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

starting my venture career at a sub $50 million 1st time fund emerging manager

2 Mar 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, the speaker recounts how they began their venture capital career at a sub‑$50 million first‑time fund that operated as an emerging‑manager with an attached incubator in New York City’s Meatpacking District. They describe the gritty, still‑emerging neighborhood atmosphere at the time, noting it was less polished than today. The experience served as a launchpad, allowing them to rotate through various venture‑related functions. Over time they discovered the limited‑partner (LP) side of the ecosystem, emphasizing the many‑to‑many nature of LP work and its ability to influence a broader set of companies, which they find especially attractive.

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So I started my venture career at a sub-$50 million first-time fund, emerging manager with an incubator attached in the Meatpacking District of New York City, which was not the hip place it is today. It was very on the emergent side of things. Read, a little dirtier, a little, you know, a little bit newer, a little bit more watch your back when you walk down the street. But it launched me and it was great. And I bounced around different aspects of venture and then discovered the LP world and I think it's just the many-to-many, and as an LP, you can touch so many more. And to me, that's always been just very attractive.