samir kaji (@samirkaji) 's Twitter Profile
samir kaji

@samirkaji

CEO of Allocate (Allocate.co) Host of the Venture Unlocked podcast, ventureunlocked.substack.com. My opinions are mine, and not related to Allocate.

ID: 31336759

linkhttp://ventureunlocked.substack.com calendar_today15-04-2009 04:15:24

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VC invests in the most innovative companies in the world, but may be one of the least innovative asset classes in finance. But its obvious to me that it is changing and VC will adopt playbooks from other asset classes like PE, even if some purists try and keep it the same cottage

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Seed VCs should have a very clear secondary strategy and take a cue from small cap - Lower Middle market PE. HODL only to IPO/M&A as the only option isn't really a winning strategy with illiquidity protracting by the day.

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Another reason that liquidity solutions in vc need to progress in both GP led and lp led (easier way to sell stake) transactions. Esp for smaller inst and non inst LPs. Larger and later stage funds are great exit ramps. Holding even the best assets too long can reduce return

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It does open up exposure, but these are different products from traditional drawdown funds. 40 Act/RIC funds are popular due to fewer restrictions on LPs (count, qualifications), liquidity optionality (still gated), but often have higher expense ratios/reduced return potential.

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People forget that quartile rankings in VC never account or adjust for valuation methodologies used by the Gps in the sample set. I just ran into two GPs. 1) One was very aggressive in marks, even when the last round was a SAFE and years ago. 2) The other marked on public

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LPs need to understand the following in VC: Small funds (<$250MM) have the *potential* to vastly outperform on a DPI/net MOIC basis. No question. But the operative word is "potential". LPs that don't have the time to truly build networks to meet a LOT of GPs (250+ at least),

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🚩 PSA: Venture is an asset class that simply doesn’t behave like other private market categories. LPs need to be thoughtful. Applying the same portfolio approach as in PE or private credit doesn’t work in VC — yet we've seen investors make this mistake for decades ---- "The map

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When you take capital from someone, you are, in part, have to expect that you will need adjust your business objectives to their business model.

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Critical PSA for investors (VC/Growth/PE): If you've spent *significant* time with a founder and put them through multiple cycles, the worst thing you can do is not close the loop if you decide to pass. It's 100% fine to pass, but when you've spent multiple rounds and don't get

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About 85–90% of the funds I see are having unbelievable difficulty raising (just came across a quality emerging manager that I thought would raise in 6 months or less, but it's now month 22 of their raise). This is especially true for emerging managers that aren’t spinouts.

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Some GPs are pouring $$$ into AI deals w/o valuation discipline—not always because of conviction, but also due to the likelihood of getting markups come quicker and higher than in non-AI companies. There are great AI companies, but I expect it to be really clear soon which ones

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New The Peel with @SamirKaji Triple-layered SPVs, why 90% of VCs can’t raise right now, the rise of secondaries in driving returns, and analyzing VC funds with AI