Ruminations on Russia

RAISING CAPITAL

I am on the road raising capital for our next fund � DFJ Nexus. As an affiliate of DFJ we are targeting globally applicable Russian technology. This is now my third time doing this; cannot say that it gets any better but I get the feeling that this may be a sweet spot in the VC capital raising cycle. Yes LP�s are focused on performance, terms (transparency) and fit. As an emerging manager targeting a truly novel space we should command attention. But this far up the value chain?

All that being said I truly hate the process. Skepticism, is high among the skills that I bring to the table as an early stage VC. LP�s, Gatekeepers and the like should not be listening to me because of my ability to pitch but my ability to be intelligently skeptical. We are all intelligent people but the rules are written in favor of snake oil merchants.

BTW � I am totally in favor of transparency. I would be willing to omit an LP if they did not understand the J-curve; not because they wanted to publish the figures.