Stephen Bluestein has had an impressive career in Venture, beginning at Bessemer Venture Partners before moving to TCV, Light Street Capital, and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, before landing in his current role as a partner in the primary investment team at Adams Street Partners. He sits down with Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to discuss what makes a fund a franchise. They discuss the importance of building and maintaining a brand that stands for something in the market, making investments that are consistent with your philosophy, and together, they zero in on the tipping point of when a fund can be officially considered a franchise.

Learn more about Sapphire Partners: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about OpenLP: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://openlp.vc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about Asylum Ventures: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://asylum.vc⁠⁠⁠⁠

Learn more about Adams Street Partners: https://adamsstreetpartners.com

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 Welcome to Origins2:15-Digging into Franchise Funds: Stephen’s Background

6:48 What Defines a Franchise?

15:30 How Long Does it Take to Become a Franchise?

21:06 The Minimum Viable Performance Metric to be Considered a Franchise

27:13 Pivoting From One Exceptional Fund into a Franchise

33:21 How to Inculcate Exceptionality

39:55 Diligencing Franchise Funds

45:28 “Know Thyself”: A Message for Aspiring Franchise Funds

Origins is produced by Sapphire Ventures in partnership with⁠⁠ Pod People.⁠

Nothing presented herein is intended to constitute investment advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Sapphire Ventures, LLC (“Sapphire”). Any offer or solicitation of securities by Sapphire may only be made in accordance with the current offering documents for a managed Fund in which Sapphire is an advisor. Additionally, Sapphire does not solicit or make its services available to the public; such offerings may only be provided to accredited investors and qualified purchasers defined within the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. Information provided reflects Sapphire Ventures’ views as of a particular time. Such views are subject to change at any point and Sapphire Ventures shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in these statements. While Sapphire Ventures has used reasonable efforts to obtain information from reliable sources, Sapphire makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of third party information presented herein. Nothing presented herein may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular investment opportunity or strategy. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Episode 468: Micro-Christendoms and Neighborhoods, an Interview with Dustin Messer