I spent a few days at a conference this week with the founders and managing partners of several large venture firms. Funds in the $500M to $3B range.

I came away more convinced than ever that being solo is the right model for me.

The Stat That Stopped Me Cold

I asked the same question to a handful of GPs: where does your daily attention actually go?

The answers were strikingly consistent. Between 50% and 75% of their daily email, Slack, and texts are internal. Their own team. Not founders.

Half to three quarters of their best hours, going to managing the people who manage the firm.

The Math of a Solo GP

I'm the only employee at Refactor. No partners, no associates, no investment committee, no chief of staff.

That means my inbox looks different. The vast majority of what I read and write every day is to and from founders. Prospective founders pitching me. Portfolio founders working through a hire, a board deck, a tough quarter.

When you remove the internal layer, the math changes. The hours other GPs spend running their firm, I get to spend with founders (and my agents, of course heh).

Different Models, Different Tradeoffs

Large firms have real advantages, and many founders thrive with that infrastructure. Different model, different tradeoffs.

But for the founders I want to back, building hard things in the physical world, what they need most isn't a platform. It's a partner who picks up the phone.

That's the bet I made in 2015, and ten years later, it's the bet I'll continue to make.

#BetterCallZal

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