271. LP Turned VC, Mistakes When Pitching to Allocators, and Managing Limited Partner Relationships (Marcelino Pantoja)

Marcelino Pantoja of Tribe Capital joins Nick to discuss LP Turned VC, Mistakes When Pitching to Allocators, and Managing Limited Partner Relationships. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC Refresh on the thesis at Tribe? Talk to us about the mindset of the allocator — what are their key objectives and what do they care about? What are the biggest mistakes you see emerging managers making when pitching LPs? Let's say an aspiring VC has a few years until they will raise from institutions... what should they be focusing on in order to create a really compelling offering in the medium term? Let's say an emerging GP is raising from institutions imminently... what advice would you have for them? Do you think it's significantly easier for an institution to make an investment in some coming from a large successful Tier 1 fund, spinoff, vs. a successful operator or angel? What are the key challenge areas that the LP is really going to scrutinize on the spin-off and what are the areas under scrutiny for the operator? Sometimes it's hard to get information on LPs from a distance... do you have any advice for fund managers that are trying to pre-qualify? What is the difference between a good LP and one that may be a problem... how does a GP determine that early enough to avoid bringing on the wrong types of LPs? In what ways is your job similar and different moving from LP to VC? How do you compete against other firms for deals?  I understand the value-add but the value has become competitive with a larger number of firms... how can you continue to win and do so at a price that makes sense for the return potential?