Eric Woo is co-founder and CEO of Revere, where he leads product development and investment analysis & due diligence efforts.
Prior to starting Revere, he was Head of Institutional Capital at AngelList, the world’s largest online venture capital investment platform that supports over $10B in assets and has participated in the financing of over 190 “unicorn” companies. At AngelList, Eric worked closely with investors to curate early-stage fund and deal opportunities. He also developed systematic and data-driven strategies for institutional investors.
Over the last 12 years, Eric has helped allocate over $160 million in venture funds and direct co-investments. Notably, he played a key role in establishing the emerging manager investment programs at Top Tier Capital and Northgate Capital, organizations that collectively have more than $15B in AUM. Eric is an acknowledged thought leader in the VC emerging managers ecosystem.
Before his venture career, Eric worked in pricing and risk management for a large insurance company and financial guarantor. He also has experience in online marketing and private market research. A Bay Area native, Eric graduated with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and has been a CFA charter holder since 2004.
You can find Eric on his socials here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericjwoo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericwoo/
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
[03:30] How did Eric pivot from being an engineer to an asset manager?
[09:52] Building emerging manager programs at Top Tier and Northgate
[15:25] How does Eric define conviction?
[17:23] What was the thesis that Eric raised his fund of funds on?
[20:00] How much does an established fund’s portfolio is allocated to emerging managers?
[23:48] How did Eric pitch institutional LPs to join AngelList?
[32:48] How does Eric measure the ROI on hosting events?
[36:24] How does Eric pitch Revere to my relatives?
[39:29] How does Revere rate emerging managers?
[47:49] What are telltale signs of a fund’s outperformance?
[51:36] The value of community
[58:10] What are subconscious decisions LPs make that deserve a double take?
[1:02:09] Why strategy drift is not a bad thing
[1:04:57] What VC firm turned identity into culture?
[1:07:39] What is Eric’s nighttime routine?
[1:09:50] Angel investing is to tipping as LP investing is to ____
[1:13:45] What is one thing Eric recommends GPs do but no one ever listens?
[1:15:18] What is an investment opportunity Eric missed because of what he didn’t do rather than what he did?
[1:18:21] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!
[1:20:58] Legal disclaimer
SELECT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Berkeley Haas School of Business
- Howard Marks
- Howard and Andrew Marks on the Acquired podcast
- Top Tier Capital Partners
- Northgate Capital
- Reid Hoffman
- AngelList
- Naval Ravikant
- Avlok Kohli
- Chris Shen
- On Deck
- Andreessen Horowitz
- Charlie Munger
- Daniel Kahneman
- Eniac Ventures
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