On August 26th, Laconia was featured in FundFire’s article, Venture 'Rules Are Changing' as Funds Aim Beyond Unicorns , examining various paths being taken by venture managers in pursuit of outsized returns.
Here are some highlights from the piece:
The piece drew a clear distinction between larger venture managers searching for the next unicorn, and “upstarts” such as Laconia and Boston-based Hyperplane, “which invest more deeply in early stage startups across their portfolios – similar to the operational “value creation” focus that buyout firms use to improve established companies”. These new model emerging managers are “aimed instead at helping entrepreneurs build profitable, sustainable businesses.”
“We’re looking at some of the emerging [venture] managers taking a new approach to access opportunities that the more established firms are not focused on or not built to capitalize on”
“The larger the size of the fund, the more you have to make sure you hit that fund-maker to deliver returns”
We (Laconia) had the opportunity to contribute our perspective on the topic, sitting down virtually with Associate Managing Editor, Tom Stabile to discuss the nuances of our approach, how we execute, and benefit of a more hands-on approach with founders and portfolio companies during the early stages. As our partner Geri Kirilova noted, the ability “to spend greater time and attention to help smaller startups develop good business practices – and solid organizations and teams – at the early stage” is critical to our ability to create value and drive better outcomes for founders and LPs. Laconia strives to enhance outcomes through operational execution, sales acceleration, and capital strategy, thereby reducing early stage risk.
Note - FundFire is a subscription based news service, the preceding is a synopsis.