E408: HarbourVest: Why Venture Capital Is Chasing Trillion-Dollar Companies

Highlights:

• Why accepting losses is the price of capturing venture's biggest winners.
• The data behind why 10% of companies generate 90% of industry returns.
• How secondaries allow LPs and GPs to stay invested in generational companies.
• Why some of the best venture funds intentionally extend beyond their original 10-year life.
• Why great venture investments almost always look "too expensive" at the time.
• How HarbourVest evaluates individual partners instead of just venture firms.
• The subtle signals Scott looks for when conducting GP references.
• Why diversification across vintages matters more than trying to time venture cycles.
• How HarbourVest believes venture investing will evolve over the next decade.

Guest Bio:

Scott Voss is a Partner at HarbourVest, a $160B multi-manager private equity firm, where he leads venture and co-investment strategies. With 27 years at the firm, he has helped scale HarbourVest from $150M to $160B AUM, pioneering the firm’s secondary, direct, and continuation vehicle strategies. Scott specializes in portfolio construction, private market diversification, and building long-term strategic GP relationships to generate repeatable alpha.

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Sponsor:

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Disclaimer:

HarbourVest Partners, LLC is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This material is solely for informational purposes and should not be viewed as a current or past recommendation or an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy securities or adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed herein represent the current, good faith views of the author(s) at the time of publication, are not definitive investment advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This material has been developed internally and/or obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, HarbourVest does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of such information. There is no assurance that any events or projections will occur, and outcomes may be significantly different than the opinions shown here. This information, including any projections concerning financial market performance, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. The information contained herein must be kept strictly confidential and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any format without the express written approval of HarbourVest.

Nothing herein should be construed as a solicitation, offer, recommendation, representation of suitability, legal advice, tax advice, or endorsement of any security or investment and should not be relied upon by you in evaluating the merits of investing in HarbourVest funds or in any other investment decision.