"I Write-Off Every Sourcing Slide" | Alex Felman

“The game you play as you’re building a reputation becomes a different game than when you have a reputation. And I tend to find, from an LP’s perspective, when you’re building reputation, that’s actually when you deliver the most value.” — Alex FelmanAlex Felman is an entrepreneurial and family office professional. For over 10 years, as a second-generation member, he has run his own family office, Felman Family Office, and works with family offices around the world through his family's multifamily group, MSF Capital Advisors. Using his expertise in Molecular Toxicology and Bio-entrepreneurship (B.A from University of California -Berkeley, MBA from Copenhagen Business School), he advises them in biotechnology, healthcare, and other futuristic tech industries with the goal of maintaining long-term wealth through innovation. He regularly speaks at family office and private wealth events on topics such as tech investment, manager selection, generation and succession issues, rising generation trends, and more.He has used his experience within the family office industry and 20 year background as an educator to create Exponential U, a family office education program designed to help families become multigenerationally sustainable. His proprietary L^3 framework (Learn, Leverage, Legacy) allows the holistic development of family members to ensure a smooth leadership transition. You can find Alex on his socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwfelman/OUTLINE:(00:00) Intro(04:36) The 'tastemaker' for family offices(05:54) Exploration vs discipline(08:15) The hero's journey in investing(09:49) The life line(13:39) Building and having reputation(16:06) Risk appetites for asset owners & allocators(18:44) Why won't an institution invest in me?(19:50) The quiet thing LPs don't talk about(25:15) When did Alex get involved with his family office?(29:09) Writing off sourcing slides(35:33) Different flavors of "sourcing from YC"(38:41) Emerging GPs are "investments-as-a-service"(40:08) Fund power law is greater than startups'(43:44) Emotional value of investing in funds(44:45) Most VC funds are scams!(50:01) Optimistic cynic(51:43) Reminders today about the good ol' days(54:17) Late stage capitalism(59:10) Post-credit scene: Dave Chappelle and podcastsFollow David Zhou for more Superclusters content:For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclustersFor Superclusters After Hours: https://superclusterslp.substack.com/Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.comFollow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP