The Questions that Form an LP Investment Thesis | Winter Mead | Superclusters | S2E3

Winter Mead is the Founder and Managing Member of the investment firm Coolwater Capital, which exclusively focuses on emerging managers and technology investments. Coolwater is an academy for training, building and scaling emerging managers, a curated community of VC investors and early-stage investment specialists, and an investment firm. Coolwater has helped launch over 175 emerging managers, establishing strong ties and trust with these managers, who form the foundation of the Coolwater community. Winter is also the author of "How To Raise A Venture Capital Fund". Prior to Coolwater, he played a key role in an evergreen investment fund at SAP, co-founded the LP transparency movement called #OpenLP, and served on the committee for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), which sets the standards for the private equity industry. Winter's extensive experience includes private equity and venture capital roles in San Francisco, institutional fund investments, direct technology investments, and angel investing. He also served as junior faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, holding degrees from the University of Oxford and Harvard University, and now resides in Utah with his family, passionately solving business challenges. You can find Winter on his socials here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/wintmead LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wintermead/ And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters OUTLINE: [00:00] Intro [03:14] Why Winter biked across Spain with a flask of maple syrup in his back pocket [05:55] How did Amy Lichorat change Winter's career? [07:15] How did Winter get into Hall Capital Partners? [10:34] What makes Hall Capital Partners special? [13:49] How office design affects the team's ability to learn [23:49] The value of living in the Bay Area [27:17] Where to meet founders and VCs in the Bay Area [33:35] Institutional checks vs angel checks [38:58] Two of Winter's decision-making frameworks for angel investments [41:58] How to build an LP investment thesis [52:53] The interplay of fear and diligence [59:44] Two rookie mistakes that emerging LPs make [1:05:34] The chip on Winter's shoulder [1:09:03] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring! [1:11:39] If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing and/or sharing! Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content: For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com Follow Superclusters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperclustersLP Follow Superclusters on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@super.clusters Follow Superclusters on Instagram: https://instagram.com/super.clusters