Succession Planning Through Firm Culture
I recently participated on a panel at PreMoney called “Passing the Torch,” which made me reflect on my own journey into venture capital. Ten years ago I derailed my career. While I loved my job as an innovation lead at Clorox, the commute became unsustainable. I did what every MBA would do and I pinged my network. My college dormmate Kwan Yoon was a partner at BlueRun Ventures at the time and he encouraged me to come to the firm. I wasn’t interested. I had done venture before. He started selling BRV in a much different way than anyone I had ever met in venture. He talked about culture and mentorship and opportunity. He opened our Korea office and we were one of the first U.S. based firms to open offices in Korea and China in 2001. Kwan sold me.
I was recently asked a question that continues to stick with me: Should VC firms exist beyond their founding partners? My knee-jerk answer is “Yes! Of course!” but when I thought about it some more, I wasn’t sure the answer should be yes. Money is money and LP’s can put money into the next manager just as easily as they can continue to invest in existing managers. The experience and expertise of an investor is not automatically transferred to the firm just because of a common business card. It has to be actively indoctrinated into the younger generation. Senior partners have to want to and actively cultivate talent for years.
Should VC firms exist beyond their founding partners?
Venture is really (or should be) an apprenticeship model and culture is at the core of that. Venture is undoubtedly going through a transformation: more dollars in the asset class, greater diversity, generational change, etc. Succession planning and generational change don’t happen overnight. They first start with a culture at the top that is actively engaged in mentorship. The organization needs to be set up to train and develop talent, who will remain authentic to the founders’ original mission, while taking the firm into the future.
To all my fellow VC — what does “passing the torch” mean to you?
