The Questions that Form an LP Investment Thesis | Winter Mead | Superclusters | S2E3

18 snips

Mar 25, 2024

Winter Mead from Coolwater Capital talks about LP investments in emerging managers and technology, his biking journey, balanced diet, Amy Lickert's influence, navigating the transition from angel investor to capital allocator, making investment decisions in healthcare, and complexities of LP investments in venture capital funds.

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ADVICE

Live The Bay Area Culture

Spend meaningful time in the Bay Area if you invest in technology to absorb its culture.
Short visits won't suffice; consider months-long immersion to learn network norms and pace.

ADVICE

Where To Find Founders

Tap meetup lists, campus events, and local cafes to meet founders and investors.
Test many event types early, then narrow focus to the communities that match your mandate.

INSIGHT

Two Different Investment Games

Institutional investments demand rigorous, documented due diligence and risk analysis.
Angel investing is quicker and accepts higher personal risk and instinct-driven bets.

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Winter Mead is the Founder and Managing Member of the investment firm Coolwater Capital, which exclusively focuses on emerging managers and technology investments. Coolwater is an academy for training, building and scaling emerging managers, a curated community of VC investors and early-stage investment specialists, and an investment firm. Coolwater has helped launch over 175 emerging managers, establishing strong ties and trust with these managers, who form the foundation of the Coolwater community. Winter is also the author of "How To Raise A Venture Capital Fund". Prior to Coolwater, he played a key role in an evergreen investment fund at SAP, co-founded the LP transparency movement called #OpenLP, and served on the committee for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), which sets the standards for the private equity industry. Winter's extensive experience includes private equity and venture capital roles in San Francisco, institutional fund investments, direct technology investments, and angel investing. He also served as junior faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, holding degrees from the University of Oxford and Harvard University, and now resides in Utah with his family, passionately solving business challenges. You can find Winter on his socials here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/wintmead LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wintermead/ And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[03:14] Why Winter biked across Spain with a flask of maple syrup in his back pocket

[05:55] How did Amy Lichorat change Winter's career?

[07:15] How did Winter get into Hall Capital Partners?

[10:34] What makes Hall Capital Partners special?

[13:49] How office design affects the team's ability to learn

[23:49] The value of living in the Bay Area

[27:17] Where to meet founders and VCs in the Bay Area

[33:35] Institutional checks vs angel checks

[38:58] Two of Winter's decision-making frameworks for angel investments

[41:58] How to build an LP investment thesis

[52:53] The interplay of fear and diligence

[59:44] Two rookie mistakes that emerging LPs make

[1:05:34] The chip on Winter's shoulder

[1:09:03] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!

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