E8: Apurva Mehta of Summit Peak on Why Fee Sensitivity Leads to Adverse Selection in Venture

David Weisburd sits down with Apurva Mehta, the co-founder of an early stage fund of funds at Summit Peak and formerly an institutional investor at endowments (Juilliard, Cook Children’s Hospital) to discuss power laws in portfolios, alpha in early stage investing, and what differentiates a great LP. If you’re ready to level-up your startup or fund with AngelList, visit https://www.angellist.com/tlp to get started. (1:00) Episode Preview (1:44) Why Apurva went from the institutional world to co founding Summit Peak Partners (2:57) How can early stage funds compete with Andreessens and Sequoias (3:28) How do you separate alpha in early stage investing? (8:06) Inefficiencies in the early stage market (16:24) Sponsor: AngelList (14:06) Generalist vs Specialist firms in portfolio construction (19:39) What is Apurva looking for in reference calls when doing diligence on emerging managers? (24:29) What differentiates a great LP? (29:14) Asset classes from most to least desirable (31:20) What fees and carry is Apurva seeing from the top quartile managers (34:13) What will happen to new firms? (36:18) Founders Fund’s strategy (36:45) Power law returns in Fund one portfolio (38:43) Apurva’s preferred ownership model (41:00) Summit Peak’s niche