Over the last 5 years I’ve had the unique opportunity to work with 250+ emerging fund managers across a wide range of programs, masterclasses, GP accelerators and coaching sessions. Funds have ranged from seed, venture, growth, SME, debt and PE. Geographies have ranged from Europe, MENA, Africa, APAC and the Americas.
In doing so, I’ve tried to pin down, what are core questions, I as a guide can use to support my emerging managers?
The Three Questions
Question 1: Have you ever made any investments in this strategy?
If so, can you talk me through the process? How did you perform? What did you learn?
Question 2: Have you ever worked at a fund or managed a fund?
If so, what were your primary deliverables? What did you achieve? What did you learn?
Question 3: Have you ever, personally, raised capital for a fund or a startup?
If so, what was your experience? What did you learn? How does that experience shape your thinking about fundraising for your own fund?
Why These Three Questions Matter
These questions serve as a diagnostic framework that reveals the depth of an emerging fund manager’s practical experience across the three core competencies required for fund management success: investment execution, operational expertise, and capital raising.
Each question probes a different dimension of readiness. The first explores whether they understand the mechanics of deploying capital and generating returns. The second examines their institutional knowledge of fund operations, from due diligence processes to portfolio management. The third assesses their appreciation for the challenges of fundraising and LP relationship management.
Together, these questions help me quickly identify where an emerging manager sits on the experience spectrum and what gaps need to be addressed in their journey toward launching a successful fund.
How Emerging Fund Managers Answer These Questions
The responses typically fall into several patterns:
The Experienced Operator: These managers usually have strong answers to questions 1 and 2, often drawing from years at established funds or corporate ventures. They can articulate specific investment processes and operational frameworks but may struggle with question 3, having never been on the fundraising side.
The Entrepreneur-Turned-Investor: These individuals excel at question 3, bringing deep empathy for founders and understanding of capital needs. However, they often have limited experience with questions 1 and 2, particularly around institutional investment processes and fund operations.
The Complete Novice: Some emerging managers have limited experience across all three areas. While this presents the steepest learning curve, it also represents the greatest opportunity for growth when paired with proper mentorship and structured learning.
The Industry Expert: These managers may have deep sector knowledge but limited hands-on investment experience. They typically perform well on the analytical aspects of question 1 but may lack practical deployment experience.
Case Studies
All case studies are anonymized, but based on one or more real-life emerging managers I’ve been lucky enough to work with.
Case Study A: Paal – Nordic Cleantech Fund
Paal approached me with plans to launch a €25M cleantech seed fund across the Nordics. His background was compelling—a former climate tech engineer turned sustainability consultant with extensive networks across Scandinavia’s green tech ecosystem.
Question 1 Response: Paal had made three angel investments over two years, all in Nordic cleantech startups. One had achieved a 3x return through acquisition, another had grown 200% in valuation, and the third was struggling. He could articulate his investment thesis clearly and had learned valuable lessons about the importance of regulatory tailwinds and customer validation in cleantech.
Question 2 Response: He had never worked at a fund but had served on two startup boards and helped design investment frameworks for a family office. His operational experience was limited to advisory roles, though he understood startup challenges intimately.
Question 3 Response: Paal had raised €500K for his own sustainability consulting firm and had a minor role in helping two portfolio companies raise follow-on rounds. He understood the founder’s perspective but had never experienced institutional fundraising.
Outcome: Paal’s limited investment track record but deep sector expertise made him an medium-attractive emerging manager.
We focused our conversations on understanding the fund’s business model, fund operations and LP relationship management. Two questions emerged here: one, how he could build a team to complement his skills, two, whether a fund vehicle truly was something for him.
As a part of the business model puzzle, we used the GP Working Capital Map to identify and discuss various ways he could finance the investment firm.
Case Study B: Aisha – UAE Fintech Fund
Aisha came from 8 years at a leading Middle Eastern bank, most recently as head of digital innovation. Previously, she held a junior role at a regional fund-of-fund. She proposed launching a $15M fintech fund targeting the UAE and broader GCC region, with a longer-term view on building a lasting investment firm.
Question 1 Response: Through her corporate role, Aisha had led strategic investments in five fintech startups, totaling $8M. Two investments had generated positive returns, and she maintained strong relationships with founders. However, these were strategic investments with different success metrics than financial returns.
Question 2 Response: While not at a traditional fund, Aisha had managed the bank’s innovation lab with a $20M annual budget. She understood due diligence, portfolio management, and had experience working with external fund managers on co-investments.
Question 3 Response: Aisha had never personally raised external capital but had some experience evaluating fund managers and understanding LP expectations from the LP side. One of her biggest gaps was simply understanding who her target ‘customers’ (LPs) were, how they made decisions and what the LP process looked like, ranging from hours to years, depending on the various LPs.
Outcome: Aisha’s banking experience and regional network positioned her well. Our conversations focused on transitioning from strategic to financial investing and developing fundraising skills. Notably, we spent time on mapping out LP personas, their decision making process and running this through the LP Process Canvas.
Case Study C: Priya – Thailand B2B SaaS Fund
Priya brought over 20 years of finance experience, including a decade at Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) across the US and Asia, with her most recent two years as a senior consultant to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). She proposed a $25M B2B SaaS fund focused on Thailand and Vietnam, targeting the growing digital transformation market in Southeast Asia.
Question 1 Response: Priya had extensive investment experience through her DFI roles, having deployed over $150M in development finance across 40+ transactions in Asia. However, most of these were infrastructure, financial inclusion, and SME financing deals. Her direct venture/tech investment experience was limited to three angel investments in Thai fintech and SaaS startups over the past five years, with mixed results. She understood institutional investment processes deeply but was adapting her framework to early-stage tech investing.
Question 2 Response: Her decade at DFIs provided substantial fund management experience, including portfolio oversight, due diligence leadership, and working with diverse stakeholder groups. At IFC, she had managed relationships with fund managers and co-investment programs. However, her experience was primarily in development finance rather than commercial venture capital, requiring adjustment to different risk profiles and return expectations.
Question 3 Response: Priya had extensive capital markets experience from the institutional side, having helped structure and raise funding for multiple DFI initiatives and worked closely with sovereign wealth funds and development banks. She understood LP motivations and fund structures intimately, though from the allocator rather than fund manager perspective. Her IFC experience included evaluating hundreds of fund managers, giving her deep insights into what LPs sought in emerging managers.
Outcome: Priya’s institutional credibility and extensive emerging markets experience made her a strong proposition for impact-focused LPs and DFIs, but also showed the challenges in unlocking new LP networks.
Our conversations focused on transitioning from development finance to commercial returns, understanding venture capital market dynamics, portfolio mark-ups, valuation methods and positioning her unique LP value proposition. Most importantly, we explored how to use the LP Stack to access new LP categories.
Insights I Gain From These Three Questions
These questions consistently reveal several key insights about emerging fund managers:
Track Record Depth: Managers with meaningful answers to question 1 typically have higher success rates in fundraising and early portfolio performance. Even a small number of investments provides crucial pattern recognition.
Operational Readiness: Question 2 reveals whether managers understand the operational complexity of running a fund, including meeting various LP requirements. Those with institutional experience build better fund management processes, including interactions with service providers.
Fundraising Realism: Question 3 often exposes unrealistic expectations about the fundraising process. Managers who have experienced fundraising from either side tend to build more realistic timelines and strategies. Emerging managers with limited experience tend to lack a structured fundraising process and often struggle to hit closing targets.
Development Priorities: The framework immediately highlights where coaching should focus, enabling more targeted and efficient preparation programs.
Recommendations for Emerging Fund Managers
Based on patterns observed across hundreds of conversations with these three questions, here are my key recommendations:
If you have limited investment experience (weak question 1 response):
- Start angel investing immediately in your target sector
- Join angel groups or syndicates to observe processes
- Consider beginning in a more junior role at an established fund
- Write up detailed investment memos to build experience
- Suggested book to read: Venture Deals
If you lack operational fund experience (weak question 2 response):
- Shadow experienced fund managers through their processes
- Volunteer for due diligence projects with established funds
- Study fund documents and operational frameworks
- Consider interim roles at emerging funds to gain experience
- Suggested book to read: Fundamentals: Your Friendly Guide to Investment Funds and Syndications
If you haven’t raised capital (weak question 3 response):
- Help companies with their fundraising processes (including any of your own portfolio companies)
- Study successful fund marketing materials and strategies
- Build relationships with potential LPs before you need them
- Consider joining an existing fund in a dedicated capital formation role for 2-4 years
- Suggested book to read: The Business of Venture Capital
Universal recommendations:
- Be honest about your experience gaps
- Build complementary teams that cover all three competencies
- Start networking with LPs 24-36 months before launching fundraising
- Develop a differentiated investment thesis based on your unique insights and access
The journey from aspiration to successful fund manager is exceptionally challenging but also achievable. Less than 25% of those that start actually make it. Out of these, just 66% make it to a successful fund III.
These three questions provide a roadmap for understanding where you are and what you need to develop. The most successful emerging managers I’ve worked with embrace their learning journey and systematically address gaps in their experience while building on their unique strengths.
Remember: every experienced fund manager was once emerging. The key is honest self-assessment, targeted development, combined with grit, hard work and execution toward your ultimate fund vision.