Kate Simpson

We strive to be thoughtful, transparent, supportive, helpful when we can, hands off when it's appropriate.

And importantly, we're not afraid to ask the hard questions or deliver the hard messages.

But we also always try to do so in a way that respects and hopefully preserves the relationships.

I think those are, again, easy, easy things to say.

harder things to do in practice institutionally over a long period of time.

That's a great point.

We are long term investors.

We understand the asset class.

We understand the nuances.

We understand the challenges.

It is, I think, harder to be a good LP with a shorter experience being an LP and also one that may have been coming in and out of markets.

Again, venture is an industry where continuous learning is important.

is warranted and needed.

If you're coming in and out of markets, you know, I think that can inhibit your ability to build a successful portfolio and venture program, but it also does impact your reputation as an LP.

I'm sure you've seen some data.

The average returns over any time period, short or long, will disappoint.

So you really need to be in those top quartile, if not top decile funds in order for your venture portfolio to reduce returns in excess of the public markets and in excess of other private asset classes.

Yet, as we know, the dispersion of returns, that skew or that range between top quartile and bottom quartile in venture is wider than in any other asset class.

So that makes the manager selection piece paramount.

It always has been, and I think it will continue to be.