Franchise Funds: Is Being a VC Franchise the Ultimate Goal with Thomas Kristensen
Franchise Funds: Is Being a VC Franchise the Ultimate Goal with Thomas Kristensen  
Podcast: Origins - Inside Venture Capital, Hosted by a GP and an LP
Published On: Tue Mar 11 2025
Description: Thomas Kristensen, Partner at LGT Capital Partners, has decades of experience backing the top players in venture, but as an LP, doesn’t love the term "franchise fund.” He sits down with Bezer Clarkson,  Partner at Sapphire Partners, to discuss why GPs can’t rest on their laurels, that being a franchise shouldn’t be every VC’s ultimate goal, and how LPs can dig deep to find firms with a great founder product– and avoid ones that may look like franchises but could have already peaked. The two also share their predictions for 2025 exits and why they think a lot of founders don’t want to be public company CEOs.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about OpenLP: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://openlp.vc⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about Asylum Ventures: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://asylum.vc⁠⁠⁠Learn more about LGT Capital Partners: https://lgtcp.comFor a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: https://subscribe.openlp.vcCHAPTERS:0:00 Welcome to Origins2:00 Are Franchise Funds Really Franchises?7:49 What Counts As Performance?12:03 How GPs Create (And Spend) Goodwill15:45 A Consistent Founder Product19:35 “There’s Plenty of Good Firms Out There That I Wouldn’t Necessarily Call Franchise Firms.”27:08 Franchise Funds and Succession35:43 Resting On Your Laurels39:17 “A More Critical Year In Venture Than We Want It to Be.” Origins is produced by Sapphire Ventures in partnership with⁠⁠ Pod People.⁠Nothing presented herein is intended to constitute investment advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Sapphire Ventures, LLC (“Sapphire”). Any offer or solicitation of securities by Sapphire may only be made in accordance with the current offering documents for a managed Fund in which Sapphire is an advisor. Additionally, Sapphire does not solicit or make its services available to the public; such offerings may only be provided to accredited investors and qualified purchasers defined within the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. Information provided reflects Sapphire Ventures’ views as of a particular time. Such views are subject to change at any point and Sapphire Ventures shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in these statements. While Sapphire Ventures has used reasonable efforts to obtain information from reliable sources, Sapphire makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of third party information presented herein. Nothing presented herein may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular investment opportunity or strategy. Past performance is not indicative of future results.