Lyndell Eakman spent 13 years at UTIMCO building their venture program and making early institutional investments in now-iconic firms like Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and Foundry Group itself, giving him rare experience as both an LP who helped build multiple category-defining VC franchises and later as a GP. He was specifically recruited to design and lead Foundry Group Next, which formalized their dual role as both an LP in early-stage VC funds and a direct later-stage investor, creating a network of around 45 partner funds and 1900 network companies.

• Strong belief in the outperformance of new and emerging venture funds as well as small risk taking startup teams. Having spent over two decades supporting emerging managers, a major recurring theme is that new funds consistently outperform established ones by offering innovative strategies and connecting capital directly with talent. For example, highlighting financial simulation data showing that money contributed to early stage managers yields a much higher chance of maximum returns compared to legacy firms.
• Focus on team stability and human networks as the ultimate competitive advantages. Because building tools and technology is changing so rapidly that no one can easily keep up, true value is found in the talent and goodwill built into a founders personal network. Furthermore, a critical risk to underwrite against is the founding team breaking apart, which is viewed as the primary reason emerging managers and early stage companies fail.
• Attention to the shifting landscape of software business models and the end of the legacy software as a service playbook. The old strategy of finding a common business workflow, building a nice interface, and charging a monthly fee per seat is seen as an outdated approach. Instead, there is anticipation of a massive technological wave where users will reinvent how they interact with software through entirely new interfaces.
• Interest in the psychology of pricing and aligning company strategy with fundamental strengths. There is a firm stance that a companys strategy must deeply match its strengths, with the ultimate size of the business simply being a natural output of that alignment. When it comes to product value, there is practical advice emphasizing that charging money for a product is a simple psychological necessity to ensure customers actually perceive its worth.