Webinar
Chestnut Street Ventures Presents: Venture Capital 101
Watch an on-demand 45-minute Venture Capital 101 presentation covering key documents, stages, and the basic principles of venture capital investing. The presentation is open to all alumni and friends of Penn and will be led by Chestnut Street Ventures’ Managing Partners Brian Keil and Jonathan Meltzer.
See video policy below.
Post Webinar Summary
Brian Keil, Managing Partner at Chestnut Street Ventures, along with his colleague Mason Hale, provided an overview of the venture capital space, focusing on how individual funds operate throughout their lifecycle. They began with an introduction to the key concepts of venture capital, emphasizing its role in investing in private companies that are typically disruptive and innovative in large markets. The discussion included insights into industry sectors that are most attractive to venture capitalists, such as enterprise tech, consumer tech, and fintech, and highlighted the risk-reward profile of venture capital compared to other asset classes. Keel and Hale also outlined the structure and operations of a venture capital fund, explaining the importance of fundraising, portfolio building, and the strategic allocation of capital to successful companies within the fund. The session concluded with a discussion on the historical performance of venture capital, noting its strong returns and low correlation to public markets, making it a valuable asset class for sophisticated investors.
During the session, we discuss:
- HomeThe stages of venture capital
- HomeKey aspects of investing (theme-building, sourcing, and winning deals, etc.)
- HomeImportant documents involved in investing
- HomeExamples of what to look for when evaluating deals
Note: You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at av-funds.com/disclosures.
About your presenters
Brian is a seasoned venture capitalist with over 20 years of investing experience across a range of industries. Before joining Chestnut Street Ventures, Brian was the Managing Director for New York Ventures, the venture capital arm of the State of New York. Prior to that, he was VP of Strategy & Corporate Development at Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio) and a Managing Director at the Peacock Fund, the venture capital arm of NBC Universal. Before joining the Peacock Fund, Brian worked at GE Capital and Bain & Co. Brian holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from The University of Southern California.
Jonathan has almost 20 years of investment experience. He previously managed over $300 million of venture capital, private equity, and credit investments at a $1 billion single-family office. Prior to that, Jonathan invested throughout the capital structure of private companies at Ulysses Management and at American Capital, frequently serving as a board member or advisor. Jonathan began his career as an investment banker, spending five years at Wasserstein Perella and at Goldman Sachs. He earned his BS in Economics cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in three years, and his MBA with honors from Columbia Business School.