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

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-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Curie.Bio: curie.bioFor 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.vcCHAPTERS:(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"

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 CareerLearn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Theory Ventures: theory.venturesSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

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 2026Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

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-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Index Ventures: indexventures.comSubscribe 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

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-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe 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

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-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comLearn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.comSubscribe 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

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-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.comFor 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.vcCHAPTERS:(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.” 

Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, revisits her conversation from 2023 with David Clark, Investment Director at VenCap International plc. In this episode, she and co-host Nick Chirls, Partner at Asylum Ventures, dive into David’s nearly four decades of experience in investing in some of the most established VC funds across the US, Europe, China and India. David shares historical figures on where to find performance in venture and his findings from a recently uncovered 30 year trove of data from 400+ funds with 15,000+ underlying portfolio companies. In this data set, he found that 50% of VC investments don’t actually return capital. So how does an LP unlock performance and find the enduring managers?Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe 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 Origins2:46-30 Years of Data at VenCap6:10-Almost Always Working With Established Managers11:19-A Very High Breakage Rate Between Funds One & Two16:01-Figuring Out Who the Next Great Ones Are24:41-Having At Least One Company That Returns the Entire Fund31:26-Building an LP Program36:18-Building a Program Where DPI Matters42:06-Looking Back On Predictions for 202450:49-Looking for GPs to Get Ahead of the Curve

Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Laura Thompson, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to unpack her recent conversation with Jessica Archibald, a GP at Top Tier Capital. They discuss Jessica’s engineering-based analytical approach to answering the question “what makes a franchise?” and discuss some surprising things they learned - Jessica’s view that there’s only one real way to do succession, the importance of breaking good and bad news in a way that creates a performance culture, and whether or not they’re going to adopt Jessica’s policy of assigning letter grades to funds at Sapphire Partners. 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 Read Laura Thompson’s blog on why venture reserves aren’t always a good thing: sapphireventures.com/blog/dirty-secret-venture-reserves-are-not-always-a-good-thing/ Read Laura Thompson’s blog on fund recycling: sapphireventures.com/blog/fund-recycling-moves-the-needle-for-both-lps-and-gps-heres-how/ Read Laura Thompson’s blog on QSBS: sapphireventures.com/blog/how-lps-gps-and-founders-can-leverage-qsbs-to-make-more-money/ 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) - Intro (1:08) - Jessica Takes It In a Different Direction (3:41) - Communicating with your LP base (So There Aren’t Surprises) (7:15) - Franchise Funds Are Intentional (9:44) - Getting to 1x DPI in Nine Years (15:55) - 2x is the new 3x (19:43) - Giving Funds Letter Grades

Jessica Archibald is a GP and member of the Investment Committee at Top Tier Capital Partners, where she is co lead of the funds team and participates extensively in the capital formation efforts of the firm. She and Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, sit down for the next episode in this miniseries on franchise funds - what it takes to build one, and how some firms lose their franchise status. Jessica digs into Top Tier’s numbers to discuss the importance of getting reliable DPI in a set timeframe, why it’s often better to bet on consistent 3x or even 1x returns, and the importance of succession in building a franchise fund. 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 2:10 Jessica’s Time with Top Tier 4:08 Fund Graduation Rates 8:43 Who is a Franchise Fund Today? 13:21 ”Is There a DPI Number Somebody Has to Hit to Be Considered Extraordinary?” 17:10 Can You Become a Franchise Fund By Doing Secondaries? 25:08 The Range of Strategies in Franchise Funds 31:32 Maintaining Franchise Status 35:33 What Do Founders Want? 39:42 ”Are You a Franchise Fund If You Haven’t Had Some Level of Succession?” 48:02 End of Year Guidance For New Venture Funds

Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Laura Thompson, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to discuss her recent conversation with Stephen Bluestein, Partner of Primary Investments at Adams Street and formerly Packard Foundation, about what it takes to make (and potentially later break) a franchise fund in venture. Together, Beezer and Laura debrief their top takeaways, including: do the hallmarks of a franchise differ between GPs and LPs (or even amongst different LPs); how does a franchise produce a lights-out 5x or 10x fund at their fund size; is a consistent 2x net good enough; parallels of sports franchises; and, does the right to win with the best founders mean you will then deliver the best returns? 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 Adams Street Partners: adamsstreetpartners.com Read Laura Thompson’s blog on why venture reserves aren’t always a good thing: sapphireventures.com/blog/dirty-secret-venture-reserves-are-not-always-a-good-thing/ Read Laura Thompson’s blog on fund recycling: sapphireventures.com/blog/fund-recycling-moves-the-needle-for-both-lps-and-gps-heres-how/ Read Laura Thompson’s blog on QSBS: sapphireventures.com/blog/how-lps-gps-and-founders-can-leverage-qsbs-to-make-more-money/ Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

Stephen Bluestein has had an impressive career in Venture, beginning at Bessemer Venture Partners before moving to TCV, Light Street Capital, and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, before landing in his current role as a partner in the primary investment team at Adams Street Partners. He sits down with Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to discuss what makes a fund a franchise. They discuss the importance of building and maintaining a brand that stands for something in the market, making investments that are consistent with your philosophy, and together, they zero in on the tipping point of when a fund can be officially considered a franchise. 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 Adams Street Partners: adamsstreetpartners.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 Origins2:15-Digging into Franchise Funds: Stephen’s Background 6:48-What Defines a Franchise? 15:30-How Long Does it Take to Become a Franchise? 21:06-The Minimum Viable Performance Metric to be Considered a Franchise 27:13-Pivoting From One Exceptional Fund into a Franchise 33:21-How to Inculcate Exceptionality 39:55-Diligencing Franchise Funds 45:28-“Know Thyself”: A Message for Aspiring Franchise Funds

Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures,  and Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners go deep into their recent conversation with Wesley Chan, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of FPV Ventures. They unpack Wesley’s direct learnings from Sergey Brin coming up at Google, how it is the job of the investor to spot greatness, his views on company pivots (and how they oppose another recent guest, Mike Maples’ views on pivots), the difficulties of thinking independently in Silicon Valley, and the serendipitous way Wesley and Sapphire Partners wound up working together in the first place. Plus Nick, it turns out, is kind of a tax guy. He and Beezer discuss the hidden benefits of being an expert on QSBS. 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 FPV Ventures: fpvventures.com Read Laura Thompson’s article on QSBS: sapphireventures.com/blog/how-lps-gps-and-founders-can-leverage-qsbs-to-make-more-money/ Listen to Mike Maples & Jai Das discuss pivots: open.spotify.com/show/23H0tOX63xMChV2SErQKnZ?si=a9aab8b3e4c34dde Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

Wesley Chan is a true legend in Silicon Valley. He spent time at Microsoft and HP, and in 2002 he jumped to Google. There, he worked as Sergey Brin’s Chief of Staff and founded Google Analytics and Google Voice - all before then founding and leading the seed investing program at Google Ventures as GP. Under his tenure, GV was the first institutional check into companies like Plaid, Gusto, Lucid, and Robinhood. Wesley sits down with Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures,  and Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to discuss his investment philosophy and what motivates him. Wesley discusses his early days at Google being pushed to make products that change the world, finding founders who have a 100-year plan, and being driven not by the desire to prove other people wrong, but to prove himself right. 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 FPV Ventures: fpvventures.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-Introduction & the Burning Question3:11-Working for Sergey Brin: “If you’re not changing the world, you’re wasting your time.” 9:22-They're not there to screw the world, they're there to improve the world. 15:07-I'm not a university or your tuition money. We're giving you a check to go win. 17:05-Knowing just enough to be dangerous 27:58-The Exit Market: No one wants to test the market. LPs, hang on. 33:07-FPV’s take on AI 34:09-Founder success is the gift that keeps on giving

Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures,  and Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, unpack their recent conversation with Jai Das, President + Partner at Sapphire Ventures and Mike Maples, Co-Founder + Partner at Floodgate,  to answer their burning question: What changes in the way seed and growth investors think, and what stays the same? They discuss the crushing importance of team no matter the stage; the parallels in LP land (at the end of the day, you’re just backing people); the difference between small iterations on a business model vs a radical remaking of a company; and the imperfect information you get at Seed vs the luxury of canvasing an entire landscape at growth via customer calls and key metrics.   Learn more about Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/ Learn more about OpenLP: https://openlp.sapphireventures.com/ Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc Learn more about Floodgate: https://www.floodgate.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-Intro & Takeaways 1:20-Is This the Team That’s Going to IPO? 4:02-Early Stage Pivots 7:44-How Hard a Pivot is Too Hard? 12:23-LP Strategy for Picking Managers 13:09-The Importance of Timing 15:59-You Need to Call the Customers 18:05-Outro