#OpenLP is doing a mini-takeover of Notation’s Origins podcast. Listen to episode one featuring Notation, episode two featuring Kim Lew of the Columbia University endowment, and episode three featuring Saul Klein of LocalGlobe.
In this episode of the #OpenLP podcast miniseries, Sapphire Partners’ Laura Thompson chats with Jaclyn Hester, Partner at Foundry Group. Jaclyn joined Foundry in 2016 and is active across their portfolio of startup companies and venture funds. She helped launch their partner fund strategy, and works closely with partner fund managers, while also leading new fund investments.
Prior to joining Foundry, Jaclyn practiced corporate law at Perkins Coie LLP and Baker & Hostetler LLP. As an attorney, she advised startups and private equity firms as well as buyers and sellers in M&A transactions. Her previous life as a lawyer adds a unique lens to her work with startups and venture funds.
During the conversation, Laura and Jaclyn touch on the following topics:
- Her unique path to venture as a lawyer and how she navigated the transition to investing
- How LPs think about adding firms to their portfolio and how/why Foundry also makes direct investments in companies
- What she considers the most important criteria for achieving outperformance and how she identifies funds with these traits
- Her preferred way to think through fund performance assessment and “paper valuations”
- The best way for GPs to handle rejection from LPs while still preserving the relationship for potential future fundraising
- And much, much more…