Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

How did Partner Courtney Leimkuhler build the Springbank Collective syndicate?

14 Jul 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:56

In this interview excerpt, Partner Courtney Leimkuhler explains the formation and operating principles of the Springbank Collective, a 100‑person syndicate created to support Springbank Capital’s fund. The collective was built by sharing the firm’s story and investment thesis, allowing members to choose whether to invest without needing deep pre‑existing trust. Many collective members later became limited partners (LPs) in the fund, giving them familiarity with the team. The syndicate deliberately did not share deals or offer co‑investments to external institutional LPs or family offices, citing limited capacity to manage additional co‑investors during the fundraise. This approach emphasized optionality for members while keeping the fundraising process manageable.

Chapters

Was it kind of like you were sharing deals with them prior to them investing, or like what about it landed? We didn't do that. So part of building the syndicate initially was we called it Springbank Collective, and it was 100 people. Some of them were new to us. They heard our story, they liked our thesis, and they liked the optionality, right, that they could invest with us or not depending on it. So you didn't have to build so much trust. So there were certainly a large number of people in the collective who also came in as LPs of the fund, and that's how they got to know us. We did not do kind of deal sharing with more institutional LPs or family offices beyond the collective. And I know some people do that where they kind of trade deals or they try to offer co-invest. And I think we just had too much on, like we couldn't also manage running, you know, additional co-investor SVPs during the fundraise. Yeah, that's, that's a lot. That makes sense. It was a lot.