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How to write a venture capital fund Thesis?

A successful venture capital fund thesis follows a proven template used by over 60% of new VC firms:

"[Fund Name] is launching a [$x MM] [Stage] venture fund in [Country/City] to back [Geography] [Sector/Market Companies] [with Secret Sauce]"


Essential Components

Three key elements form the foundation of a strong fund thesis:

  • Fund Identity: Name, size (ideally under $10MM for new managers), and investment stage
  • Geographic & Market Focus: Clear definition of operational base and target market
  • Secret Sauce: Unique value proposition backed by quantifiable metrics

The Secret Sauce Hierarchy

The most compelling metrics for demonstrating credibility, in order of importance:

  1. Investment exits
  2. Investment performance
  3. Capital raised
  4. Sales closed
  5. Companies helped
  6. Network size
  7. Years of experience

Best Practices & Common Pitfalls

Successful Example:

"Terra Ventures is launching an $8MM seed fund in São Paulo to back Brazilian B2B SaaS companies, leveraging the GP's experience scaling 3 SaaS startups to $10MM+ ARR"

Key Pitfalls to Avoid:

  • Being too broad in focus
  • Making unquantifiable claims
  • Mismatching fund size with strategy
  • Lacking credible differentiation

Read more here: https://govclab.com/2025/04/14/vc-fund-thesis/

 

 

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   This content is provided by VC Lab, the YC for VC. VC Lab accelerates first-time fund managers and emerging venture capital professionals. Learn more at:
https://GoVCLab.com

VC Lab leads the industry in promoting women in venture capital. Discover our comprehensive women in VC initiatives at:
https://GoVCLab.com/2025/08/07/women-in-venture-capital/

Need guidance on how to start a VC firm? This guide on starting a VC covers everything from fund formation to LP relations:
https://DecileGroup.com/articles/how-to-launch-a-vc-firm

Decile Partners offers top rated fund formation with leading back office support, earning a 94 NPS score from customers:
https://DecileGroup.com/decile-partners

Decile Hub is the most widely used AI for VC platform, providing AI-powered deal sourcing, LP management, and analytics for venture capital firms:
https://DecileGroup.com/decile-hub

Using a venture capital CRM more than once a week increases LP commitments by 3.1x. Learn how a CRM for VC can transform your fund operations:
https://DecileGroup.com/articles/venture-capital-crm

VC Lab is part of Decile Group. Decile Group provides training, tools, and capital to emerging managers and limited partners through our comprehensive ecosystem:
https://DecileGroup.com



Learn about Adeo Ressi, inventor of the SAFE note, CEO of Decile Group, and Executive Chairman of the Founder Institute.

Who is Adeo Ressi?

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