for building a Twitter presence and follower psychology (25:47) Tips for effective Twitter engagement and brand growth (28:28) Closing remarks
Transcript
1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,120
Double click on that.

2
00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:03,379
How does media help you win deals?

3
00:00:03,439 --> 00:00:06,419
Ultimately, I can get on the phone with anyone.

4
00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:08,639
And I really saw that that took about 2 years.

5
00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:14,160
And then I wanna say about a year ago now,
early 2024, I remember there were founders that

6
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:15,974
had term sheets from Super Notable Funds.

7
00:00:15,974 --> 00:00:19,814
I typically try not to chase those deals, but I
really liked the business they were building.

8
00:00:19,814 --> 00:00:20,855
I loved their background.

9
00:00:20,855 --> 00:00:24,535
So I remember sending a note on LinkedIn and
just saying, you know, like, hey, team would

10
00:00:24,535 --> 00:00:25,015
love to meet.

11
00:00:25,015 --> 00:00:27,734
I know I'm pretty late in the process, but let
me know if you have time.

12
00:00:27,734 --> 00:00:30,739
Something that at least I do with other
managers, I'm not sure how common this is

13
00:00:30,739 --> 00:00:34,500
outside of my little bubble, but we all usually
will share a spreadsheet and say, hey.

14
00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:35,939
Here's everyone I've met with.

15
00:00:35,939 --> 00:00:38,600
Here's everyone that has converted in our LPs.

16
00:00:38,739 --> 00:00:42,179
Here's everyone that you might actually be a
great fit for because they're looking for a, b,

17
00:00:42,179 --> 00:00:42,579
and c.

18
00:00:42,579 --> 00:00:47,375
And so a lot of us try to just share who are
the LPs that are active, and frankly, who are

19
00:00:47,375 --> 00:00:48,655
the ones that waste your time.

20
00:00:48,655 --> 00:00:50,734
There are folks that are just not active that
are out there.

21
00:00:50,734 --> 00:00:53,615
They wanna talk, and then they maybe want a lot
of things from you.

22
00:00:53,615 --> 00:00:56,895
Like, they wanna direct invest in some of your
companies, and they you know, just there's some

23
00:00:56,895 --> 00:00:57,635
bad actors.

24
00:00:59,829 --> 00:01:05,750
Nicole, you pulled off a $50,000,000 fundraise
in one of the toughest markets, the summer of

25
00:01:05,750 --> 00:01:06,250
2024.

26
00:01:06,549 --> 00:01:07,829
How did you accomplish this?

27
00:01:07,829 --> 00:01:13,034
In terms of strategy going out March, telling
LPs, I guess I was sort of bluffing, but I

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believed it that I would have a first close and
ideally on 50% of the fund, around the May

29
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timeline and was aiming for a final close in
August.

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And crazy enough, I've maybe I manifested it,
but it worked out.

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So Sundana came in, anchored the fund, and it
was off to the races in 5 months end to end.

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The other piece, and then I'll pause, is just
having a good product.

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Right?

34
00:01:36,270 --> 00:01:41,795
So there are some data that came out that was
just showing, like, median IRR and and and and

35
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metrics for funds from the 2021 vintage and 22,
both of which are my fund 1 and 2, and we're

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top decile.

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Right?

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And so and we had some early markups in fund 2.

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So the product is also great.

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Right?

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And our distribution has really taken off.

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So I think there obviously you have to have
something that people want to invest in.

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One part is just the strategy around like how
to raise because it's frustrating and time

44
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consuming.

45
00:02:03,479 --> 00:02:06,599
And the other is do you actually have something
people want, which was the real test.

46
00:02:06,599 --> 00:02:08,444
And it turns out that that we did.

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When you say you have a distribution advantage,
what do

48
00:02:11,141 --> 00:02:12,220
you mean by that?

49
00:02:12,220 --> 00:02:16,265
So one piece that's been really important for
building the firm is obviously brand building.

50
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There's a lot of competition, several funds.

51
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So assuming we had the pieces right to even be
in business being how do we actually help

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founders to do this job and why would they
choose us?

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I have a really deep operating experience.

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So I was very fortunate to be very early and
only work with CEO, cofounders of 3 now very

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sizable companies.

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And so with that, I've raised a ton of venture
capital.

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I've built a ton of products.

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I've hired and fired and figured things out.

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So having all of that as sort of table stakes
to to hopefully getting started in venture.

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The most important piece is how do you continue
to have access to great companies?

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How do you continue to have the right to win
and then concentrate in those companies?

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And so we have been from day 1 building up the
brand, Twitter being like a core part of the

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business, but also LinkedIn and TikTok now with
the podcast.

64
00:03:01,930 --> 00:03:06,864
And ultimately, it's how many people follow us,
know who we are, and we'll pick up our call.

65
00:03:07,245 --> 00:03:08,844
And the answer is a lot.

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00:03:09,004 --> 00:03:13,504
So that has been a huge core focus, for for the
brand since we started.

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00:03:13,724 --> 00:03:15,084
And double click on that.

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How does media help you win deals?

69
00:03:17,379 --> 00:03:20,360
Ultimately, I can get on the phone with anyone.

70
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And I I I really saw that.

71
00:03:21,939 --> 00:03:23,060
That took about 2 years.

72
00:03:23,060 --> 00:03:29,060
And then I wanna say about a year ago now,
early 2024, I remember there were founders that

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00:03:29,060 --> 00:03:30,835
had term sheets from Super Notable Funds.

74
00:03:30,835 --> 00:03:34,675
I typically try not to chase those deals, but I
really liked the business they were building.

75
00:03:34,675 --> 00:03:35,735
I love their background.

76
00:03:35,955 --> 00:03:39,955
So I remember sending a note on LinkedIn and
just saying, you know, like, hey, team.

77
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Would love to meet.

78
00:03:40,514 --> 00:03:43,414
I know I'm pretty late in the process, but let
me know if you have time.

79
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And it was and since then, in any situation
like this, cold message, they respond at a 100%

80
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of the time.

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It is, Nicole, I've been following you on x for
a long time.

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You're a hustler.

83
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,199
I would absolutely love to take a call with
you.

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We've got 500 k left even though there's a lot
of interest.

85
00:04:00,215 --> 00:04:01,754
Do you have time tomorrow morning?

86
00:04:01,894 --> 00:04:02,935
We have earned that right.

87
00:04:02,935 --> 00:04:03,734
Cold message.

88
00:04:03,734 --> 00:04:07,734
And now I would say that that's probably a
response and a quick response time, like,

89
00:04:07,734 --> 00:04:11,974
almost a 100% of the time, and that is to get
on the phone with just about anyone.

90
00:04:11,974 --> 00:04:14,555
So that is what you get from the socials.

91
00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,259
And that also translates into closing as well.

92
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100%.

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It's a warm relationship.

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They feel like they know you.

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And so it's not like going up to someone, like,
at a random coffee shop and, like, trying to,

96
00:04:24,759 --> 00:04:25,959
like, get them to take your money.

97
00:04:25,959 --> 00:04:26,279
You know?

98
00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:28,454
Even though that's normally what a first call
feels like.

99
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So it feels like we skip that part.

100
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What's the limits to that scalability?

101
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Would you be able to deploy that into
$5,000,000 checks, $10,000,000 checks, or does

102
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it only work on small checks?

103
00:04:40,534 --> 00:04:43,414
So far, we are proving that we can increase
check size.

104
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And, you know, I think that hopefully
everything else sides out of, okay, Nicole, we

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wanna work with her, but what does she really
do?

106
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So, right, even though I get on that first call
and they love the brand, the next question just

107
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becomes like and I I transparently haven't been
asked this in a few years, but I don't often

108
00:04:58,545 --> 00:05:01,584
get the question anymore from founders, like,
but but why should we choose you?

109
00:05:01,584 --> 00:05:02,144
Which is good.

110
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So it means some things are working.

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00:05:03,665 --> 00:05:05,125
A lot of it is also references.

112
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Like, I will have if I'm trying to win a deal,
some of my my existing portfolio founders,

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like, call in and say, hey.

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You should really work with Nicole.

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She's been fantastic for us, so that's super
helpful.

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I'd say, look, so far, fund 1, our average
ownership is 0.7%.

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I think our average check was around a 150 k.

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That was the $5,000,000 fund.

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Fund 2, our average ownership right now is
4.7%.

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Our average check size is around 650 k.

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So we're swinging pretty like, you know, with
smaller checks or around 5% of companies, we've

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easily been able to do that.

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00:05:34,795 --> 00:05:35,455
No question.

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I think as we get into the $50,000,000 fund
strategy, leading and co leading most of the

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time and writing up to, let's say, $2,000,000
checks, we will see.

126
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But so far, the the model has been working.

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Was that your biggest objection when you met
with LPs in in raising a $50,000,000 fund?

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00:05:51,904 --> 00:05:52,644
No, actually.

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I I I'd say the biggest reason people pass is
that the fund size was small.

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So I was really trying to go more institutional
and a $50,000,000 fund is very small for folks

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00:06:00,865 --> 00:06:03,925
that need to write 15 to $25,000,000 checks.

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00:06:04,750 --> 00:06:09,949
I would say that, you know, I had Sundana, my
anchor, gave me an interesting exercise, and I

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ended up sharing this with a lot of my other
LPs, which was, hey, Nicole.

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00:06:13,389 --> 00:06:18,165
If you could, layer on top of your fund 2
positions to date.

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So of the 12 to 14 companies you've invested in
and your check size in fund 2, which was 6

136
00:06:23,045 --> 00:06:23,865
let's say 650.

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If you layered on your fund 3 strategy and went
back to those companies, which of those

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companies do you think that you could have
successfully deployed that bigger check into

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versus not?

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00:06:34,300 --> 00:06:37,980
And it was a great exercise, and I think it
ended up being that I would have gotten

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00:06:37,980 --> 00:06:40,400
probably closer to 8 a half, 9 percent
ownership.

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And then they referenced every single one of my
companies.

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So they validated that.

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00:06:44,060 --> 00:06:47,420
Like, you know, they probably didn't say Nicole
says she could have put 2,000,000 in, but it

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00:06:47,420 --> 00:06:49,754
was a good exercise, and I shared that with
every LP.

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00:06:49,834 --> 00:06:52,395
You went public with your process and and your
funnel.

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00:06:52,395 --> 00:06:54,895
So walk me through that at a high level.

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So out of the gate, I did what I recommend my
startups do, which is get every investor in the

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funnel at the same time.

150
00:07:01,675 --> 00:07:06,629
And so out of the gate, I set up 80 calls, out
of the total 108 first calls.

151
00:07:06,629 --> 00:07:10,709
So I think the pipeline was between existing
and folks I had already met prior to raising.

152
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That was 80.

153
00:07:11,829 --> 00:07:15,910
And so within the 1st 3 weeks of the raise in
March, I had several calls a day.

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Like, 7 to 9, I think, was my max.

155
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Some 45 minutes, some an hour.

156
00:07:20,444 --> 00:07:23,165
And I wanted to get everyone in the data room
at the same time.

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I wanted them to know that that there that was
the goal of the May 1st close, the final close

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in August.

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And so that was what I stuck to.

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Again, no idea if that was gonna work out, but
I put my head down and, like, that was what the

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expectation was.

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In reality, it took, to get to 50% raised and
closed that two and a half to 3 months.

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And then from there, that remaining 50% of the
funds, so 25,000,000 took 30 days.

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I can speak more to that.

165
00:07:50,194 --> 00:07:54,194
And then the final month of that, so let's say
we were 4 months in, was really just legal back

166
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and forth.

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So red lines on the LPA, getting docs signed,
is honestly tons of leg work and actually

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really expensive from a legal perspective, but
that took up about, like, a month of it.

169
00:08:06,230 --> 00:08:09,670
So of the 108 calls, 28 committed.

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00:08:09,670 --> 00:08:11,290
So we converted about 26%.

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I don't have benchmarks for other funds.

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I don't know if that's great.

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I don't know if it's terrible.

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It worked for us.

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It's a good number.

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We got it done.

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An interesting stat, 38,500,000 of the
50,000,000 are from 6 LPs.

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So we really have, like, 4 or 5, $5,000,000
checks and then $115,000,000 check, and then

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the rest are 2,000,000, 1,000,000, and then a
very, very few existing LPs that really wanted

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00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,740
to come back in, but I've outgrown that wrote
500 k checks.

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00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,845
How did you get people to commit to the first
close so quickly?

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00:08:44,845 --> 00:08:48,785
In other words, what was your forcing mechanism
for getting the first 50% in?

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00:08:48,845 --> 00:08:50,625
So that's a really good question.

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All existing folks, I think there so there were
a few folks in they're specifically single

185
00:08:56,365 --> 00:09:01,129
family offices that I had really gotten to know
that missed fund 2 that said, Nicole, no matter

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00:09:01,129 --> 00:09:03,629
what, like, when you start raising, we won in
for a million.

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00:09:03,690 --> 00:09:06,169
And so that was 3 checks that came in.

188
00:09:06,169 --> 00:09:07,690
Was this after your fund 2 was closed?

189
00:09:07,690 --> 00:09:09,949
Was it at the tail end they couldn't get their
diligence?

190
00:09:10,009 --> 00:09:11,209
Why did they miss fund 2?

191
00:09:11,209 --> 00:09:12,350
The it was closed.

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00:09:12,855 --> 00:09:15,254
They saw, I think, some press, and they're
like, we really wanna meet Nicole.

193
00:09:15,254 --> 00:09:19,014
And, like, is there any chance you can increase
the $20,000,000 fund size and take more

194
00:09:19,014 --> 00:09:19,514
capital?

195
00:09:19,894 --> 00:09:21,434
And the answer was no.

196
00:09:21,975 --> 00:09:24,389
And so we kept in touch for 2 years.

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00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:28,809
And so whenever I kicked it off, they were very
quick to say, send the docs like we're in.

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00:09:29,269 --> 00:09:31,190
We stand by wanting to commit a million.

199
00:09:31,190 --> 00:09:32,710
And I had I catch up with folks.

200
00:09:32,710 --> 00:09:35,129
I try to at least 2 to 3 times per year.

201
00:09:35,269 --> 00:09:36,710
This is a relationship business.

202
00:09:36,710 --> 00:09:40,384
So for the folks also I really like, I wanted
to spend more time with them.

203
00:09:40,384 --> 00:09:43,924
So I was really, you know, determined to
building those relationships.

204
00:09:44,065 --> 00:09:49,345
So the May 1 is a really important date, and I
I tweeted about this.

205
00:09:49,345 --> 00:09:55,259
But so when I kicked off in March, I had
probably, yeah, close by May 1.

206
00:09:55,259 --> 00:09:58,860
So in that first, let's say, 2 months or until
May 1st, March, April.

207
00:09:58,860 --> 00:09:59,339
Oh, gosh.

208
00:09:59,339 --> 00:09:59,820
That's yeah.

209
00:09:59,820 --> 00:10:00,559
A little bit.

210
00:10:01,659 --> 00:10:06,375
We so over 2 months in, I had commitments,
like, you know, verbal commitments.

211
00:10:06,375 --> 00:10:08,954
They would they people were in for just shy of
$10,000,000.

212
00:10:10,214 --> 00:10:15,414
And I kept saying so I had Sundana had anchored
fund 1 and 2, but they took a little bit to let

213
00:10:15,414 --> 00:10:15,815
me know.

214
00:10:15,815 --> 00:10:17,095
So I told all LPs, listen.

215
00:10:17,095 --> 00:10:19,710
I expect half the fund to be reserved for
existing investors.

216
00:10:19,769 --> 00:10:26,589
And so Sundana, I'll never forget, calls me, on
May 1, and I was 9 months pregnant.

217
00:10:26,730 --> 00:10:29,049
And they said, Nicole, we're in.

218
00:10:29,049 --> 00:10:34,134
We're in for 15,000,000, and our only ask of
you is that you cap the fund at 50 instead of

219
00:10:34,134 --> 00:10:34,379
60.

220
00:10:34,379 --> 00:10:38,312
As I mentioned back in October, I had floated a
$60,000,000 fund cap to existing LPs.

221
00:10:38,558 --> 00:10:41,507
And so they ended up coming in for 30% of the
fund.

222
00:10:41,507 --> 00:10:44,456
I was, of course, I'll cap, you know, I'll cap
the fund.

223
00:10:44,456 --> 00:10:47,159
I ended up being way oversubscribed, and they
would not budge.

224
00:10:47,959 --> 00:10:50,120
But that was, you know, that was the process.

225
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:51,639
And so I had already had a game.

226
00:10:51,639 --> 00:10:52,360
I said the 10.

227
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:53,480
They came in for 15.

228
00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:54,459
We're at 50%.

229
00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:57,639
I raised to a close, you know, 3 weeks after
that.

230
00:10:57,639 --> 00:10:59,179
So I think it was the end of May.

231
00:10:59,879 --> 00:11:00,860
And I emailed.

232
00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:08,485
I got great advice, which I think we'll get
into, which was send little drip campaigns.

233
00:11:08,625 --> 00:11:11,504
You know, the existing LPs, send them little
drip notes saying, hey.

234
00:11:11,504 --> 00:11:13,345
Here's the progress over the last 2 to 3 weeks.

235
00:11:13,345 --> 00:11:17,899
So they feel like they're close to it, that the
timeline seemed tangible again back to when

236
00:11:17,899 --> 00:11:19,759
this closes, not if this closes.

237
00:11:20,460 --> 00:11:26,220
And so on May 1st, when Sedona called me and
they committed and I knew I was, like, gonna

238
00:11:26,220 --> 00:11:29,294
have that big first close, like, I hoped and
manifested.

239
00:11:30,315 --> 00:11:34,554
I emailed every single person that was still in
the pipeline and just said and and again, this

240
00:11:34,554 --> 00:11:37,934
is a good forcing function too, and I even
recommend my startups do this.

241
00:11:38,074 --> 00:11:41,355
People will hang around the hoop and largely
because they're just not interested and can't

242
00:11:41,355 --> 00:11:41,674
get there.

243
00:11:41,674 --> 00:11:44,610
And you need to suss that out as quickly as
possible and move on.

244
00:11:44,750 --> 00:11:48,529
And so I emailed every single person in the
pipeline and just said, hey.

245
00:11:48,589 --> 00:11:49,549
Here's the update.

246
00:11:49,549 --> 00:11:51,629
Huge first close on 50% of the fund.

247
00:11:51,629 --> 00:11:54,830
We're still marching towards mid August for a
final close.

248
00:11:54,830 --> 00:11:56,529
Let me know if you wanna catch up.

249
00:11:56,995 --> 00:12:02,694
25% of people who ended up passing or maybe 30
passed because of the timeline.

250
00:12:02,995 --> 00:12:04,914
Some I just wasn't a a big fit for.

251
00:12:04,914 --> 00:12:08,514
And then the other big reason why people passed
were because the fund size was just too small

252
00:12:08,514 --> 00:12:11,720
and their checks were too big for the fund,
which I also appreciate.

253
00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,179
I don't want a $25,000,000 check for a
$50,000,000 fund.

254
00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:16,840
So those were a few of the reasons.

255
00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,580
1 was just the tight timeline, and 2 was the
fund size.

256
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:24,600
How do you suss out who's actually interested
and who's just hanging on the hoop because they

257
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:25,454
don't wanna say no.

258
00:12:25,454 --> 00:12:26,414
Thank you for listening.

259
00:12:26,414 --> 00:12:30,174
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not miss any future episodes, please click the

260
00:12:30,174 --> 00:12:31,794
follow button above to subscribe.

261
00:12:32,654 --> 00:12:38,815
So I I guess what isn't fair, I guess, for LPs
is that they do have their own internal

262
00:12:38,815 --> 00:12:40,529
timeline, and so it is a balancing act.

263
00:12:40,690 --> 00:12:43,570
Sometimes they are not hanging around the hoop.

264
00:12:43,570 --> 00:12:46,790
They are actually hoping that they have another
60 days.

265
00:12:46,930 --> 00:12:49,269
And so in some case, I've had LPs say, hey,
Nicole.

266
00:12:49,330 --> 00:12:51,970
They work on, like, quarters most of the time.

267
00:12:51,970 --> 00:12:53,269
And so they're like, hey.

268
00:12:53,375 --> 00:12:54,495
Q three not great for us.

269
00:12:54,495 --> 00:12:56,334
If this goes into q four, we're very in.

270
00:12:56,334 --> 00:13:00,095
And so a lot of them were hanging around the
hoop hoping that this would hit, like, an

271
00:13:00,095 --> 00:13:03,134
October one timeline, and we'd be a q four
investment.

272
00:13:03,134 --> 00:13:07,389
And so a lot of them, when I was getting closer
and it was directly within, like, the August

273
00:13:07,389 --> 00:13:10,129
time frame that I had hoped for, they had to
pass.

274
00:13:10,350 --> 00:13:11,629
And people communicate that.

275
00:13:11,629 --> 00:13:16,129
Or if they try to gatekeep their timeline
because they don't want you to write them off,

276
00:13:16,350 --> 00:13:18,110
then they're kind of you force their hand.

277
00:13:18,110 --> 00:13:19,389
And so a lot of it was just saying, hey.

278
00:13:19,389 --> 00:13:20,509
We're still marching towards this.

279
00:13:20,509 --> 00:13:21,274
Do you wanna catch up?

280
00:13:21,274 --> 00:13:22,715
But eventually, they just let you know.

281
00:13:22,715 --> 00:13:27,615
I'd say by the 3rd touch point, they give you
an answer, and it's really helpful.

282
00:13:27,995 --> 00:13:29,115
But you kinda have to force it.

283
00:13:29,115 --> 00:13:31,915
I mean, again, sometimes they do convert.

284
00:13:31,915 --> 00:13:34,095
It just depends on their timeline and your
timeline.

285
00:13:34,235 --> 00:13:40,339
Is it fair characterization to say the the top
quartile LPs are very independent when it comes

286
00:13:40,339 --> 00:13:43,620
to their decision making and some of the other
LPs are looking for signals?

287
00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:46,039
It's hard to read through the the, like, the
lines.

288
00:13:46,579 --> 00:13:49,394
And so I actually don't know that it dictated
much.

289
00:13:49,394 --> 00:13:52,754
Like, I think, you know, even when I closed my
1st institutional, children's came in and I

290
00:13:52,754 --> 00:13:53,875
circulated a note and said, hey.

291
00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:54,934
We're now at 35,000,000.

292
00:13:55,955 --> 00:13:57,815
We're almost finished or 40,000,000.

293
00:13:58,674 --> 00:14:02,274
It didn't rush anyone's process, which just
told me that if they're gonna come in, they're

294
00:14:02,274 --> 00:14:03,759
gonna spend time with you from the start.

295
00:14:03,759 --> 00:14:07,200
And even if there's not a lot of early signal,
and if they're not, they're not.

296
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,480
But I maybe a few single family offices get
excited and they try to follow great LPs, and I

297
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:13,539
don't blame them.

298
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,375
But I honestly felt like I there was no, like,
carrot that I was hanging that got people in or

299
00:14:18,375 --> 00:14:20,475
out even if it was new news on LPs.

300
00:14:20,855 --> 00:14:25,174
You mentioned that one endowment told you that
they have a 12 month policy before they could

301
00:14:25,174 --> 00:14:25,654
even invest.

302
00:14:25,654 --> 00:14:27,174
They have to know you for 12 months.

303
00:14:27,174 --> 00:14:28,134
Tell me about that.

304
00:14:28,134 --> 00:14:31,274
We'll be right back, but first, a word from our
sponsor.

305
00:14:31,910 --> 00:14:36,389
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306
00:14:36,389 --> 00:14:40,950
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307
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308
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309
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310
00:14:52,975 --> 00:14:57,455
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that continually adapts to meet their clients'

311
00:14:57,455 --> 00:14:57,955
needs.

312
00:14:58,175 --> 00:14:59,669
That was the only time I've heard that.

313
00:14:59,750 --> 00:15:04,009
I will say, though, and I don't know if it is
fair to say that this is all endowments.

314
00:15:04,149 --> 00:15:07,029
I do know you know, I I was talking to a few
other funds.

315
00:15:07,029 --> 00:15:09,909
They got a few LPs, and then they said, Nicole,
we closed them in 4 months.

316
00:15:09,909 --> 00:15:13,589
It was just a really tight or got to a
commitment in 4 months, and then legal takes,

317
00:15:13,589 --> 00:15:14,570
like, another 2.

318
00:15:15,154 --> 00:15:16,595
I don't know that it's that common, though.

319
00:15:16,595 --> 00:15:18,855
I will say endowments are just a different
beast.

320
00:15:19,475 --> 00:15:24,034
I don't have, candidly, any endowments as LPs
yet, though I've been getting to know several

321
00:15:24,034 --> 00:15:27,014
for the past, you know, a year and a half or 2
years.

322
00:15:27,659 --> 00:15:31,980
I find that in a lot of cases, either my fund
size is too small, like think of Yale or

323
00:15:31,980 --> 00:15:38,539
someone that's huge, or the a lot of what I
experience is that these endowments are trying

324
00:15:38,539 --> 00:15:43,334
to get exposure to emerging emerging managers,
but they have never invested in 1.

325
00:15:43,875 --> 00:15:46,754
And so it's a lot of phone calls, but no one's
converting.

326
00:15:46,754 --> 00:15:48,754
But I don't think that's just because of my
fund.

327
00:15:48,754 --> 00:15:52,534
I think they're just not writing checks yet and
just assessing the market.

328
00:15:52,595 --> 00:15:57,190
You got a lot of help from other emerging
managers like Charlie Ma and Byron at 12 Below.

329
00:15:57,250 --> 00:15:58,389
Tell me more about that.

330
00:15:59,009 --> 00:15:59,250
Look.

331
00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:01,250
We are all incentivized to help each other.

332
00:16:01,649 --> 00:16:05,350
So and and we're thankfully not all raising at
the same time, but a few things.

333
00:16:05,570 --> 00:16:10,945
1, it didn't dictate So I would never dictate
when I'm gonna go to market to raise a fund

334
00:16:10,945 --> 00:16:14,144
based on feedback from other GPs about the
timing of the market.

335
00:16:14,144 --> 00:16:18,065
And, actually, thankfully, I didn't do that
because I feel like 100% of the time over the

336
00:16:18,065 --> 00:16:23,044
last 3 years, GPs say it's a bad time to raise,
and it is a bad time to raise, since 21.

337
00:16:23,319 --> 00:16:25,720
And so you can't let that dictate when you go
to market.

338
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,019
Ultimately, when do you need the capital is
when you should go to market.

339
00:16:29,159 --> 00:16:33,240
Again, as I said before, if I it could have
taken 18 months, I didn't wanna be in a

340
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,699
position where I didn't have capital to deploy,
and so I went out earlier.

341
00:16:37,014 --> 00:16:40,214
And then from there, I did the around the
world, and I called everyone that I knew that

342
00:16:40,214 --> 00:16:43,115
had raised or and closed a fund in the past 6
months.

343
00:16:43,174 --> 00:16:47,414
And because that's usually a good benchmark for
the market is, including, you know, Charlie and

344
00:16:47,414 --> 00:16:53,069
Maddy at Pathlight, and, you know, Byron at 12
Below and just said, you know, walk me through

345
00:16:53,069 --> 00:16:53,709
your raise.

346
00:16:53,709 --> 00:16:57,470
I wanna better understand, like, the process,
you know, who is active.

347
00:16:57,470 --> 00:17:01,389
So something that at least I do with other
managers, I'm not sure how common this is

348
00:17:01,389 --> 00:17:05,549
outside of my little bubble, but we all usually
will share a spreadsheet and say, hey.

349
00:17:05,549 --> 00:17:06,884
Here's everyone I've met with.

350
00:17:06,884 --> 00:17:09,625
Here's everyone that has converted in our LPs.

351
00:17:10,005 --> 00:17:13,445
Here's everyone that you might actually be a
great fit for because they're looking for a, b,

352
00:17:13,445 --> 00:17:14,105
and c.

353
00:17:14,325 --> 00:17:19,845
And so a lot of us try to just share, you know,
who who are the, like, the LPs that are active.

354
00:17:19,845 --> 00:17:22,184
And, frankly, who are the ones that waste your
time?

355
00:17:22,289 --> 00:17:24,369
There are folks that are just not active that
are out there.

356
00:17:24,369 --> 00:17:27,250
They wanna talk, and then they maybe want a lot
of things from you.

357
00:17:27,250 --> 00:17:30,769
Like, they wanna direct invest in some of your
companies and they you know, just there's some

358
00:17:30,769 --> 00:17:31,330
bad actors.

359
00:17:31,330 --> 00:17:32,210
It's not that common.

360
00:17:32,210 --> 00:17:35,009
But when you're raising a fund, you don't wanna
waste any time.

361
00:17:35,009 --> 00:17:38,865
And so, like, the guys I mentioned were all
extremely helpful in saying, hey, Nicole.

362
00:17:39,325 --> 00:17:44,285
Here are the top 5 institutionals, if you wanna
go institutional, that are looking at emerging

363
00:17:44,285 --> 00:17:44,684
managers.

364
00:17:44,684 --> 00:17:45,325
We are 1.

365
00:17:45,325 --> 00:17:45,965
They came in.

366
00:17:45,965 --> 00:17:50,365
They have more exposure this year that we think
that you should meet, and we always help each

367
00:17:50,365 --> 00:17:50,684
other.

368
00:17:50,684 --> 00:17:53,190
I mean, it's one, I can do the same for them.

369
00:17:53,190 --> 00:18:00,309
So I'd say every time I get one of these lists,
there's probably up to maybe 35% overlap with

370
00:18:00,309 --> 00:18:00,710
LPs.

371
00:18:00,710 --> 00:18:02,549
So that's not that's not crazy.

372
00:18:02,549 --> 00:18:06,150
There's still a lot of open relationships to
build, and that goes both ways.

373
00:18:06,150 --> 00:18:10,765
So where when Charlie and Maddy get ready to go
for their next one or Byron, I hope they do

374
00:18:10,765 --> 00:18:11,884
call me and say, hey, Nicole.

375
00:18:11,884 --> 00:18:12,605
Who should we meet?

376
00:18:12,605 --> 00:18:14,785
But it's really common and it's very helpful.

377
00:18:15,164 --> 00:18:17,805
And how did you build these very trusted
relationships?

378
00:18:17,805 --> 00:18:20,305
So I think a lot of people would love to have
these kind of relationships.

379
00:18:20,740 --> 00:18:23,140
I've taken a very community driven approach to
all of this.

380
00:18:23,140 --> 00:18:27,220
Like, I think it takes a village to get a fund
off the ground, and I think it probably takes

381
00:18:27,220 --> 00:18:27,859
one to run it.

382
00:18:27,859 --> 00:18:28,899
It's just different needs.

383
00:18:28,899 --> 00:18:30,679
Ultimately, you are your network.

384
00:18:30,980 --> 00:18:36,315
And so I wanted to start get dipping my hands
into different networks and working with people

385
00:18:36,315 --> 00:18:37,615
that, one, are awesome.

386
00:18:37,674 --> 00:18:40,955
So I really I mean, there's plenty of fund
managers I met that I was like, we that is not

387
00:18:40,955 --> 00:18:42,495
a relationship I wanna build.

388
00:18:43,195 --> 00:18:45,275
And there are ones that I just deeply care
about.

389
00:18:45,275 --> 00:18:46,634
And so for me, it's really natural.

390
00:18:46,634 --> 00:18:49,829
Like, I wanna hang out with Charlie and Maddy
even if it's unrelated to the fund.

391
00:18:49,829 --> 00:18:50,150
You know?

392
00:18:50,150 --> 00:18:51,910
Like, I've invited them to my birthday party.

393
00:18:51,910 --> 00:18:57,430
Like, and so who are the people I wanna spend
time with that I can learn from, that and and

394
00:18:57,430 --> 00:18:59,910
also things are give and takes outside of its
business.

395
00:18:59,910 --> 00:19:00,069
Right?

396
00:19:00,069 --> 00:19:02,805
So outside of helping each other on the fun
stuff.

397
00:19:02,884 --> 00:19:07,125
And there's great emerging manager group chats
where we're all constantly some of the best

398
00:19:07,125 --> 00:19:12,485
early managers, I would say, some are now far
from emerging and they have emerged, but that

399
00:19:12,485 --> 00:19:16,485
are always talking about, like, you know, who
do you use for legal on this, or how do you

400
00:19:16,485 --> 00:19:17,640
think about opportunity funds?

401
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,500
Like, we're all trying to help each other,
which is awesome.

402
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,119
I think the other part is also deals.

403
00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:28,519
So if you wanna meet everyone that's kind of
either gonna mark up your companies or co

404
00:19:28,519 --> 00:19:29,505
invest with you.

405
00:19:29,585 --> 00:19:33,265
And so how can I find like minds, you know, the
Charley's and Marty's I've done deals with,

406
00:19:33,265 --> 00:19:34,305
Byron at 12 Below?

407
00:19:34,305 --> 00:19:36,005
We were talking about a deal this morning.

408
00:19:36,545 --> 00:19:41,585
And so you just, you know, keep the doors open
and and really just kind of, like, just feed

409
00:19:41,585 --> 00:19:43,525
these relationships because they're really
important.

410
00:19:43,669 --> 00:19:46,630
Do you find that there's an 80 20 aspect to
your relationships?

411
00:19:46,630 --> 00:19:51,109
Like, a small amount of your relationships
drive a lot of your co investors and a lot of

412
00:19:51,109 --> 00:19:52,250
the help on the fund?

413
00:19:52,309 --> 00:19:52,809
Yes.

414
00:19:52,869 --> 00:19:57,734
I, so Lee Vixell is a a mentor and a friend,
and I'll never forget.

415
00:19:57,734 --> 00:19:59,015
I was probably 2 years into this.

416
00:19:59,015 --> 00:20:00,875
I'm now 3, so I guess a year ago.

417
00:20:01,095 --> 00:20:03,734
And when I first got started, I cast a huge
net.

418
00:20:03,734 --> 00:20:05,815
You know, I was like, I am and I was all over
the Internet.

419
00:20:05,815 --> 00:20:07,994
As I mentioned, I was always posting still am.

420
00:20:08,295 --> 00:20:14,859
And I started to try to do deals with a lot of
people, a lot of fund managers that, you know,

421
00:20:14,859 --> 00:20:19,359
their names are splashed over the headlines,
like the up and coming GP, you know, whatever.

422
00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:22,700
And I wanted to meet everybody, and I wanted to
do deals with them.

423
00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:25,519
And this this is, like, again, very I think it
precedency.

424
00:20:25,740 --> 00:20:27,315
It takes a village on a cap table.

425
00:20:27,315 --> 00:20:29,875
I think as you scale, you don't need as many
funds.

426
00:20:29,875 --> 00:20:32,615
So, in every round that is.

427
00:20:32,994 --> 00:20:37,875
And so started doing business with a lot of
people, and you learn pretty quickly who you do

428
00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:39,075
not wanna do business with.

429
00:20:39,075 --> 00:20:41,519
A lot of it is just their acumen with founders.

430
00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:45,500
Some sometimes it's, like, from a sense of
entitlement, but I've made introductions to my

431
00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:45,820
founders.

432
00:20:45,820 --> 00:20:46,940
They're like, how old do you know?

433
00:20:46,940 --> 00:20:51,900
That person that call was, like, terrible, or a
lack of follow through or things that are

434
00:20:51,900 --> 00:20:52,700
really important to me.

435
00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:55,634
Like, you're gonna get your shit done if you
work with my founders.

436
00:20:55,634 --> 00:20:55,795
Right?

437
00:20:55,795 --> 00:20:58,275
Like, you're a reflection of me, and these
introductions are a reflection of me.

438
00:20:58,275 --> 00:21:00,275
And so I remember saying to Lee, gosh.

439
00:21:00,275 --> 00:21:03,954
I cast a wide net, and I met, like, you know,
probably 50 other fund managers.

440
00:21:03,954 --> 00:21:07,474
And I was like, is it crazy that the list of
people I trust and wanna work with is probably,

441
00:21:07,474 --> 00:21:08,855
like, 8 of the 50?

442
00:21:08,994 --> 00:21:09,609
And he's he's like, no.

443
00:21:09,609 --> 00:21:10,250
Absolutely not.

444
00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:12,429
He's like, I did the same thing when I was
early at Tiger.

445
00:21:13,049 --> 00:21:16,569
And, you know, you cast a wide net, you meet a
lot of people, and then that list becomes,

446
00:21:16,569 --> 00:21:18,029
like, 8 to 10.

447
00:21:18,409 --> 00:21:22,649
So that's happening now, and I'm still trying
to add people in and maybe push people out.

448
00:21:22,649 --> 00:21:26,715
But, like, there's only a small group of people
that you really trust, and that trust takes

449
00:21:26,715 --> 00:21:27,215
time.

450
00:21:27,994 --> 00:21:28,394
Yeah.

451
00:21:28,394 --> 00:21:29,855
Almost literally 20%.

452
00:21:31,195 --> 00:21:36,894
So you've built up an enormous Twitter
followers on a relative basis to VC.

453
00:21:37,460 --> 00:21:41,160
Walk me through how you built up your Twitter
followers in the very beginning.

454
00:21:41,299 --> 00:21:41,700
Yes.

455
00:21:41,700 --> 00:21:46,820
So I was not on Twitter and using any form of
social media, outside of, like, Instagram

456
00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:49,400
personally probably, until 2021.

457
00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:53,115
So I raised my first fund while I was still
operating at a start up.

458
00:21:53,194 --> 00:21:57,674
I just had my head down, knew all of the LPs,
and had great access.

459
00:21:57,674 --> 00:21:58,714
So I was like, great.

460
00:21:58,714 --> 00:21:59,194
Let's do this.

461
00:21:59,194 --> 00:22:00,734
We had a $5,000,000 fund.

462
00:22:00,875 --> 00:22:05,194
And I'm in a group chat with Aaron Frank, who
is, at the time, like, an amazing angel

463
00:22:05,194 --> 00:22:08,815
investor that fell into the deep dark side and
started as a partner at Lightspeed.

464
00:22:09,150 --> 00:22:10,690
I say that in a loving way.

465
00:22:10,830 --> 00:22:16,529
And Alex Cohen, who's, like, a popular shit
poster and now, founder himself, on Twitter,

466
00:22:17,070 --> 00:22:19,630
and they said, Nicole, you just closed a
$5,000,000 fund.

467
00:22:19,630 --> 00:22:20,670
Like, you're a VC now.

468
00:22:20,670 --> 00:22:22,049
Like, you have to get on Twitter.

469
00:22:22,204 --> 00:22:24,924
And so I think I hard launched September 2021
saying, hey.

470
00:22:24,924 --> 00:22:26,444
I just raised a $5,000,000 fund.

471
00:22:26,444 --> 00:22:27,585
Like, who should I be?

472
00:22:28,365 --> 00:22:32,444
Again and knowing nothing about it, I think a
quick take too as I spent a few months on it

473
00:22:32,444 --> 00:22:34,684
was people are absolutely nuts.

474
00:22:34,684 --> 00:22:37,740
Like, VC Twitter is unhinged, absolutely
ridiculous.

475
00:22:37,740 --> 00:22:39,180
And I'll get into what I really think about it.

476
00:22:39,180 --> 00:22:42,619
But, and so my first tweet that really took off
and I was like, wait.

477
00:22:42,619 --> 00:22:46,700
I need to, like, keep pouring fuel on this was
I posted something I call, like, my first

478
00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:47,200
heater.

479
00:22:47,420 --> 00:22:52,565
I had maybe 200 followers, and I said, can
confirm it's 10 x easier to raise a $5,000,000

480
00:22:52,705 --> 00:22:54,565
fund than to get 500 Twitter followers.

481
00:22:54,945 --> 00:22:59,345
And Alex and Aaron, Alex, the time at a 100,000
followers, they retweet this, and it totally

482
00:22:59,345 --> 00:22:59,825
takes off.

483
00:22:59,825 --> 00:23:01,525
I get to my first 1,000 followers.

484
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:03,880
And, you know, after that, I can't really
remember.

485
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,779
I would say I think those first 1,000 are the
most difficult.

486
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,920
Is is that a social proof aspect?

487
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,740
Like, you get to a 1,000 and now people take
you seriously?

488
00:23:11,799 --> 00:23:14,055
Why are those first 1,000 so much more
difficult?

489
00:23:14,134 --> 00:23:14,775
It's a human psychology.

490
00:23:14,775 --> 00:23:15,255
I don't know.

491
00:23:15,255 --> 00:23:17,735
I think you click into someone's profile and
you're like, oh, they're kinda legit.

492
00:23:17,735 --> 00:23:18,695
People I know follow them.

493
00:23:18,695 --> 00:23:22,295
Because if you have a 1,000 followers, you have
at least 1 mutual with almost, like, everyone

494
00:23:22,295 --> 00:23:23,115
second degree.

495
00:23:23,174 --> 00:23:26,455
And so I think when they see that, like,
there's at least 1 or 2 mutuals, you become

496
00:23:26,455 --> 00:23:27,174
more legitimate.

497
00:23:27,174 --> 00:23:29,515
I feel like that 1,000 just sticks out on
Twitter.

498
00:23:30,190 --> 00:23:33,390
And so that maybe that's just a personal take,
but it felt like that was the hardest.

499
00:23:33,390 --> 00:23:37,250
And then after that, like, it felt like it was
much faster to get to get going.

500
00:23:38,029 --> 00:23:42,430
I think the a few things, and these are, I
don't know, hot takes, maybe I'll regret saying

501
00:23:42,430 --> 00:23:42,750
later.

502
00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:48,444
But, like, VC Twitter is kinda broken up into,
like, I I'd say, like, 3 different personas,

503
00:23:48,585 --> 00:23:51,164
like, pending 4, which maybe is the bucket I
fall into.

504
00:23:51,545 --> 00:23:54,904
1, you have, like, the deeply insecure
billionaires who argue with each other all the

505
00:23:54,904 --> 00:23:55,404
time.

506
00:23:55,785 --> 00:23:59,865
And then you have, I think, 2, they're either
associates or partners with, like, a tiny pea

507
00:23:59,865 --> 00:24:04,679
who just shadow the rich guys and try to be
bullies on the Internet, who pitch the same

508
00:24:04,679 --> 00:24:06,299
book and call themselves contrarian.

509
00:24:07,079 --> 00:24:11,480
And then you have the, like, total sweethearts
who are the partners who, like, know that

510
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:16,115
building a brand really matters, but they're so
uncomfortable posting online, and they are way

511
00:24:16,115 --> 00:24:19,875
too afraid to look stupid and to be judged that
they literally just post humble and honor to be

512
00:24:19,875 --> 00:24:22,455
a part of, like, series a, and then that that's
the Twitter feed.

513
00:24:22,674 --> 00:24:27,394
I'd say what is, I guess, totally, like,
original and really interesting are the really

514
00:24:27,394 --> 00:24:28,375
authentic accounts.

515
00:24:28,839 --> 00:24:31,960
I don't know if I can, like, say that I'm a
part of this, but maybe it's what I'm going

516
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,319
for, where I just don't give a shit.

517
00:24:35,319 --> 00:24:35,639
Right?

518
00:24:35,639 --> 00:24:40,299
Like, if people and and by that, I mean, I
don't mind getting beat up on the Internet.

519
00:24:40,534 --> 00:24:43,575
What I like about Twitter is that people tell
you you're an idiot and that you're wrong, and

520
00:24:43,575 --> 00:24:44,694
in some cases, they're right.

521
00:24:44,694 --> 00:24:45,515
And that's refreshing.

522
00:24:45,575 --> 00:24:46,454
I learned something.

523
00:24:46,454 --> 00:24:49,515
Like, I'll go rethink, you know, whatever it is
that I posted.

524
00:24:50,375 --> 00:24:55,820
I have the courage to be myself, which I think
is actually, like, the the, like, very, very

525
00:24:55,820 --> 00:24:56,960
limited in the world.

526
00:24:57,580 --> 00:25:02,619
And so for better or worse, like, I people
follow me because I've been open and I've taken

527
00:25:02,619 --> 00:25:05,100
an approach that's I'm gonna build this firm in
public.

528
00:25:05,100 --> 00:25:06,380
I'm going to say what I think.

529
00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:10,555
I'm gonna say that I don't really buy that
there's a lot of money we made in AI, and I'll

530
00:25:10,555 --> 00:25:14,095
stand by it and someone can point back to that
and say, you know, she was wrong.

531
00:25:15,035 --> 00:25:19,434
I the benefit of doing what I do and never
working at a big fund is that I don't have,

532
00:25:19,434 --> 00:25:23,355
like, an issue with groupthink, and I don't sit
around at big firms and weekly partner meetings

533
00:25:23,355 --> 00:25:27,160
and get brainwashed by, like, the only things
that the partners say can work at the fund.

534
00:25:27,940 --> 00:25:29,220
And, look, founders love it.

535
00:25:29,220 --> 00:25:33,619
So the most important thing is I am relatable
to founders because I'm building something.

536
00:25:33,619 --> 00:25:34,599
It's really hard.

537
00:25:34,980 --> 00:25:37,934
And I'm saying what I think along the way even
if I might be wrong.

538
00:25:38,495 --> 00:25:40,575
And they feel like that it's it's relatable.

539
00:25:40,575 --> 00:25:42,115
And frankly, so do other VCs.

540
00:25:42,174 --> 00:25:46,414
Like, you know so a lot of times I get messages
like, thanks for saying, you know, what I can't

541
00:25:46,414 --> 00:25:46,815
say.

542
00:25:46,815 --> 00:25:47,615
So whatever.

543
00:25:47,615 --> 00:25:48,515
We ride at midnight.

544
00:25:49,134 --> 00:25:52,890
What would be your advice to somebody trying to
build out their Twitter brand today?

545
00:25:52,970 --> 00:25:57,210
I would say the people that really wanna do it
and are gonna be just really good at it are the

546
00:25:57,210 --> 00:25:59,630
people that are just that don't even have to
ask me.

547
00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:04,890
I and I say that because usually the people and
GPs, by the way, reach out a lot.

548
00:26:04,890 --> 00:26:07,690
Either they have their own funds or they're at,
like, multistage funds.

549
00:26:07,690 --> 00:26:09,634
Like, Nicole, I know this is important.

550
00:26:09,634 --> 00:26:10,595
Like, how do I do it?

551
00:26:10,595 --> 00:26:12,214
Those people that were in that 3rd bucket.

552
00:26:13,154 --> 00:26:16,595
The short answer is if you have to ask that,
you're gonna be too uncomfortable to probably

553
00:26:16,595 --> 00:26:19,734
do it because it is cringey, and I think cringe
scales.

554
00:26:20,115 --> 00:26:21,634
But a lot of folks are really afraid of that.

555
00:26:21,634 --> 00:26:27,650
And I I got a text from, I won't put him on
blast, but, like, a notable seed fund GP, one

556
00:26:27,650 --> 00:26:28,369
of my LPs.

557
00:26:28,369 --> 00:26:30,070
And he said the other night, he's like, Nicole.

558
00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:32,529
He's like, we're doing the podcast thing.

559
00:26:32,529 --> 00:26:33,890
I'm leaning in on socials.

560
00:26:33,890 --> 00:26:35,090
Like, you were totally right.

561
00:26:35,090 --> 00:26:38,654
He's like, cringe scales basically alluding to
my content probably.

562
00:26:39,275 --> 00:26:41,355
And he was like, you were right, like, 2 years
ago.

563
00:26:41,355 --> 00:26:42,954
Like, this is an area where you have to invest.

564
00:26:42,954 --> 00:26:44,394
It's the future, and I've always said that.

565
00:26:44,394 --> 00:26:50,839
And, and so, I mean, the the short of it is if
you do need the advice on how to have better

566
00:26:50,839 --> 00:26:54,599
tweets, maybe it's working, but it's not like
taking off is you have to have something unique

567
00:26:54,599 --> 00:26:56,679
to say and have an opinion.

568
00:26:56,679 --> 00:26:58,919
And so a lot of people will tweet, you know,
the sky is blue.

569
00:26:58,919 --> 00:26:59,319
It's like, great.

570
00:26:59,319 --> 00:27:00,440
Well, how do you feel about that?

571
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:01,079
Is that shitty?

572
00:27:01,079 --> 00:27:01,900
Is that amazing?

573
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,099
Like, have an opinion.

574
00:27:03,319 --> 00:27:07,275
You don't have to be relatable, but try to be
to the masses as in stick to your niche.

575
00:27:07,275 --> 00:27:09,115
So if it's VCs, don't break up.

576
00:27:09,115 --> 00:27:13,515
Don't ever post about anything other than the
VC for probably the 1st 12 months.

577
00:27:13,515 --> 00:27:14,795
Like, I've gotten more personal.

578
00:27:14,795 --> 00:27:15,755
I'll talk about family.

579
00:27:15,755 --> 00:27:19,410
I'll talk about things where people get to know
me, but you really don't wanna go off script,

580
00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:22,549
for a little while, and keep them short.

581
00:27:22,849 --> 00:27:26,450
So people writing novels and trying to like, no
one has time for someone they don't know to

582
00:27:26,450 --> 00:27:27,410
read 3 paragraphs.

583
00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:30,549
They have time to read, you know, like, 2
sentences.

584
00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:31,904
So stick to those things.

585
00:27:32,144 --> 00:27:34,545
And do you have a power law to your post?

586
00:27:34,545 --> 00:27:40,085
Like, do, like, 1% of your posts end up leading
to most of your growth, or is it more linear?

587
00:27:40,144 --> 00:27:41,105
Definitely more linear.

588
00:27:41,105 --> 00:27:44,460
I don't even when I think back to, like,
notable moments, you know, like, wait.

589
00:27:44,460 --> 00:27:45,740
I announce a new fund.

590
00:27:45,740 --> 00:27:49,740
I'll get maybe a 1000 new or 2,000 more
followers, which is always, like you know, it's

591
00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:50,480
big news.

592
00:27:51,259 --> 00:27:53,419
If I yeah.

593
00:27:53,419 --> 00:27:58,640
I would say from a single post, maybe the most
followers I've gotten is, like, 2 to 3000.

594
00:27:58,859 --> 00:28:02,515
I think even there there was, like, the Keith
or boy, 3rd tier VC thing that happened a

595
00:28:02,515 --> 00:28:06,355
couple years ago, and I think there was
probably 25 100 or 3,000 followers that came

596
00:28:06,355 --> 00:28:06,755
from that.

597
00:28:06,755 --> 00:28:10,134
But right now, we're close to a 100000, so
that's not crazy.

598
00:28:10,274 --> 00:28:13,634
I'd say on average, I like, there's a stat
counter I follow.

599
00:28:13,634 --> 00:28:19,569
On average, I think I grow between, like, 70
a100, like, followers a day if I post every

600
00:28:19,569 --> 00:28:20,069
day.

601
00:28:20,130 --> 00:28:21,169
So it's just consistent.

602
00:28:21,169 --> 00:28:21,730
It takes time.

603
00:28:21,730 --> 00:28:23,889
I mean, everyone thinks there's overnight
success.

604
00:28:23,889 --> 00:28:28,049
It's taken me almost 3 years to get to a 100000
followers, and that's posting 1 to 2 times a

605
00:28:28,049 --> 00:28:28,855
day for that long.

606
00:28:28,855 --> 00:28:31,575
Well, Nicole, we've been in contact since, I
think, roughly May.

607
00:28:31,575 --> 00:28:34,134
You were in your 9th month pregnancy raising
your fund.

608
00:28:34,375 --> 00:28:35,835
You certainly did not disappoint.

609
00:28:36,214 --> 00:28:38,794
How could people follow you and get in touch?

610
00:28:38,855 --> 00:28:41,734
So, one, I'm super active on x, and my DMs are
open.

611
00:28:41,734 --> 00:28:44,075
So that's probably the fastest path to a
response.

612
00:28:44,670 --> 00:28:48,130
And then my handle is just n Wishoff, so, my
last name.

613
00:28:48,670 --> 00:28:50,990
I you can shoot me a DM on LinkedIn as well.

614
00:28:50,990 --> 00:28:52,130
You know, Nicole Wishoff.

615
00:28:52,969 --> 00:28:56,569
And my email is nicole@wishoff.com, so not
really creative here.

616
00:28:56,569 --> 00:28:57,609
But would love to be in touch.

617
00:28:57,609 --> 00:28:59,209
And, again, DMs are open everywhere.

618
00:28:59,209 --> 00:28:59,449
Great.

619
00:28:59,449 --> 00:29:00,249
Thank you, Nicole.

620
00:29:00,249 --> 00:29:00,569
Of course.

621
00:29:00,569 --> 00:29:01,714
Thank you so much for having