E24: Joshua Berkowitz of Berkocorp on Why LP's Should Care about IRR% not TVPI

Joshua Berkowitz of Berkocorp, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss investing in venture capital as a family office and why all investors should care about IRR (and not TVPI). We’re proudly sponsored by Bidav Insurance Group, visit lux-str.com if you’re ready to level up your insurance plans. (0:00) Episode Preview (1:27) Joshua’s background (3:25) How venture fits within a family office (4:22) “Everyone’s an IRR investor” (5:41) How to invest in venture and manage capital calls (8:02) Why time diversification is important (10:42) The importance of always being in market (12:44) How to find and evaluate venture managers (14:41) GP strategy fit (15:52) Episode Sponsor: Bidav Insurance Group (16:45) How to predict whether a manager can pick a powerlaw company (17:34) Joshua’s powerlaw GPs (18:48) Messy (or diversified) portfolio (21:04) Aiming for 20% IRR (22:22) Why Joshua likes diversified over concentrated (24:01) GPs need to be “rough around the edges” (26:25) The difference between early and late stage collaboration (27:27) The different ways to win (29:09) Can anyone beat Sequoia and Andreessen? (29:45) Generational transfers (31:05) Founder vs Operator CEOs (32:44) How Joshua diligences emerging managers and what you need in a dataroom (40:41) Portfolio construction (41:25) How to communicate with LPs (48:56) Joshua’s view on follow-on strategy (52:05) The difficulty of succeeding across all stages (54:30) Change in graduation rates (56:17) Venture investing mistakes to avoid (57:50) How to approach co-investments (1:01:31) Dexa.ai (1:01:54) Why Joshua is a great LP