Samir Kaji is the CEO and Co-Founder of Allocate, a private markets technology company that pairs origination with portfolio management tools to allow investors to efficiently construct and manage their alternatives portfolios.
Prior to Allocate, Samir spent 22 years in venture banking between SVB and First Republic Bank and closely worked with and advised over 700 venture capital and private equity firms. During this time, he completed over $12B in structured debt transactions and has invested personally in over 75 funds and companies, including early-stage investments into Carta (seed), Side (seed), PolicyGenius (Series A), and FanDuel (Series B) as well as Growth investments into Reddit, Alto Pharmacy, and Carbon Health. He has also invested in over 40 funds across various investment types.
Samir completed a finance undergraduate degree at San Jose State University, a finance MBA from Santa Clara University, and completed the prestigious Kauffman Fellows venture program in 2017. Samir is also the host of Venture Unlocked, a top venture capital podcast available on Itunes, Spotify, and Substack.
You can find Samir on his socials here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Samirkaji
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samirkaji/
And huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also watch the episode on YouTube here.
Brought to you by Alchemist Accelerator.
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[04:15] What will be the biggest change in the next decade for the LP universe?
[08:45] Portfolio allocation for emerging LPs
[12:32] How has Samir’s LP investment strategy evolved over the years?
[16:04] Why Samir invested in Bullpen Capital’s Fund I
[17:43] GP-business model fit
[19:40] GP red flags
[21:00] The one question Samir asks to see if GPs understand how to do portfolio math
[23:31] The art of asking good questions
[29:44] What is the Minimum Viable Fund?
[36:14] How to pick 10 funds out of 4000 VC funds
[42:19] How did Samir pitch Allocate to his investors?
[48:11] The first hires at Allocate
[50:53] How Samir defines work-life integration
[56:38] The first two emerging fund managers Samir backed at First Republic Bank
[59:41] The lesson Samir’s father shared with him when he thought about leaving SVB
[1:02:41] What happens when you overanalyze
[1:07:27] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:10:02] If you liked it, give us a like or share!
SELECT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Allocate
- Silicon Valley Bank
- First Republic Bank
- Lux Capital
- Bullpen Capital
- Parade Ventures
- Array Ventures
- Venture Unlocked
- The Master List of US Micro-VCs (2019)
- AngelList
- The SEC’s definition of qualified purchaser
- Paul Martino
- Duncan Davidson
- Richard Melmon
- The Non-Obvious Emerging LP Playbook
- Allen Ginsberg (poet)
- Ethan Hawke’s TED Talk where he quotes Allen Ginsberg
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Commencement Address at Western New England University
- Charlie Munger’s Inversion Process
- San Jose State University
- Kanyi Maqubela on Venture Unlocked
- Mark Suster on Venture Unlocked
- Joe Lonsdale
- 8VC
- Kirsten Green
- Forerunner Ventures
- Keith Rabois’ tweet on 70% conviction
SELECT QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:
“When you think about investing in any fund, you’re really looking at three main components.
- It’s sourcing ability. Are you seeing the deals that fit within whatever business model you’re executing on?
- Do you have some acumen for picking?
- And then, the third is: what is your ability to win? Have you proven your ability to win, get into really interesting deals that might’ve been either oversubscribed or hard to get into? Were you able to do your pro rata into the next round because you added value?
“And we also look through the lens of: Does this person have some asymmetric edge on at least two of those three things?”
“When you’re investing in a fund, especially when you’re making an ex ante decision, meaning you’re not buying a secondary, you’re actually just looking at what’s the probability of success in the future. You want to focus on process, more than just outcomes in the past. The process is how they think.”
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