Superclusters - The Emerging LP Podcast

“Buying junk at a discount is still junk.” – Abe Finkelstein Abe Finkelstein, Managing Partner at Vintage, has been leading fund, secondary, and growth stage investments focused on fintech, gaming, and SMB software, among others, leading growth stage and secondary investments for Vintage in companies like Monday.com, Minute Media, Payoneer, MoonActive and Honeybook. Prior to joining Vintage in 2003, Abe was an equity analyst with Goldman Sachs, covering Israel-based technology companies in a wide variety of sectors, including software, telecom equipment, networking, semiconductors, and satellite communications. While at Goldman Sachs, Abe, and theIsrael team were highly ranked by both Thomson Extel and Institutional Investor.Prior to Goldman Sachs, Abe was Vice-President at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, where he helped launch and led the firm’s Israel technology shares institutional sales effort. Before joining Piper, he was an Associate at Brown Brothers Harriman, covering the enterprise software and internet sectors. Abe began his career at Josephthal, Lyon, and Ross, joining one of the first research teams focused exclusively on Israel-based companies. Abe graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Economics and a concentration in Finance. Vintage Investment Partners is a global venture platform managing ~$4 billion across venture Fund of Funds, Secondary Funds, and Growth-Stage Funds focused on venture in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and Canada. Vintage is invested in many of the world's leading venture funds and growth-stage tech startups striving to make a lasting impact on the world and has exposure directly and indirectly to over 6,000 technology companies. You can find Abe on his socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-finkelstein/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-finkelstein/] OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro [03:18] Abe's first investment [06:19] The definition of quality secondaries in 2003 [09:37] How did Abe know there would be capital to follow? [15:45] Valuation methodology in the 2000s [22:28] Minimum meaningful ownership for secondaries [26:17] Why did founders take Vintage's call in Fund I? [30:41] The old-school way of tracking deal memos [32:06] Our job is to play the optimist [32:31] The headwinds of raising Vintage Fund I [36:32] Moving Vintage's physical books to the cloud [39:06] How does Abe assign discounts to secondaries? [42:23] Proactive outreach vs reactive deal flow [46:18] What does Vintage do to stay top of mind? [49:49] What's changed in the secondaries market since 2000? [55:32] Founder paranoia [57:56] What does Abe want his legacy look like? Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters [https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters]Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com [https://cupofzhou.com]Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP [https://x.com/SuperclustersLP]

“The more you can create that context in the family owner's manual, the more important it is and the more it is NOT the ‘in-case-of-emergency’ file. Because the in-case-of-emergency file is going to say I’m an LP in Fund VII from so-and-so and my withdrawal rights are such and such. Or here’s the document. You go figure out what my withdrawal rights are, if I have any.” The owner's manual teaches future generations what to prioritize and why. – Josh Kanter Josh Kanter is the family office principal at Josh Kanter Wealth Advisory Services. He is also the founder & CEO at leafplanner, a comprehensive solution on planning for the 100-year time horizon for a family office, birthed out of his own need with his own family of creating an everlasting institution. After decades as a lawyer, he went on to focus on his family business where he also currently serves as President of Chicago Financial, Inc., a single family office overseeing a complex organization of trusts, investment and philanthropic entities for a multi-branch and multi-generational family. You can find Josh on his socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-kanter/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-kanter/] OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro[04:01] Art, sculptures and Jun Kaneko[12:30] The inception of Walnut Capital Corp[15:36] How Josh defines creativity[17:03] Creating the "freedom trust"[17:56] Where did the name leafplanner come from?[20:03] How did Josh get involved in the family venture business?[23:22] Top lessons from being startups' legal advisor[25:48] Lessons as an investor and LP[27:57] Investing in America's biggest fraud[30:01] The origin of leafplanner[38:15] How do you start a family owner's manual[40:03] The importance of prioritization and context in the manual[45:35] How do you make a owner's manual searchable?[49:50] The five kinds of capital (intellectual, human, social, financial, spiritual)[53:15] What is the role of luck in Josh's life?[54:31] Josh's primary vice when saying no[56:51] Post-credit scene Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters [https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters]Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com [https://cupofzhou.com]Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP [https://x.com/SuperclustersLP]

“This is one of the big issues of a bunch of data work on venture is insights from some periods don’t mean anything or are not translatable to present time. It’s really frustrating. So we go back to people, reputations, and experience.” – Narayan Chowdhury Ritujoy Narayan Chowdhury is the co-founder and Managing Director at Franklin Park, where he focuses on private equity investment opportunities, monitoring clients’ portfolios and conducting industry research. He also plays a key role in the development and implementation of Franklin Park’s technology platform, and regularly interacts with clients on investment and portfolio matters. Prior to Franklin Park, Narayan worked with Hamilton Lane and Public Financial Management. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute. Narayan received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Bucknell University. You can find Narayan on his socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/narayan-chowdhury/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/narayan-chowdhury/]X / Twitter: https://x.com/RNC76 [https://x.com/RNC76] OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro[02:27] Why my parents moved to the US[03:43] Narayan's dad[08:54] The friction that Narayan has with his team[11:59] Why current analyst training creates bad habits[15:00] What Narayan does when his family goes to bed[16:37] When did Narayan first start playing with code?[17:34] Narayan's entrepreneurial origins and how much he got paid[19:54] "Never sit alone at lunch"[22:54] The Mike Maples story[25:48] When Narayan realized VC is very different from PE[30:05] The difference between underwriting VC and buyout[34:28] What do you do when you've pigeonholed yourself in one industry?[37:02] How do you know if a GP is a core part of an alumni network?[38:32] A 2025 micro trend of misleading operating metrics[43:40] How has VC changed in the past few decades?[53:58] What do most people underappreciate about hockey? Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters [https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters]Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com [https://cupofzhou.com]Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP [https://x.com/SuperclustersLP]

“The bigger you get, the more established you get, the more underwriting emphasis goes into how this team operates as a structure rather than is there a star?” – Matt Curtolo Matt Curtolo, CAIA is a seasoned private markets investor and allocator with over two decades of experience at leading financial institutions. Throughout his career, he has been directly responsible for allocating more than $6 billion in commitments to private market investments and maintains relationships with hundreds of general partner relationships across the full spectrum of private capital strategies. Most recently, as Head of Investments at Allocate, a venture-backed fintech startup. Matt built the investment capability from the ground up, broadening access to top-tier venture capital opportunities for the private wealth market. Prior to this, he served as a senior leader at MetLife, serving on the investment committee, co-managing their global alternatives portfolio and leading the firm's US Buyout portfolio. Earlier in his career, Matt led all private equity activities as Head of Private Equity at Hirtle Callaghan, a large independent outsourced Chief Investment Officer (oCIO). Matt's foundational experience was gained at Hamilton Lane during its early growth phase, before it became the world's preeminent private markets allocator, in research, investment and client-facing roles. Matt currently holds several advisory positions that span start-ups, asset management firms and fund of funds. He also manages his own advice practice, providing GPs with strategic guidance on strategy, fundraising and investor relations. You can find Matt on his socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-curtolo-caia/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-curtolo-caia/] OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro[04:24] What town did Matt grow up in?[04:37] Why is that town significant from a sociological perspective?[08:43] Why is Matt fascinated with the Detroit Lions?[11:08] What is it like cheering for the underdog?[13:02] How does Matt break down deal attribution in partnerships?[18:04] GPs' karmic bank account[21:29] What is the kindest thing anyone's done for Matt?[23:24] How did tennis enter Matt's life?[26:35] Historical examples of VC management/leadership structures[29:33] Underwriting track record between senior and junior investors[32:23] How Matt approaches diligence after reading the data room[39:30] How do you know when you've asked enough questions?[42:37] The three classes of questions for GPs that influence investment decisions[45:34] Remote culture[50:16] Cadence of in-person gatherings in remote teams[52:48] The two (and a half) types of conversations to always host in-person[58:37] The last great idea Matt had on a walk[1:02:05] The legacy Matt wants to leave behind[1:04:37] Post-credit scene Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content: For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters [https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters]Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com [https://cupofzhou.com]Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP [https://x.com/SuperclustersLP]

“Networks are more persistent than performance.” – Albert Azout Albert Azout is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Level VC, a technology investment firm built on software and data science and invests in both entrepreneurs and venture capital managers, including the likes of Air Street Capital, Emergent Ventures and Work-Bench, just to name a few. Prior to Level, Albert has been a serial founder, starting analytics businesses and even a social media company before Facebook. You can find Albert on his socials here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertazout/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertazout/] Substack: http://albertazout.substack.com/ [http://albertazout.substack.com/] OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro [02:36] The origin of Albert's blog [04:45] How did Albert first start coding? [07:43] Albert's interest in networks [13:10] Entrepreneurship around Albert [16:27] What is collaborative filtering? [22:18] How complexity economics affect the networks of VCs? [27:14] Fear and greed regimes [28:51] Telltale signs that inform the kind of regime you're in [30:31] Why it's the wrong time to be investing in defense tech [34:53] What are most LPs missing about GP networks? [37:31] How is Level VC looking at networks differently? [44:42] Archetypes of GPs that Albert likes [46:43] The 3 advantages GPs need to have [55:02] How does Albert balance over- vs under-diligencing? [57:15] Albert's view on luck [57:47] Albert the "consciousness expert" Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters [https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters]Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com [https://cupofzhou.com]Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP [https://x.com/SuperclustersLP]