Erik is joined on this episode by Beezer (Elizabeth) Clarkson (@Beezer232), managing director at Sapphire Ventures, and Chris Douvos (@cdouvos), founder of Ahoy Capital. They talk about: - The state of the venture industry and the industry from the LP perspective. - Why venture is “either all about access or audacity.” - How LPs pick which funds to back. - Whether there is too much capital in the venture capital asset class. - What “dilettante capital” is and why there are more “clowns” in the industry than ever for whom lightning struck in the form of an outlier investment. - The three main ways that venture funds are differentiated. - Why succession is always a threat in venture and how good firms have been able to manage when a GP "calls in rich." - Why a good venture firm operates like a basketball team and a bad one operates like a tennis team. - The difference between building a firm and deploying capital. - Some impromptu book recommendations of classic works on California. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal. Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg. Colin Campbell was our audio engineer for this episode and the show is produced by Brett Bolkowy.