Let’s be honest. Most podcasts suck right now. Repeated guests. BS first principles “frameworks”. The best podcasts are with people with immense power who have never spoken publicly before. Today, we go behind the scenes into @CarnegieMellon’s $4BN Endowment Fund. - Why 90% of LPs Shouldn’t Invest in VC. - The $140BN Problem with Multi-Stage Funds. - The Hidden Math Behind DPI, TVPI, and Illiquidity. My 6 takeaways with Miles Dieffenbach👇

1. If You Want to Invest in Venture You Have to Ask This One Question of Yourself Do you think you’re going to have access to top decile managers? Top decile managers consistently achieve returns above the PME. Below that, even top quartile, you’re not. What is the one question all LPs should ask pre investing in a fund? @rrhoover @davemorin @pitdesi @kul

2. What Endowments Need to Make Annually to Break Even We draw 5% every year. To maintain the purchasing power with 3% inflation we need a 8-10% return target over 10-15 years. When you start getting closer to that number you run into some real risks. How do you expect endowment fund allocations to venture to change in the next 5 years @mikeeisenberg @MeghanKReynolds @honam

3. The Framework We Use to Underwrite Multi-Billion Dollar Funds For example, a $7BN fund at 5% average entry ownership implies $140BN portfolio value. To achieve a 4× net return in a 2 on 20 model the fund needs to be 6x. That is $840BN in exits. The best year in the VC exit market was ~$850BN in 2021. Do you think this is the right assessment thought process to evaluate BN funds? @rabois @altcap @DavidGeorge83 @paulbz @bonatsos @lessin

4. Why Index Are the Best Pickers in VC Largest shareholder in Figma, Dream Games, Wiz. Second largest shareholder in Scale, Revolut. Did not scale their fund size & even reduced it after 2021. They have one of the most performance-driven cultures in venture. What does no one see from the outside that you think everyone should know? @dannyrimer @shardul_shah @martinmignot @ninaachadjian @Kathi_Wilhelm @GeorgiaS_IV @HannahLSeal @ErykDobrushkin @_susanarojas @sofiadolfe

5. Mark Suster Is the Seller of the Year He saw 2021 as an insane period. He strip-sold a majority of his portfolio at a great price. DPI in the pocket. What did you see that others didn’t during that period? @msuster

6. IPO Markets Are Totally Broken There were more dollars raised in the public market in 2002-2004 than 2022-2024. That was 3 years after the Dotcom bubble. We have an asset class 10x the size today. Something is clearly broken. Love to hear your thoughts on this @bgurley @jaminball @btrenchard @fintechjunkie