How Hans Swildens pulled off a blockbuster Goldman Sachs sale, and what it means for venture liquidity

This week's episode of StrictlyVC Download features Hans Swildens, founder of Industry Ventures, discussing his firm's transaction with Goldman Sachs that comes during Industry Ventures' 25th anniversary year. Swildens walks through the 20-year evolution of the Goldman relationship—from LP investor to wealth platform partner to minority stakeholder in 2019—and explains why the firm decided now was the right time to fully join Goldman's external investing group. He discusses how secondaries have become "the new IPO" for venture-backed companies, shares insights from managing one of the world's largest portfolios of seed-stage venture funds with over 150 firms, and explains why the predicted wave of fund failures hasn't materialized in their portfolio. Swildens also explores the future of venture liquidity structures, from continuation funds to NAV loans, and why products that have been successful in private equity haven't yet crossed over to venture capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices