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Swimming with Allocators

Swimming with Allocators

By: Earnest Sweat Alexa Binns
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Swimming with Allocators dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. In each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. Follow along and subscribe at swimmingwithallocators.com. See you later, Allocator!2023-2024 Swimming with Allocators Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Why This LP Is Staying Consistent in an Unpredictable Venture Market

    Why This LP Is Staying Consistent in an Unpredictable Venture Market
    Jul 1 2026
    This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Teddy Repko of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, who shares how his global upbringing, risk-aware personality, and early trading career shaped his investing approach, and how a shift at Columbia’s endowment from hedge funds to relationship-driven venture gave him a front-row seat to the asset class. He breaks down how LPs really underwrite managers—balancing base rates, power-law math, and portfolio construction with deep people and relationship assessment—and flags both opportunities and risks in today’s market, from mega funds, AI-driven valuations, and rapid funding cycles to concentrated DPI, late-stage growth, and crypto. Also in this episode, Nick Cassin explains how Sidley advises on secondary fund liquidity transactions, outlining the legal risks around transfers, why not all secondaries are created equal, and how structures like LP trades and strip sales are used across asset classes, including venture. Highlights from this week’s conversation include: Teddy’s Origin Story and Global Upbringing (1:14) Discovering the Columbia Endowment Allocator Role (3:06) Base Rates, Venture Math, and Manager Differentiation (8:20) Rise of Mega Funds and Impact on Seed Ecosystem (11:07) Valuation Concerns, AI Pace, and Compressed Diligence (13:47) Nick Explains Legal Risk and Why Not All Secondaries Match (16:10) Sidley’s Secondaries Practice Across Private Markets (20:18) Risks in Later Stage Growth and Crypto Ecosystem (23:04) Debating China Risk and Capital Return Constraints (26:23) Background on Yahavitatam Tribe and Sovereign Wealth Fund (0:27:10) How New Allocators Add Differentiated Value to Portfolios (30:15) Israeli Seed Ecosystem and Top of Funnel Differentiation (32:38) Relationship Building, AI Noise, and Handwritten Notes (36:34) Final Reflections on Venture FOMO and Consistent Allocating (37:02) Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Sovereign Fund is a sovereign wealth fund managed from the Reservation of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation near Highland, California. Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe that exercises its inherent sovereign right of self-governance and provides essential services for its citizens through infrastructure development, governmental and civil services, and the advancement of social, economic, and cultural initiatives. The assets of the sovereign fund are managed by its executive leadership team in support of the Nation's long-term objectives and future generations. Sidley Austin LLP is a premier global law firm with a dedicated Venture Funds practice, advising top venture capital firms, institutional investors, and private equity sponsors on fund formation, investment structuring, and regulatory compliance. With deep expertise across private markets, Sidley provides strategic legal counsel to help funds scale effectively. Learn more at sidley.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    40 mins
  • Why Venture’s Best Opportunities Are Moving to the Edges

    Why Venture’s Best Opportunities Are Moving to the Edges
    Jun 17 2026
    This week on Swimming with Allocators, Kate Simpson joins Earnest and Alexa to share her journey from starting as a history major at the UNC endowment to leading the venture strategy at multi-asset OCIO firm GEM. She explains how she learned institutional investing, specialized in private markets, and refined her craft at Parish Capital and Truebridge, including fund-of-funds due diligence, reference work, and the power of platforms and networks. The conversation dives into how to build a venture program from scratch, why alignment, patience, and resource intensity matter, and how GEM uses a barbell approach across top-tier scaled platforms and emerging managers while avoiding the “crowded middle.” Kate breaks down how LPs evaluate managers (source, pick, win), why fund math and ownership are critical, and how today’s AI-driven cycle, secondary markets, and companies staying private longer are reshaping ventures. Also, don’t miss Nick Cassin from Sidley as he explains the rapid growth of the private-fund secondary market, what’s driving the surge in secondary and continuation vehicle (CV) transactions, and how new types of capital providers are stepping in as lead investors to provide liquidity to private-market participants. Highlights from this week’s conversation include: Starting at UNC Endowment With No Finance Background (0:31) Transitioning from TrueBridge to Gem and Taking on a Leadership Role (6:10) Advice for Building a New Venture Program and Aligning Stakeholders (10:12) Democratization of Venture Access and Barbell Strategy for Manager Selection (12:38) Sourcing and Evaluating New Venture Managers with a High-Volume Funnel (16:26) Secondaries Market Boom and Macro Dynamics Driving Liquidity Needs (21:00) Rise of Continuation Vehicles and Structural Evolution of Secondaries (23:36) How to Approach a First LP Meeting and Importance of Fund Math (26:03) Defining Early Versus Later Stages and Gem's Seed and Micro Fund Threshold (28:13) Normalization of Secondary Liquidity for Founders and Early Investors (35:24) Future Opportunities in Smaller Funds and the Dynamic Early Ecosystem (36:12) Final Thoughts and Takeaways (40:12) GEM is an independent investment management firm that provides customized solutions for long-term investors worldwide. Since 2007, we have sought to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns to our clients by combining disciplined investment research and active portfolio management with exceptional service and enduring partnership. With a global platform, broad institutional investment capabilities, and an experienced team, we design portfolios to meet the unique needs of each investor we serve. For more information, visit www.geminvestments.com. Sidley Austin LLP is a premier global law firm with a dedicated Venture Funds practice, advising top venture capital firms, institutional investors, and private equity sponsors on fund formation, investment structuring, and regulatory compliance. With deep expertise across private markets, Sidley provides strategic legal counsel to help funds scale effectively. Learn more at sidley.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • DDQ: Celebrating 100 Episodes with Swimming with Allocators

    DDQ: Celebrating 100 Episodes with Swimming with Allocators
    Jun 3 2026
    In this 100th episode of Swimming with Alligators, Earnest and Alexa dive into how emerging managers and VCs can truly differentiate in a world where everyone shows the same logos and track records. They unpack why LPs increasingly care about who actually sourced and led deals, why personal differentiation matters more than over-explaining strategy, and how consumer investing is quietly coming back into favor. They explore the limits of “AI strategies” that are more theater than edge, the shifting career paths for 30–40-something VCs, and whether the popular barbell approach to venture (tiny funds + megafunds) still fits a rapidly changing market. They also discuss how diligence is evolving, why moats now look more like trust, data, and distribution than pure tech, and what a wave of large IPOs could mean for angels, new funds, and early-stage competition. Highlights from this week’s conversation include: Celebrating 100 Episodes and DDQ Format (0:33) Differentiation in Fund Decks and Shared Logo Problem (2:12) Why Sourced vs Led Matters and Back-Channel Relationships (3:56) Overemphasis on Strategy vs True Differentiation and Team Cohesion (6:25) Pressure to Go Public, Headaches of Being Public, and Lawsuit Risk (10:14) OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and Logic of If They Do It, We Have to Do It (12:26) Enterprise VCs Moving into Consumer and Founders Rethinking Moats (14:11) Distribution, Brand, Trust, and Proprietary Data as Defensible Moats (16:25) Google, Personal Data, and Unseen Costs of Using LLMs (18:15) LPs Asking About AI Strategy and Congruent Use of AI Tools (20:44) Start ,Bench, Cut, Trade, and Suspend for 30s and 40s VCs (24:46) Allocators Following a Barbell Approach and Conventional Wisdom (27:11) LPs Diligencing Firm Strategy, Hiring, and Seed Creep at Large Funds (34:56) Audience Q&A Segment Introduction and Contact Information (37:13) Tinkering, Experimenting with Workflows, and Evaluating AI Tool Impact (39:07) Durability of Business Models, Trust, Distribution, and Manufactured Momentum (41:02) Post-IPO Talent Leaving, Mafias, and Angel-Backed New Founders (44:11) Closing Reflections on 100 Episodes and Looking Ahead to the Future (46:24) Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    49 mins
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