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

raising a $20 million fund

31 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker explains how they closed a $20 million second venture fund, marking the first time they took limited partners (LPs) on board. Early on they faced a lack of deal flow and had to actively grind for startup teams. To address this, they adopted a deliberately low‑profile sourcing strategy called “Brickyard,” avoiding traditional venture events and public outreach. This stealth approach serves as a filter, allowing them to attract a niche set of founders—described as neurotic, status‑averse, and focused on grinding rather than fame—who fit their investment thesis.

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And so then we raised a $20 million fund, which is our second fund, but it's the first fund that we took LPs. But yeah, we didn't have the deal flow in the beginning. Like we were grinding for teams. And part of Brickyard is like, we're never going to have some focused content strategy. Like we're never, I'm not going to be flying around the country going to venture events and beating the venture drum. Like we have to stay, you know, we have to stay under the radar as this sort of, Mm-hmm. Because we don't do that, uh, it, it kills a major filter for what allows us to find really unique founders that kind of fit the profile that we look for, which are those neurotic types that don't give a crap about, uh, status or fame or any of the, you know, the, the, the other things that come with raising venture capital. They just want to put their head down and grind.