Powering VC platform: 3 Reflections from the 2018 VC Platform Summit
By: Stephanie Manning, Natalie Sportelli, and Amanda Mulay
We spent the day with 100+ platform leaders from venture firms across the country and around the world at the third annual VC Platform Summit. We discussed top-of-mind topics such as diversity and inclusion programs, founder onboarding, mentorship and expert networks, and much more.
We walked away with a few high-level reflections on how the role of platform is evolving, and how our peers are thinking about expanding services to better support founders and portfolio companies.
Platform teams run on software
On average, three people serve on VC platform teams, providing support and services for anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of portfolio companies. Software tools help these lean teams automate their efforts. Tools such as CRMs, vendor databases, Slack channels or messaging platforms, talent tracking systems, and email marketing software are just a couple examples of digital tools platform teams employ to efficiently systemize and broaden their impact.
Reflection 1: Software tools are increasingly important, and there are more customizable options for platform teams than ever before. Platform leaders are spending more time investigating new tools to help them make a broader impact as their portfolio grows. Adopting new software helps platform teams automate their workflow and provide more, on-demand resources to founders.
Everything needs to scale
From recruiting and executive programming, to content and founder meet-ups, everything should be scalable. The importance of one-on-one support for founders and their teams cannot be overstated. However, as a firm’s portfolio grows, platform services should be able to scale so that support can have the biggest impact for the greatest number.
Reflection 2: Platform leaders are constantly thinking about how to scale their efforts. Whether that means standardizing programming or creating content that can live online forever, scaling platform support means providing meaningful and personalized services for portfolio companies as firms continue to invest.
Focus on high impact, not high quantity
Platform teams are constantly prioritizing output: more events, more content, and more resources to support founders and portfolio companies. Measuring impact in these areas is key. Although it might seem tempting to deliver a high quantity of content and programming, founders tend to find more targeted events and resources to be the most useful. Platform leaders can benefit from zooming out once in awhile to see where their effort is paying off.
Reflection 3: Feedback is key to determining which platform services are the most valuable. Platform teams can maximize their time and impact by listening to founders and honing in on highly specific and relevant topic areas, rather than more general networking events or content for the sake of content.
