Origins - Inside Venture Capital, Hosted by a GP and an LP

OpenLP from Sapphire Partners
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Origins - Inside Venture Capital, Hosted by a GP and an LP

Hosted by a General Partner (GP) and a Limited Partner (LP), Origins dives into the venture capital ecosystem to learn how the people behind the money make decisions: How LPs choose VC funds to invest in, what drives performance in venture, the dos and don'ts of fundraising, what founders/entrepreneurs/CEOs need to do to raise a Seed, Series A and beyond, what it takes to go from emerging manager to franchise VC, and the latest private market trends and dynamics shaping the investment ecosystem. Origins is co-hosted by GP Nick Chirls and LP Beezer Clarkson.

  1. 19 HR AGO · BONUS

    Minisode: Innovation Energy And the Future of Biotech

    Origins hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, unpack their conversation with Zach Weinberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Curie.Bio. They discuss the “innovation energy” that drives new breakthroughs and take a closer look at Sapphire’s approach to biotech investing. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Curie.Bio: curie.bio Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Welcome to Origins 1:28 -Building Something That Wouldn’t Exist Otherwise 4:27 - What’s Sapphire Doing in BioTech? 8:38 - The Market & BioTech 10:05 - "Vitamin O"

    11 min

  2. 3 JUN

    Building The YC of Biotech with Zach Weinberg

    Zach Weinberg, co-founder and CEO of Curie.Bio, is redefining early-stage biotech investing with an operator’s mindset and a founder-first philosophy. His approach combines funding with operational support and direct access to world-class drug hunters to dramatically increase odds of success. Today, Zach sits down with Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners to discuss the massive risk associated with traditional therapeutics startups, how pairing a drug discovery partner with a seed investor solves those inefficiencies, and how biotech, the global economy and the political landscape are all closely connected. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Curie.Bio: curie.bio For a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: subscribe.openlp.vc CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (5:08) Was Hunter High School Harder Than Penn? (10:22) Transitioning From SaaS to Biotech (20:55) Why Is Building a Biotech Venture Firm So Hard? (27:55) Building Curie.Bio (32:24) Zach on Drug Discovery (43:12) Biotech in China (49:42) AI in Biotech (54:51) "The Manhattan Project of Biology"

    58 min

  3. 20 MAY · BONUS

    Minisode: How Novel Strategies Become the Venture Industry’s Standard

    Origins hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, unpack their conversation with Theory Ventures’ Tomasz Tunguz,  discussing  how strategies that once set firms apart – like pre-seed or founder-centric  investing  – become industry standards over time. They dive deep on counter-positioning, adaptability, and the power of differentiation in today’s venture world.  CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (1:14) Is Tomasz an n=1? (5:51) How Do Firms Stay Relevant? (9:12) Do Founders Like Counter-Positioning? (11:50) Who Is An Emerging Manager/Nick’s Next Career Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Theory Ventures: theory.ventures Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

    14 min

  4. 6 MAY

    AI Agents Will Supercharge the Future of VC with Tomasz Tunguz

    Tomasz Tunguz, Founder of Theory Ventures, is widely recognized for his analytical approach to venture investing. Now, he’s building Theory with a philosophy rooted in research and data-driven decision-making.  Tomasz sits down with Nick Chirls, General Partner at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, to discuss spinouts and succession in established firms and the value of running high-risk, high-reward experiments at  specialist firms like Theory. Tomasz also shares his belief that investors will need to  adapt to a future where asking the right questions of LLMs will be critical for success. CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (4:05) Why Are So Many People Leaving Top Firms? (12:15) Getting the Probabilities On Your Side (16:01) Building Highly Concentrated Portfolios (17:33) Lessons Learned in Fund One (21:37) Tomasz’s Brand v. Theory’s Brand (27:15) Using Tech at the Core of Theory (34:31) Asking the Right Questions in AI (36:56) Predictions for 2026 Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.com Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

    40 min

  5. 22 APR

    Minisode: Franchise Funds: Index Ventures & Picking Winners Early

    Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Nate Leung, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to riff on  her recent conversation with Nina Achadjian, Partner at Index Ventures. Together, Beezer and Nate walk through the steps Index took to become a franchise - the decisions they made and the mistakes they avoided, plus the firm’s ability to pick excellent companies early. They discuss the edge GPs gain by investing with a broader purpose, as well as the LP POV on the need for distributions and consolidation in 2025. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Index Ventures: indexventures.com Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox. CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins2:04-Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing to Build a Franchise3:43-Liquidity and IPOs (4:45) 2025 - The Year of Reckoning (7:13) Let There Be More Distributions9:34-Finding the Great Companies Early

    11 min

  6. 8 APR

    Inside the ServiceTitan IPO with Nina Achadjian

    Nina Achadjian is a Partner at Index Ventures, where she invests across seed, venture, and growth stages in AI, enterprise software, and vertical SaaS. She sits down with Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, and the two discuss Nina’s predictions for M&A in 2025, the importance of product market fit and what Nina looks for in a new hire. Plus, the two dig into Index’s recent IPO with ServiceTitan, and how they managed a high-profile exit in the difficult IPO market of 2024. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.com Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox. CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (1:49) The Trading Floors of London and New York4:54-The ServiceTitan IPO (15:22) The Exit Window for SaaS Companies in 2025 (17:45) Predictions & AI (25:10) More M&A vs. IPO (30:34) Investment Lessons Learned at Index (34:59) Hiring People Who Become Great Investors (39:03) Hive & the Armenian Tech Ecosystem

    43 min

  7. 25 MAR · BONUS

    Minisode: Franchise Funds: Is Venture Broken?

    Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Laura Thompson, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to riff on her recent conversation with Thomas Kristensen, Partner at LGT Capital Partners. Together they discuss 2025’s sluggish exit market, and whether or not that’s a sign that venture is broken. They also discuss the importance of reinventing yourself to stay current with the market - even though LPs don’t love big changes - and if emerging managers can use founder product connectivity to their advantage.  Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.com Learn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.com Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox. CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (1:20) Aren’t We Supposed to Be Investing In Companies That Want to Go Public? (4:33) Difficulties of Maintaining a Franchise (6:24) ”There’s Gonna Be Some Really Difficult Vintages” (7:22) Being Paranoid to Be a Great Investor (10:33) Reintegrating AI

    12 min

  8. 11 MAR

    Franchise Funds: Is Being a VC Franchise the Ultimate Goal with Thomas Kristensen

    Thomas Kristensen, Partner at LGT Capital Partners, has decades of experience backing the top players in venture, but as an LP, doesn’t love the term "franchise fund.” He sits down with Bezer Clarkson,  Partner at Sapphire Partners, to discuss why GPs can’t rest on their laurels, that being a franchise shouldn’t be every VC’s ultimate goal, and how LPs can dig deep to find firms with a great founder product– and avoid ones that may look like franchises but could have already peaked. The two also share their predictions for 2025 exits and why they think a lot of founders don’t want to be public company CEOs. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners Learn more about OpenLP: openlp.vc Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.com For a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: subscribe.openlp.vc CHAPTERS: (0:00) Welcome to Origins (2:00) Are Franchise Funds Really Franchises? (7:49) What Counts As Performance? (12:03) How GPs Create (And Spend) Goodwill (15:45) A Consistent Founder Product (19:35) “There’s Plenty of Good Firms Out There That I Wouldn’t Necessarily Call Franchise Firms.” (27:08) Franchise Funds and Succession (35:43) Resting On Your Laurels (39:17) “A More Critical Year In Venture Than We Want It to Be.”

    43 min
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Hosted by a General Partner (GP) and a Limited Partner (LP), Origins dives into the venture capital ecosystem to learn how the people behind the money make decisions: How LPs choose VC funds to invest in, what drives performance in venture, the dos and don'ts of fundraising, what founders/entrepreneurs/CEOs need to do to raise a Seed, Series A and beyond, what it takes to go from emerging manager to franchise VC, and the latest private market trends and dynamics shaping the investment ecosystem. Origins is co-hosted by GP Nick Chirls and LP Beezer Clarkson.

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