What a way to start the summer!
I had the best time at GCM Grosvenor’s Consortium last month! If you haven’t been to Consortium before, I highly recommend it. It was my first conference back on the circuit, and I couldn't have chosen a better event to get me back in the groove. What was so fab about it? Well…
The GP Bootcamp Coaching Sessions were so practical. The Bootcamp featured about 20 different topics, all being covered by a different subject matter expert at a table. I sat in on the discussion about what LPs are looking for in materials, and it turns out that nothing has changed, and I'm still right. :)
The Pitch Perfect session allowed GPs to learn from their peers. Three GPs stood up in front of the whole room and delivered their pitch in five minutes — FIVE MINUTES. It felt impossible, but they all did it extraordinarily well and got real-time feedback from a panel of three LPs. It was awesome watching three folks (well, men, and so Grosvenor should probably work on that) who had such different investment strategies across PE articulate their stories.
Investor Insights let us into how different types of LPs are thinking about the current environment. Sure, an LP is an LP is an LP, but it was fascinating to hear the differences in the ways in which a corporate pension is thinking about inflation versus how a foundation is thinking about, for example. Emerging managers should keep these sorts of viewpoints in mind when thinking about which LPs to approach — whatever's going through their head is going to impact how they hear your story, so know your audience.
People are finally asking the right questions. During one panel, an LP said, "How do you define you?" and I nearly fell out of my chair. Being like other GPs isn't working anymore, and LPs are expecting — craving — fresh perspectives.
I grabbed a tennis ball out of midair. It was signed by Billie Jean King, and my life was made. :) I'd never heard Billie Jean speak before, and she's formidable: warm, hilarious, and honest-to-goodness makes you want to go out and change the world.
I'm so grateful to Renee Griffin for starting this gathering 20 years ago. It may have been my first, but it definitely won't be my last, since I saw with my own eyes lives changed in addition to connections made.
This is the last you'll hear from me for a while, since I'll be traveling almost the whole month of July, doing research for my book in North Carolina, then going to Arkansas for a writing residency.
I look forward to seeing you at some point this fall. Have a wonderful summer!