Beezer Clarkson
@Beezer232
Looking to change the world for the better through technology, investing & partnerships. Partner at @SapphirePrtnrs – the LP arm of @SapphireVC. ✍️ at @Open_LP
“It was so devoid of AI, it had to be human.” @WillManidis said that on our Origins episode & it stuck with me. In a world shaped by models and automation, authenticity stands out as a true moat. This week, @nchirls & I break down our conversation with Will, from the future of…
Are major incumbents finally at risk in the age of AI? @Beezer232 & @nchirls unpack @WillManidis’s view: AI is powerful, but in sectors like healthcare, it’s incumbents with distribution & data who are best positioned to win. A sharp short minisode covering: – Why distribution…
In Q1 we saw LPs showing a preference for spinouts when making emerging manager investments. A reflection of what LPs are prioritizing in 2025: experience & repeatability. @kwharrison13 & I got into all of it on @techtodaypod including why secondaries are no longer a dirty word…
“I think understanding the exit method is something most venture capitalists as a profession don’t spend enough time thinking about, but LPs do…” @Beezer232 explained on a recent episode of @techtodaypod w/ @kwharrison13 of @contrary. While GPs have long focused on sourcing…
Had such a fun time joining my friend @PeterJ_Walkeron The Data Minute from @cartainc. After years of being online friends, so nice to finally record this one in person! We covered a lot: how mega funds are shaping early stage rounds, why I still see emerging managers with real…
There’s a big difference between spinning out and building an institutional-grade venture fund. @ttunguz joined us on Origins to break down how he’s thinking about firm architecture at @theoryvc, covering ownership, AI ops, & long-term succession planning. This one goes deep on…
🎥 “Everybody’s responsible for at least one major experiment per year. We expect 70% of experiments to fail.” —@ttunguz, Founder of @Theoryvc In his Origins debut, Tomasz shares with @Beezer232 & @nchirls how he’s designing a venture firm to evolve as fast as the founders it…
“Index has become a franchise fund by keeping the main thing the main thing – by focusing on core principles of being exceptional early-stage investors instead of chasing trends.” In this Origins minisode, I sat down with my @SapphirePrtnrs colleague @natewcl to reflect on my…
What makes a VC firm a franchise, and how do LPs & GPs define staying power differently? In the latest Origins minisode, @beezer232 & @nateleung of @SapphirePrtnrs reflect on @ninaachadjian’s take on how @indexventures scaled with focus, avoided hype, & backed founders with deep…
I get asked on the daily now about selling secondaries given the current market and lack of liquidity. Huge 🙏🙏 To Hunter Walk @homebrew for this blog and table on the logic underpinning why 'buy and hold' is being replaced by 'buy and maybe sell.'" hunterwalk.com/2025/04/21/pra……
What if the next great venture firm doesn’t look like a VC fund at all? On Origins, @WillManidis makes the case for a return to merchant banking: long-dated capital, tighter alignment, and radically new return curves. Will is full of bold takes – give the pod a listen and let…
1/ 🆕episode of Origins is out now! @WillManidis, founder of @ScienceDotIO & now SVP of AI at @Veradigm, joins @nchirls & @beezer232 to talk about how data > models, why he was building LLMs before OpenAI blew up, & what venture looks like if we start from scratch.👇
The VC fund scorecard for Q1 2025. 2,500+ funds included, most under $100M in size. Benchmarks for 25th through 90th percentile performance on Net IRR, Net TVPI, and DPI. Full report in following post.
New minisode is live! @zachweinberg is building something in biotech that made me stop & think. 🧬 Curie.Bio isn’t just a novel company. It’s a rethink of firm structure, capital deployment, & what it means to back what wouldn’t exist otherwise. On the latest…
“Would this exist 100 times over without our money?” @nchirls poses a powerful heuristic for identifying original, fund-returning companies. In the latest Origins minisode, @Beezer232 (@SapphirePrtnrs) & @nchirls (@asylumventures) unpack their conversation with @zachweinberg of…
For those of us wishing we could be @ the Benchmark AGM and hear Bill’s State of VC observations… here you go 😊
If you care about the state of high tech investing circa 2025, you may find this interesting. I cover all constituents - founders, VCs, LPs, ordinary investors, regulators, bankers. Something for all.
Yes. This 👇💥 “outlier firms are built by outlier investors looking for outlier founders.” 🙏 @dauber for sharing this
A decade+ after founding, Amplify is consistently producing funds that are top 5% (really!). Why? Because we do something most VCs completely miss: amplifypartners.com/blog-posts/bui…
The latest Origins episode marks a milestone: our 100th 🎉. What better conversation to mark it than with @zachweinberg on how Curie.Bio is building the YC of Biotech. Across biotech, we’re seeing both traditional approaches & newer entrants bringing lessons from…
Most biotech startups are built on a flawed model: Huge seed rounds. High risk. No margin for error. @zachweinberg is changing that. In the 100th episode of Origins (!!!), he joins @nchirls + @beezer232 to share how Curie.Bio is building a new model, pairing seed…
🙏 @daveclark85 and @packyM on growth in value on largest US VC backed exits. resharing for everyone who missed it 🤞🤞🤞🤞the trend of the value of the top 1% exits essentially double every 5 years continues. #openlp
Following the interesting article from @packyM on the growth in value of the largest US VC-backed exits, we have done a deep dive into the Pitchbook data. We looked at exits >$10k from 2005 onwards and grouped into blocks of five years. Highlights below /1
Yes yes yes! Great list of what should be in a data room and 1000% on excel. 👇 This is a tough fundraising environment…a clean data room truly helps #openlp
Here’s what should be in your dataroom: 1. Overview presentation 2. Case Studies / Investment Memos 3. Track Record (in excel) 4. Ops (ddq, call/distrib sample, valuation/compliance etc policies) 5. Legal docs (summary of terms/lpa) 6. Prior fund financials 7. Team bios 8. Fund…
I'm livestreaming my conversations onboarding new users to @farcaster_xyz. My chat with @Beezer232 answering questions about channels, community, mini apps, permissonless social graph, wallet, and more!
Happy Monday. Kicking it off with re-sharing great guidance on how to build relationship with institutional LPs for future funds. 👇 #openlp
Let’s talk post close — how do you engage institutional LPs for Fund 2/3. 1) Engage them during Fund I. Position as a long term relationship and keep your expectations low. Offer a 30 minute intro and be specific about your desire for a LT relationship and limited expectations…
Yup. Depends on ownership @ exit, fund size and valuations. We have seen it but getting harder.
I think the right question is whether a top x% outcome can still return the funds. Billion $ outcome (or at least valuation until more actual outcomes are realized) is a lower percentile outcome than it used to be.
Huge congrats to Liu Jiang & the @seedtosunflower team on the close of Fund II! Liu’s background at Sequoia, angel track record & Fund I portfolio reflect the clarity of strategy, early traction & focus needed for emerging managers in this tough market. @SapphirePrtnrs is proud…
We’re excited to announce Sunflower Capital Funds I and II. Sunflower is a $250m fund that partners at the earliest stage with companies building foundations for modern enterprises, critical industries, and the physical world.
for everyone wondering about life in endowment land right now given everything going on ...great post by @MeghanKReynolds 👇
A follow up to my post about Endowments as I have learned more in the last 6 weeks. I should have reordered my original post. Why? My #1 below - the endowment tax - while impactful is something that many orgs have been planning for. Assumption is ~1.4% goes to 14% tax and…
Can’t wait! Come join us
Going to do first livestream experiment of this with @Beezer232! :)