Foundry’s Approach to Investing in Early-Stage VC Funds with Jaclyn Freeman Hester
This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Jaclyn Freeman Hester, partner at Foundry VC in Boulder, Colorado. She had the good fortune of training under Lindel Eakman (ex-UTIMCO). Jaclyn explains Foundry’s decision to institutionalize their fund of funds strategy and how their strategy in early-stage VC funds has evolved along the way. She provides guidance for other LP’s considering a Fund-of-Funds strategy and what worked well for Foundry. This episode also features industry expert Brian Huber of Gunderson Dettmer warning fund managers not to get too cute with creative management fees and encouraging LPs not to take advantage of new GPs fundraising in this environment.
Highlights from this week’s conversation include:
Jaclyn’s Background and Journey in VC (0:50)
Early Experiences in Venture Capital (1:55)
Finding Edge in Venture Investing (5:16)
Decision to Institutionalize Fund Investments (8:09)
Evolution of Foundry’s Investment Strategy (10:38)
Building Networks in Venture Capital (15:16)
Initial Impressions of the Venture World (16:14)
Understanding the LP World (17:51)
Evaluating People in Venture (20:39)
Adapting to a Growing Number of Funds (23:01)
Insider Segment: Advice for Fund Managers (25:49)
Opportunities for Limited Partners (27:22)
Outlook for 2024 (28:28)
Transition to Direct Investing (32:08)
Importance of Manager Relationships (35:37)
Value of a Focused Strategy (39:10)
Future of Venture Capital (43:37)
Connecting with Jaclyn and Final Thoughts (44:10)
Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. She joined in 2016 with a passion for supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors. Jaclyn leads direct investments in early-stage companies, often collaborating with Foundry’s partner funds. She loves working closely with founders to solve hard problems and think about the human elements of business. She invests across B2B and consumer companies that exhibit strong end-user empathy and use Technology to empower individuals, unlock potential, and improve experiences. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry’s partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs. Jaclyn first fell in love with entrepreneurship while earning her JD/MBA at CU Boulder (Go Buffs!). There, she served as Executive Director of Startup Colorado, where she got to know Foundry and the incredible Boulder/Denver startup community the firm helped catalyze. In her brief stint as a practicing attorney, Jaclyn advised clients in M&A transactions and early-stage financings. She also witnessed the founder’s journey first-hand, working closely with her husband and his family as they built a B2B SaaS company, FareHarbor (acquired by BKNG). Learn more at foundry.vc
Gunderson Dettmer is the preeminent international law firm with an exclusive focus on the innovation Economy. The firm serves market-leading venture capital and growth equity investors and pioneering companies through inception, growth and maturity, as well as groundbreaking public companies that result from the global venture capital ecosystem. The firm’s clear-cut focus and well-honed technical skill enables an accelerated pace and unmatched efficiency, delivering best-in-class value at each phase of a client’s business. Learn more: www.gunder.com.
Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies.
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.
