Meet the Expert
Luciana Castro
Director of Investor Relations, Abingworth
- Consultant in investor relations for venture capital and private equity, with experience at three venture firms – VantagePoint Capital Partners, Bay Partners and Kodiak Venture Partners.
- Has served as primary contact with hundreds of venture fund limited partners, domestic and international, developing detailed ongoing communications, portfolio financial updates and meeting presentations.
- Has managed communications and public relations for major fundraising efforts, meetings with prospective investors, and preparation of due diligence questionnaires and related documents.
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Investor Relations for Venture Capital
Director of Investor Relations, Abingworth
Overview
Without investors, the venture capital industry would not exist.
While this may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious, until fairly recently, many venture capital firms behaved as if it wasn't the case.
Venture capital was like the popular new kid at school. Appealing, if also mysterious, it was a truly unique investment opportunity. The risks were high, but success stories also abounded. VC firms gave savvy investors the chance to be on the cutting edge of all that was new and exciting in technology and biotech. Fortunes were made and entirely new industries were launched by matching visionary scientists with inspired entrepreneurs.
It was very heady stuff, and with just a handful of firms in the business, those with a successful track record didn't need to worry about marketing. They had investors lined up around the block. As for customer service, if the VC firm alienated a limited partner, there were plenty more waiting to take the unhappy investor's place. For a very short list of top-tier VC firms, this is still the case.
For most firms, however, those days are long gone.
The dot-com boom was followed by the dot-com bust, and the economic meltdown of 2008 drastically tightened financial markets worldwide. The venture capital industry has matured to become more sophisticated, selective and competitive. Limited partners have demanded and obtained more power. Transparency and accessibility have become more important.
To succeed in the current market, most VC firms must not only focus considerable time and effort on building good relationships with their current limited partners, they must also maintain an ongoing outreach to court new investors. They've been around long enough to know how fast things can change and why it's always a good idea to have new investors waiting in the wings.
While this may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious, until fairly recently, many venture capital firms behaved as if it wasn't the case.
Venture capital was like the popular new kid at school. Appealing, if also mysterious, it was a truly unique investment opportunity. The risks were high, but success stories also abounded. VC firms gave savvy investors the chance to be on the cutting edge of all that was new and exciting in technology and biotech. Fortunes were made and entirely new industries were launched by matching visionary scientists with inspired entrepreneurs.
It was very heady stuff, and with just a handful of firms in the business, those with a successful track record didn't need to worry about marketing. They had investors lined up around the block. As for customer service, if the VC firm alienated a limited partner, there were plenty more waiting to take the unhappy investor's place. For a very short list of top-tier VC firms, this is still the case.
For most firms, however, those days are long gone.
The dot-com boom was followed by the dot-com bust, and the economic meltdown of 2008 drastically tightened financial markets worldwide. The venture capital industry has matured to become more sophisticated, selective and competitive. Limited partners have demanded and obtained more power. Transparency and accessibility have become more important.
To succeed in the current market, most VC firms must not only focus considerable time and effort on building good relationships with their current limited partners, they must also maintain an ongoing outreach to court new investors. They've been around long enough to know how fast things can change and why it's always a good idea to have new investors waiting in the wings.
Investor Relations for Venture Capital:
Overview
Expert Topic