“Markets have a mind of their own.” – David York
David York’s thirty plus years of industry knowledge and networks uniquely equip him to be a liaison and international ambassador not only for Top Tier’s brand, but also the broader venture community. In 2000, David joined Phil Paul to lead the fund of funds team at Paul Capital, which spun out in 2011 to form Top Tier.
David has been active in the global venture capital community since the early 1990s. As a founder of Top Tier, he has led the development of the Firm for over twenty years and has been involved in every aspect of it. His involvement in the industry has led him to participate in numerous industry events and conferences, and also the NVCA, where he is an active board member. David led the fund of funds business at Paul Capital Partners, before spinning it out and founding Top Tier. Prior to Paul Capital, David spent seventeen years on Wall Street running various trading desks. In 1999, he was Managing Director at Chase H&Q, where he ran Equity Capital Markets liquidity, and from 1994 to 1999 he ran Venture Services for Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco-based, technology-focused investment bank acquired by Chase Bank.
You can find David on his socials here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-york-2407295/
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
[02:52] David York’s role models over the years
[07:06] Is the LP model broken?
[11:34] What David would like to see in private markets
[15:27] How did David raise $500M in the dotcom crash
[23:09] Breaking down when large LPs are ready to be pitched
[25:37] What does a thoughtful email look like?
[28:40] The liquidity needs of different kinds of LPs
[33:29] David’s favorite restaurant in Tokyo
[36:41] David’s secret starter dough recipe
[40:13] Secret post-credit scene
[40:46] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[41:47] If you learned something from this episode, I’d love it if you could share it with one other friend!
SELECT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Top Tier Capital Partners
- Andreessen Horowitz
- Battery Ventures
- CRV
- Data Collective
- NEA
- Kindred Ventures
- National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)
- NESsT
- Paine Webber
- Bob Donato
- Sam Hunter
- Merrill Lynch
- Dan Case
- H&Q Capital
- Lex Fridman
- Paul Capital Partners
- “How whaling ventures in the 1800s shaped venture capital as we know it” by Allie Garfinkle
- Sutter Hill Ventures
- Bill Draper
- Paul Wythes
- Paul Wythes article on Bloomberg
- Dave Anderson
- Jim Gaither
- General Atlantic
- Philip Paul
- Sunshine laws
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
- BlackBerry
- Nokia
- “My Fund is Old Enough to Drive…” by Top Tier Capital Partners
- Tonkatsu Suzuki
- Krispy Kreme
- Tartine Bakery
- Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson (cookbook)
- Central Milling
- Community Grains
SELECT QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:
“Markets have a mind of their own.” – David York
“If you look at venture capital investments in general, partnership agreements are too short.” – David York
“Going to see accounts before budgets are set helps get your brand and your story in the mind of the budget setter. In the case of the US, budgets are set in January and July, depending on the fiscal year. In the case of Japan, budgets are set at the end of March, early April. To get into the budget for Tokyo, you gotta be working with the client in the fall to get them ready to do it for the next fiscal year. [For] Korea, the budgets are set in January, but they don’t really get executed on till the first of April. So there’s time in there where you can work on those things. The same thing is true with Europe. A lot of budgets are mid-year. So you develop some understanding of patterns. You need to give yourself, for better or worse if you’re raising money, two to three years of relationship-building with clients.” – David York
“To me, rejection is simply ‘not now,’ not a ‘no.’” – David York
DZ: “What do most GPs, or first-time LPs, fail to appreciate?”
DY: “The exit.”
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