A Review of Signature Block's Emerging Fund Manager Report

I take a look at Weekend Fund's Signature Block recently released report analyzing survey results from nearly 200 emerging fund managers.

A quick note: This is my last newsletter before I go on holiday, but know that I’ll be back in full-force in late July!

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 Convincing people to give you money is hard.

Founders and VCs alike understand this. And when it’s your first time doing it—especially in this particularly sluggish fundraising market—the odds feel stacked against you.

Vedika Jain, Ryan Hoover, and the team at Signature Block by Weekend Fund surveyed nearly 200 emerging fund managers to quantify their experiences and highlight unique opportunities for LPs to capitalize on.

Signature Block assembled a great TL;DR of their key findings on the report page, so I won’t repeat those here. Instead, I will share a few points I found noteworthy, as well as a few things I would like to know more about.

Key Findings

Most things did not come as a surprise, such as the sentiment that it’s really hard to fundraise right now. The first thing that surprised me (and Abadesi as well) was that LinkedIn was the preferred social media outlet for GPs.

However, it doesn’t entirely surprise me when over half of respondents said their biggest challenge was raising from LPs. While I’ve made some great connections on Twitter and have seen plenty of professional content there, LinkedIn is moreso a place for professional dialog. (At least, that’s always been my assumption. I rarely talk about Star Wars there.)

And so if you want to be treated as a professional fund manager, and not just a FOMOing Wall Street bro, LinkedIn is likely a better place to establish yourself. Plus, it’s better for long-form content where GPs can thoroughly explore their opinions, and even set up a newsletter or publish occasional articles. Twitter did at one point have a short-lived newsletter partner (Revue), but it closed in early 2023.

Another statistic I found interesting: 69% of respondents invest in community-building. I’ve seen Signature Block say it, and I know EU:VC has also written about it. Something I find incredibly important and special about VC is the opportunity to be really hands-on with building a company.

I’m sure there are many LPs (as well as VCs) who just want to write a check and get their bag a few years later. But the fact that nearly 70% of emerging fund managers emphasize community really illustrates that this new class of VCs wants to offer smart capital and support to founders.

A Step Further

While I commend the amount of data collected here and understand restrictions around time and bandwidth, the report leaves me with a few questions I’d love to see explored:

What are these emerging fund managers investing in?

According to the survey, 58% consider themselves specialists, and I want to know what they’re specializing in. It seems that the majority of respondents are excited about FinTech and SaaS, but is that what they’re specializing in? Or are there new market opportunities they’ve identified?

I understand that not all fund managers are willing or able to disclose this information. But personally, I get excited about upcoming fund managers because they often have a fresh, edgy perspective on what the next big thing will be. They’re not entrenched in the success of their previous four funds, and so they have a bit more spunk to get the job done.

Where are emerging fund managers currently looking for LPs?

The report notes that 68% of respondents would find introductions to LPs most useful at the moment. They do also include insights from survey takers, such as “Feels like there are a lot of emerging managers still raising which creates a lot of noise for LPs.”

It can be hard to stand out amidst the noise, especially if it’s just easier for an LP to continue investing in the same familiar funds. It could also mean that emerging fund managers need to make themselves heard in new spaces—if they can get their foot in the doors.

While the VC world can be a challenging space to enter, some doors are easier to open than others if you know where to look. Women’s investing groups, for example, may be a great place to meet HNWIs.

So What?

I understand that the purpose of many reports is to simply communicate the information unearthed by research. But I would love to know why this matters.

What is the value in understanding an emerging fund manager’s struggles? How should fund managers, founders, and LPs act on this information?

These would be my takeaways and recommendations:

• New fund managers are not alone in their experiences. You may feel alone or lost at times, but know that the fundraising environment has been hard for many emerging fund managers. Stick to your thesis and keep going.

• If founders are looking for investors with operator experience, emerging fund managers may be a good bet. Considering that more than half of emerging VCs are previous founders or operators, you’ll be in good company.

• If LPs want access to more opportunities to invest in VCs, join a community. There’s a good chance you’ll find some great GPs on LinkedIn or around Substack, but joining a community may be a better way to expand your network in a more meaningful way.

If you aren’t already subscribed to Signature Block’s newsletter and you’re interested in resources for investors, I highly recommend it.