Alexander Lange’s Post

Capital is no longer the differentiator in venture. Trust is. A new whitepaper, “Beyond Capital: How Modern Funds Build Influence,” explores how fund reputation, narrative clarity, and founder experience are reshaping the VC landscape. Based on interviews with Comms and IR leaders across European funds (including Earlybird’s VP Comms Elisheva Marcus), the research highlights a clear shift:  • Founders increasingly choose their investors  • Aspects of IR and Communications are converging  • Founder experience has become the strongest signal of a fund’s operating model  • Funds that combine clarity, credibility, and continuity build durable influence As capital becomes commoditized, how funds articulate their worldview and live it through their founders matters more than ever. Download the whitepaper via the link in comments below. Worth a read for those serious about long-term fund differentiation beyond capital alone. Thanks to Ivana Heijnen for the inclusion and for focusing a lens on key topics. Cc: Sofinnova Partners, Partech, Antler, BREEGA, daphni & World Fund

Unlocking the power of venture capital is paramount for new Limited Partners (LPs), but truly grasping how the industry operates is anything but straightforward. At Vertices Capital, we have prepared a new whitepaper tailored for new LPs, such as family offices, asset managers, endowments, pension funds, and banks, seeking to understand VC's core principles and investment philosophy. It distills 101 principles across sourcing, picking, winning deals, building companies, and more, inspired by the legendary VC firm Sequoia Capital, emphasizing conviction over consensus and the pursuit of outlier returns. If you are a new LP principal or investment professional wondering how to approach venture capital with discipline, focusing on risk-taking, behavioral traits, firm culture, and asymmetric upside, this edition will be particularly relevant. The whitepaper, “101 Venture Capital Core Principles for New LPs Willing to Understand How VC Really Works” (Edition 1 - Q4 2025), is now available. Download your copy at vertices.vc. #venturecapital #familyoffice #powerlaw

Venture capital and private equity are often discussed as variations of the same thing. They’re not. Each is built on a different incentive system. Venture capital optimizes for speed, scale, and upside. Private equity optimizes for control, cash flow, and predictability. Neither is right or wrong. But each reshapes how decisions get made over time. I wrote more about the distinction here: https://lnkd.in/gJXiS3is

Capital is not interchangeable. Tom explains why venture capital and private equity operate under fundamentally different incentive structures, and how those structures shape pressure, governance, and decision-making for founders.

The liquidity gap is reshaping how early-stage investing works and how companies themselves will be built and funded in the next decade ⏳ Marcus Daniels points out that the classic GP–LP model with 10-year horizons no longer matches the speed or structure of modern startups With pre-seed investors delaying deployment and liquidity cycles stretching longer than expected, the industry is entering a new phase. Both founders and investors will need models that offer more flexibility, faster recycling of capital and new paths to liquidity 🔧

California's Data Diversity statute for VC firms goes into effect March 1, 2026 and mandates demographic reporting by April 1. This does not just affect California, but applies to VC firms, but applies to firms which make venture capital investments in businesses located in or with a significant operational presence in California, or which solicit or receive investments from California residents. Planning for compliance should start now - and our firm's analysis is here - https://lnkd.in/eitAxpCB

In 2026, wealth advisory, venture capital and private equity are no longer operating in silos. Together, they form the engines driving the next era of economic growth. Wealth advisors are evolving from asset allocators to strategic stewards by helping families and institutions navigate private markets, alternatives and long-term value creation with clarity and purpose. Venture capital is sharpening its focus. Fewer bets. Higher conviction. Real businesses solving real problems from AI and energy systems to sustainable innovation and infrastructure. Private equity is doubling down on value creation. Operational rigor, technology-enabled performance and disciplined capital deployment are defining success. Prosperity in 2026 isn’t accidental. It’s built through aligned capital, disciplined strategy and leadership willing to invest in what matters next. https://lnkd.in/eZQtR84C #wealthadvisory #venturecapital #privateequity #alternativeinvesting

Venture Capital vs. Secondaries: Why the math doesn't add up. 🕵️♂️ Ben Black reveals the massive double standard in private market reporting. While Secondary funds (operating as REAs) are forced to show the “ugliest” possible version of their...

This bill almost didn’t happen. Meaningful change in venture capital rarely comes from loud, sweeping gestures. It comes from small, persistent teams willing to do the unglamorous work. We managed to get it done in 11 months. I’m *incredibly* proud to have co-authored California Senate Bill 54/164 with a small but mighty group of advocates who believed one thing deeply: Transparency is a prerequisite for accountability. This law doesn’t tell investors who to fund. It doesn’t impose quotas. It doesn’t engineer outcomes. What it does is simpler and more powerful. It requires venture firms with a California nexus to look at the data: Who is getting funded. Who isn’t. And how patterns repeat year after year when no one is required to measure them. For founders who’ve been told “you’re an outlier,” or “the pipeline just isn’t there,” this matters. For emerging fund managers who’ve been building differently but lacked proof points, this matters. For the broader ecosystem that insists capital is merit-based while operating largely on pattern recognition and gut feel, this matters. Public, aggregated data changes the conversation. It replaces anecdotes with evidence. It creates pressure not through mandates, but through visibility. I’m SO freakin proud of this team. Kelly Kimball, Divya Reddy, Derek Ali, Marquesa Finch I’m proud of the care taken to design a law focused on transparency, not punishment. As a Massachusetts resident on the other coast, I’m proud of California for saying we can’t fix what we refuse to measure. Real systems change is rarely loud. But it compounds. If you’re a founder or investor, I’m curious: What do you think changes once this data is out in the open?