Research

Open-access empirical research on venture capital performance, capital flows, and allocation policy.

Every output is free to read, quote, cite, and redistribute with attribution. Each one states its sample and its limitations in the body, and every one is built on the same published evidence base.

White paper II · Publishing soon · Venture performance

The Architecture of Returns: Why Emerging Venture Capital Managers Are More Risk-Efficient

Emerging managers earn roughly 47% more return for every unit of risk carried. The average emerging fund finishes 28% above the median fund of its own vintage year, against 9% for the average established fund, and the advantage runs roughly three times larger among the strongest funds than the weakest.

Dr. Itzel Moncada · Dr. Mariela Salas

White paper I · Published · Venture performance

Why Emerging Venture Capital Managers Matter: Rethinking Institutional Portfolio Construction

Institutional venture programs screen managers on firm age, fund sequence, and assets under management. We test those screens and find that they are associated with the exclusion of a durable return advantage.

Dr. Itzel Moncada · Dr. Mariela Salas

Note · Published · Venture performance

What actually makes a VC manager emerging?

Why the Institute uses the term structurally rather than demographically, and what that changes about who gets screened out.

Note · Published · Diagnostics

What emerging manager exclusion costs, and what you can do about it

Introduces the two self-assessment diagnostics published with White Paper I, one for allocators and one for managers.

Diagnostics · Live · Allocators and managers

LP Diagnostic and GP Diagnostic

The two free self-assessment tools published with White Paper I. About fifteen minutes each, no account required.

Research principles

How we decide what to publish.

Decision-useful, not theoretical

Every output answers the question a reader will actually ask, which is what decision this changes.

Method-forward

Assumptions, definitions, and limitations are stated in the body, beside the finding they qualify.

Neutral positioning

We describe systems and incentives, never individual firms or people.

Reusable artifacts

We publish what others can apply on their own, including the diagnostics and the full exhibit set.