A short monologue by Jason M. Lemkin reflecting on why he chose not to build a very large venture fund or manage a large team. He frames himself as a founder-first, investor-second person who preferred maintaining a smaller operation despite pressure from limited partners and others to scale for fees and influence.
This is the complicated thing about ventures. Everyone has different strengths and sweetnesses. I think were the world evolved in 2023, I should have built a big team under me. But I didn't want to be that guy. I didn't want to manage 10 or 20. Whether they're full time GPS or folks running extra related funds, my LPs pushed me to do it right. People wanted me to do it. But I've already been an entrepreneur twice and I got to enjoy what I'm doing and I did not want to be whoever, you know, this massive fund manager. It just wasn't me as a human being. I consider myself a founder first and an investor second, and I just couldn't do it. I think people get it wrong. Why do folks raise bigger and bigger funds and all of this? They think it's for the fees.
