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From Judas Iscariot, Benedict Arnold, Marcus Brutus, to Mir Jafar, history is strewn with cautionary tales of figures who played both sides. Whether for eventual personal gain, due to a weak philosophical compass, an overemphasis on decorum, or merely a shortsighted marketing strategy, playing both sides almost always ends poorly. During interactions between GPs and […]

No politically correct or sanitized corporate jargon can ever rival the pure candor and usefulness of “off the record” or “informal” conversations, also known as “water cooler talk”. There is nothing better than getting a few allocators together to discuss the state of affairs without pretentiousness or judgment. The investment world is full of landmines,

It is remarkable to ponder that, at the most basic level, the right combination of words and numbers can trigger desired actions. The situation is no different when GPs are trying to convince LPs to loosen their purse strings. Of course, these words and numbers must be underpinned by authenticity, truthfulness, confirmability, and coherent delivery;

Sometimes I sit and reminisce on how amazing it would be if the only changes that occurred in life were improvements. Imagine life without the negative effects of aging. Imagine life without the certainty of death. Imagine a life where you found your burning passion early, and this flame never burned out. Imagine a life

“Great question,” “We have never been asked that before,” and “You ask the best and most thoughtful questions” are just a few compliments investment managers use to sweet-talk prospective LPs and help keep the conversation positively flowing. I won’t judge the validity of such praise, but although flattery can be a powerful tool in many

I am willing to bet a good amount of stablecoin that almost every LP is familiar with that dreaded email or voicemail from a GP requesting their availability for a brief phone or virtual call. The words in the communication are always mundane but also eerily ominous. A novice LP would naively see or hear

Both LPs and GPs will agree that during the early stages of courtship, there is usually and inevitably a lull in proceedings. The reasons for this pause are wide-ranging, and include future meeting scheduling issues, internal bureaucratic dog and pony shows within allocator organizations, the time required for GPs to gather a laundry list of

The ongoing vicious cycle of reduced M&A and IPO exit activity, which leads to limited distributions to LPs and subsequently causes a decrease in new investment activity due to a decline in investable capital, appears to be the primary topic of discussion among everyone in the private assets ecosystem these days. Throw into the mix

Now, more than ever, the words “certainty” and “predictability” and their antonyms “uncertainty” and “unpredictability” are being peddled in every corner of financial markets to illustrate varying degrees of vulnerability in the current economic environment. Standing back and marveling at the psyche of investors, it is hard to overlook how sentiments shift faster than a

Although I have heard numerous thoughtful arguments that stress otherwise, many generally view warm introductions as having a higher potential to yield desired outcomes than cold outreach. Many emerging managers approach me for insights on how to make headway in the tumultuous world of fundraising. The partialities of LPs cannot be generalized, and the last