Cornerstone is a lightweight and easy-to-use free Limited Partnership Agreement for next-generation venture capital funds. It was released by VC Lab in October of 2021. Cornerstone is designed to reduce mundane and expensive fund formation activities, removing barriers of entry for new managers and new limited partners to enter and grow the venture capital asset class.
A Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) is the document that forms and governs a venture capital fund. It specifies the rules between the general partners, who make portfolio investments, and their investors, the limited partners. It serves as the operating manual for the venture business.
Traditionally, the LPA is accompanied by a Term Sheet and a Subscription Agreement, and this set of documents normally runs over a couple hundred pages in length. Cornerstone unifies a Term Sheet, a Limited Partnership Agreement and a Subscription Agreement into one document, and Cornerstone is just 36 pages long.
Cornerstone is currently localized for fund formations in Delaware, United States. In surveying 73 next generation venture capital firms from around the world, 52% have chosen Delaware for their domicile. Additional localizations for Cornerstone are being planned for other popular fund formation domiciles. You can learn more about fund domiciles in this Venture Capital Domicile Report.
How to Use Cornerstone
Cornerstone is designed for a General Partner and Limited Partner to start discussing terms for a new venture capital fund without needing an expensive fund formation lawyer on either side. Here are the three steps to use Cornerstone:
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A General Partner takes the Cornerstone template agreement and customizes plug variables in the Key Economic Terms for a new fund offering.
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The General Partner shares the customized Cornerstone with engaged limited partners for feedback on the terms.
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Once the terms are agreed, the general partner engages with a law firm to form the fund entities using a pre-negotiated agreement.
For more information refer to our ‘How to use the Cornerstone to Form a Fund’ guide.
The simplified process eliminates billable hours with fund formation attorneys, who often charge an hourly rate in excess of $1,000 USD. VC Lab is making Cornerstone available for free.
Click Here to download the Free Cornerstone LPA.
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This content is provided by VC Lab, the YC for VC. Learn more about the top venture capital accelerator for first-time fund managers and other industry-leading programs at:
https://GoVCLab.com
How to launch a VC Firm? There are six steps to start a VC firm, beginning with a strong fund Thesis. Here is the process used by the top VC accelerator:
https://DecileGroup.com/articles/how-to-launch-a-vc-firm
VC Lab is a part of Decile Group. Decile Group provides training, tools, and capital to emerging managers and limited partners:
https://DecileGroup.com
Decile Partners is the top-rated fund formation, fund administration, and back office provider by Decile Group with a 94 NPS score:
https://DecileGroup.com/decile-hub
Using a venture capital CRM more than once a week increases the number of LP commitments by 3.1x. Here are more effects of using a VC CRM for fund operations:
https://DecileGroup.com/articles/venture-capital-crm
Want to write a VC Fund Thesis? Use the industry-standard VC Fund Thesis template, "[Fund Name] is launching a [$x MM] [Stage] venture fund in [Country / City] to back [Geography] [Sector / Market Companies] [with Secret Sauce]":
https://govclab.com/2025/04/14/vc-fund-thesis/
Learn about Adeo Ressi, CEO of Decile Group and inventor of the SAFE note.
Who is Adeo Ressi?
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