Giving Back: From Internships to our Co-op Program

This is part 7 of 10 of our 10 Years of Laconia Series.

When we launched Laconia, we knew education and mentorship would be central to our mission. Our first step in cultivating the next generation of venture talent was practical: As a small, growing firm, we needed help with everything from updating our CRM to conducting due diligence. We started an internship program, bringing on two to three paid interns throughout the year.

From the beginning, we approached our internship program differently than most firms. These bright, curious students and young professionals brought fresh perspectives, challenged our assumptions, and made us better investors. We found ourselves dedicating significant time to mentoring them, including them in investment meetings, bringing them along to board meetings, and teaching them how to write investment memos.

Our interns went on to join portfolio companies, become full-time investors, and build their own startups. (One of them even ended up a Partner at Laconia!) Word spread, and soon we were receiving hundreds of high-quality applications for just a handful of spots, and I started to tear my hair out—how could it be that there are so many talented people who want to learn about venture capital and leverage their skills to help startups, and we only have 2 spots?

I couldn’t get these questions out of my head: What if we could scale this impact? What if we could create a program that would expand access to venture capital education while maintaining the hands-on, transparent approach that made our internship program successful?

In 2021, we transformed our internship track into a fellowship program and launched the Venture Cooperative with a clear mission: to create the most accessible path into venture capital. We took everything we learned from our internship program—the importance of real-world exposure, the value of transparency, the power of hands-on learning and built it into a scalable format that could reach hundreds of participants globally.

The program's impact has been significant. In just a few years, we've trained over 1,300 fellows from diverse backgrounds across the globe. Our fellows include successful founders, operators transitioning to investing, angel investors seeking institutional experience, aspiring fund managers, and career transitioners. Most notably, 80% of our fellows come from underrepresented backgrounds in venture capital.

The Venture Cooperative's strength lies in its depth of engagement. Fellows don't just learn theory; they participate in live deal flow, investment meetings, and due diligence. They get direct mentorship from our investment team and network with industry leaders. They also have skin in the game: if a fellow sources an investment that we make, they share in the upside.

The program's benefits flow both ways. Fellows expand our market footprint and deal flow—they've identified over 300 startups, leading to multiple companies in due diligence and completed investments. They become informed potential LPs—six program participants invested in Fund III, without the burden of the typically exclusionary high investment minimums. And they strengthen our network—we even met Mirit Lugassi, now an Associate at Laconia, through an event invitation from a Venture Fellow.

Our fellows' successes validate the program's approach. They've launched their own funds, started venture studios, created angel syndicates, and spun off their own fellowship programs.

The evolution from our internship program to the Venture Cooperative mirrors Laconia’s broader journey: we started small, stayed curious, and weren’t afraid to think differently about how things “should” be done. identifying opportunities, testing solutions, and scaling what works. We saw an opportunity to create impact at scale while staying true to our values of transparency, collaboration, and community.

As we approach our 10th anniversary, the Venture Cooperative represents one of our proudest achievements. It's a testament to our belief that venture capital can—and should—be more accessible, more diverse, and more collaborative. By giving back and opening doors for others, we've not only helped shape the next generation of venture talent but also become better investors and builders along the way.

Here's to the next decade of learning, teaching, and growing together.

Geri Kirilova

Our Unique LP Base and Fund Structure: An Entrepreneurial Approach

This is part 6 of 10 of our 10 Years of Laconia Series.

We just don't fit in. Our personality has always been that of outsiders. This outsider identification is likely what drove us to become founders in the first place, both as operators and as venture capitalists. We are drawn to entrepreneurial niches that pique our curiosity, where there’s a unique fit, and then we build something meaningful around that opportunity. This is precisely how we built Laconia.

Laconia is the culmination of this approach, consisting of three core seed funds, a fund of funds, a number of later-stage SPVs (special purpose vehicles) allowing us to capitalize on our pro-rata rights, and GP interests in two blockchain infrastructure funds. We call this a horizontal approach to building assets under management (AUM). It enables us to achieve scale without losing our early-stage founder spirit. While we recognize the incentives and advantages of growing AUM, we’re committed to doing so without sacrificing our core strengths in seed-stage investing, upside potential, or alignment with our LPs. Our philosophy is simple: we make money when they make money.

A Unique LP Structure

Our LP structure sets us apart. Instead of relying on institutional investors, we’ve cultivated a base comprised primarily of family offices and high-net-worth individuals. This structure allows us to foster a more personal and collegial relationship with and among our LPs. By prioritizing engagement and open communication across all of Laconia’s activities, we’ve made education, collaboration, and community central to our operations. These principles not only enhance the value we provide to our portfolio companies but also make our partnerships deeply rewarding on a personal level.

Balancing Scale with Foundational Values

Over the past decade, we’ve grown Laconia from a start-up to a diversified investment platform. Yet, we’ve never lost sight of our identity as founders and entrepreneurs first. This identity drives our curiosity-driven, outsider approach to investing. We’ve consciously rejected the traditional founder/VC dichotomy, recognizing that such a divide can undermine the trust and collaboration essential to building successful companies. For us, bridging this gap isn’t just practical—it’s also more enjoyable.

Our horizontal approach to AUM growth allows us to remain nimble and aligned with the founders we back. By maintaining this balance, we’ve created a model that serves both our investors and our portfolio companies while staying true to our entrepreneurial roots. Laconia’s success is built on this foundation of trust, alignment, and curiosity—principles that guide us as we continue to navigate and shape the venture capital landscape.

David Arcara

We Didn't Follow the Lead Investor: How We Learned to Love Due Diligence

This is part 5 of 10 of our 10 Years of Laconia Series.

Power laws seem to be ever-present in human endeavor, or at least in the conduct of rigorous due diligence (DD). Warren Buffet famously noted that a receding economic tide reveals who’s swimming naked. A view into the conduct of VC due diligence can be just as revealing.

To be fair, there is some impressive DD being executed within our industry, but we learned early on that when it comes to how many firms actually conduct rigorous DD, let’s just say that the 80/20 rule is still very much alive and well.

Early on as angel-investors-turned-VCs, we were inclined to be in awe with “institutional” investors. After all, they were the big kids vetted by LPs and empowered by fee-funded resources. We couldn't wait to be in syndicated deals with the pros, hungering for all that we would learn from them. And learn we did; the good, the bad, and ugly!

Fortunately, it was an early deal that humbled our naivete. We were invited into our first syndication with some very established VCs; a pinch-me moment. Part of the syndication was an opportunity to see for the first time other VCs’ DD and deal memos. Holy grails of learning, we thought.

Ouch! Where was the detailed P&L analysis, thoughtful bottoms-up TAM assumptions, investigative insight into the founders, prospective customer feedback, pro-forma org chart visualizing the functional and reporting to be built with our capital, a granular map of competitive risks; we could go on. So much was either missing or superficially commented upon.

Our own analysis revealed some key concerns. And yet, these were the pros. They were intuitional investors with years of experience. Maybe we were missing something. We placed more weight on their reputation than we did on our own analysis and moved forward with the investment. And that was the last time we did that!

Original and rigorous DD, and not following the VC pack, became our bedrock tenant, so much so that we have led more deals than not, even when we are not the largest check. We have learned that the value of sound DD goes beyond the identification of a good deal – it can build lasting trust with founders. The DD process, when done rigorously, can help a company create a more effective capital strategy and show a founder that we are willing to roll up our sleeves and work side by side with them. It also produces better ROI!

David Arcara

Why Raising Fund 2 Was Harder Than Fund 1

This is part 4 of 10 of our 10 Years of Laconia Series.

When we raised Fund 1, it was fueled by the trust and camaraderie of friends and former colleagues. These were people who had seen David and me in action, knew our work ethic, and were willing to take a chance on us as we transitioned from angel investors to venture capitalists. For that, we will forever be grateful. But fast forward two years, and we were back in front of these same LPs, this time asking them to take another swing—not just because they trusted us personally, but because they believed in the vision we had for Laconia.

Fund 2 was the inflection point that meant we were all-in. By the time we began raising it, we had brought on Geri as our third partner and were ready to scale and grow a truly special venture firm. But there was a big hurdle: Fund 1 was still in its early days, and venture funds take time to show results. While we had a few markups in Fund 1, it wasn’t enough to point to a proven track record. Asking Fund 1 LPs to reinvest without fully realized results was daunting.

It’s worth noting that we returned Fund 1’s initial capital within those first four years (and have since returned more). This performance underscores the strength of the companies we backed and the value we’ve created for investors, even in the early stages of building Laconia.

To their credit, 85% of our Fund 1 LPs came back in for Fund 2. That kind of loyalty and trust is rare and speaks volumes about the caliber of people who believed in us from the beginning. But even with that vote of confidence, we needed to expand our LP base to build momentum. And that’s where the real challenge began.

David and I are not natural self-promoters. The fundraising process for Fund 2 required us to stretch beyond our comfort zones. Networking became our daily reality. We leaned heavily on referrals and spent countless hours explaining our vision and strategy to potential LPs who had no prior history with us. This wasn’t just about pitching a fund; it was about selling the long-term vision for Laconia and the value we could bring as a concentrated, boutique venture firm focused on pre-seed and seed-stage B2B companies.

Through grit, determination, and a lot of late nights, we secured $13 million for Fund 2. By some measures, that’s not a large fund. But for us, it was significant. We’re a concentrated firm by design, intentionally working closely with fewer companies. Fund 2 allowed us to double down on our thesis and continue building something unique in the venture ecosystem.

Raising Fund 2 taught us that being a good investor is only part of the job. Building a venture firm requires a strong LP pipeline, constant relationship-building, and the ability to communicate your vision in a way that resonates with others. It’s not easy, and it’s not natural for everyone. But for David, Geri, and me, it became an essential part of growing Laconia into the firm it is today and will be as we enter the next decade. 

Looking back, Fund 2 was harder than Fund 1 in every way. But the challenges we faced during that time laid the foundation for everything that followed. And for that, we’re deeply grateful.

Jeffrey Silverman

How We Met Geri – Another Serendipitous Moment

This is part 3 of 10 of our 10 Years of Laconia series.

There’s something funny about serendipity – you never know when it’s going to raise its head. In building Laconia, we’ve experienced more than our fair share of these moments. One of the best examples? Meeting Geri Kirilova.

It was a cold and wet Monday night in the fall of 2015. One of our LPs was celebrating her 50th birthday at an Irish pub in the Financial District. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going. It was miserable outside, I lived uptown, and the thought of schlepping downtown was far from enticing. But this person meant a lot to me, and I couldn’t miss the chance to give her a big birthday hug. (Yes, I’m a hugger.) So, I pulled on my coat, hopped on the 6 train, and off I went.

The party was on the second floor of the pub. I climbed the stairs, and as I reached the top, I bumped into an industry peer. Standing next to him was a young woman with wild hair – the kind of hair you don’t forget. We exchanged quick small talk, and I learned she was a senior at NYU Stern. It was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments – maybe a minute with the peer and 30 seconds with the young woman before I moved on. I made my way through the room, doing my rounds: hug, kiss, hug, kiss. Thirty minutes later, I was back on the 6 train, headed uptown, thinking little of it.

A few weeks later, David and I were having a working lunch. We were tossing around the idea of bringing on an intern – yes, a paid intern – to help us with some projects. And out of nowhere, I thought of the young woman I’d met that rainy night. I told David, “I met this young lady at a birthday party. She made a strong first impression.” That was it. We decided to reach out.

Fast forward: That young woman was Geri Kirilova. Today, Geri is our third pillar and Laconia, our LPs, and the founders we support are all better off because of her. What started as a brief, forgettable moment at an Irish pub turned into one of the most serendipitous decisions we ever made.

Geri’s growth from intern to Partner has been nothing short of extraordinary. Her tenacity, judgment, and keen understanding of early-stage investing have played a critical role in shaping Laconia into what it is today. 

As for serendipity? Sometimes you just have to take the 6 train on a rainy night, climb the stairs, and say hello.

Jeffrey Silverman