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

What advice does Cendana Capital Partner Kelli Fontaine have to write the best LP updates?

4 Feb 2023 · 1 min

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In this interview segment, Cendana Capital partner Kelli Fontaine discusses what makes LP updates valuable. She notes that the firm’s managers generally produce strong updates and that the team holds monthly calls with each manager to stay informed about portfolio companies. Fontaine emphasizes that written updates should convey the narrative behind each investment—how the entrepreneur was met, the origin of the deal, and the firm’s thesis—providing LPs insight into the manager’s network and decision‑making. While storytelling is crucial, she also stresses the need for clear, consistent data presentation, such as a standardized format listing companies and key metrics, to make the information easily digestible for LPs.

Chapters

So among the managers that you back, which firms' LP updates do you really enjoy reading and why?
So I would say that our managers pretty much across the board do a great job with their updates. We love to learn more about the companies. We do monthly calls with all of our managers, so we really have a good insight and pulse on what's going on with their organization, what's going on with certain companies. But I think the written updates, it's great to hear where see sometimes, you know, how good did you meet the entrepreneur? How were you introduced? Where did this come from? I think it gives a real sense to the LP of where your network is, why you're choosing these founders very from the very early days. And so I think it's a great— and what your thesis is around the business model. And so I think hearing the story and the narrative around the investment rather than just the data is, is a great way to present it to your LPs. Although I would say we do love data that makes it super easy for us. So consistent format of being able to say these are the companies and here's All the data.