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About the guest:
Kevin Moore is the Founder and Managing Partner of Serac Ventures. Kevin took a unique 15-year path to the world of Venture Capital, spending over a decade in wealth management before launching his own firm. He shares his disciplined approach to fundraising, emphasizing that success in VC is built as much on sales and relationship-building as it is on picking winners. Kevin has also authored the book “Starting Your Own Venture Investment Fund”
Key insights from the episode:
1. The "Right Time" Fallacy
Kevin waited 15 years to start his firm, often paralyzed by the idea of waiting for the perfect moment. His insight? There is no right time.
The Analogy: He compares starting a fund to having a child. "Every child that we've had... we always said to ourselves it was never going to be the right time. You just had to make it happen."
The Lesson: You don’t find the right time to launch a fund; you create it by deciding to move.
2. Venture Capital is 50% Sales
Coming from a background as a financial advisor, Kevin highlights an uncomfortable truth for many investors: picking great startups is only half the job.
The Reality: "Fifty percent of what you do is selling yourself, selling your product, selling your portfolio."
The Edge: He believes his time in wealth management gave him a massive competitive advantage over pure investors because he learned how to "break complex matters down" and sell a vision—a skill essential for winning over both LPs and founders.
3. The "Know, Like, Trust" Framework (In That Exact Order)
Kevin explains that LPs follow a strict psychological progression before writing a check. You cannot skip steps.
Know You: They see you in the ecosystem, at events, or on podcasts.
Like You: They enjoy the conversation and have rapport with you.
Trust You: This is the hardest part. It comes from consistency—sending newsletters, updates, and staying visible over time.
The Diagnostic: "If you look across any LP that has ever said no, it's because one of those three things didn't happen."
Kevin warns aspiring managers about the financial barrier to entry that is rarely discussed.
The Number: It costs at least $250,000 just to get a firm off the ground (legal, travel, admin, organizational expenses) before you even invest.
The Strategy: Kevin saved his own capital for years and brought in a small minority partner in the GP specifically to cover this "working capital," ensuring he didn't run out of runway before the management fees kicked in.
5. Why LPs Don't Care About Your Past (As Much As You Think)
One of Kevin’s biggest misconceptions was thinking his 15 years of diverse investing experience (public markets, private equity, angel investing) would be his selling point.
The Insight: LPs saw his history as "disparate" and "fragmented." They didn't care about what he had done; they cared about the specific, focused strategy of Serac Ventures.
The Takeaway: You are graded on your future strategy and your ability to execute that specific thesis, not just your past resume.
6. The "Fast No" Strategy
Looking back at his first 10 LP meetings, Kevin regrets not asking "qualifying questions" sooner.
The Mistake: He spent too much time "relationship building" with LPs who were never going to invest.
The Fix: Now, he asks factual questions upfront: "Are you deploying right now?", "Do you back emerging managers?" If the answer is no, he politely ends the pitch to save the most valuable asset an emerging manager has: Time.
7. Right-Sizing Fund I to $10M
Kevin resisted the urge to raise a larger fund or a smaller "proof of concept" fund.
The Logic: $10M was the "foundational floor" needed to prove his thesis properly and build a scalable platform. Anything less risks looking like a "Fund Zero" (a hobby/project) rather than a "Fund One" (an institutional firm).
🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear how to build a durable business that survives the bubble.
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