In an exclusive ION Influencers fireside chat, Joe Briggs, founder of BCF, talked about the critical challenges and opportunities fund managers face when launching new strategies or spinning out new firms. This deep-dive conversation provided a roadmap for navigating today’s complex private markets fundraising landscape.

Key Topics Discussed & Strategic Insights

1. The Genesis of BCF: Solving Fundraising’s “Tough” Challenges

Joe Briggs founded BCF over four years ago to address the persistent and heightened difficulties in fundraising. He highlighted that while investor sophistication and due diligence expectations have increased, investors themselves are inundated with opportunities, making it hard to identify and support the best managers. BCF positions itself as a hands-on, strategic partner throughout the entire fund lifecycle, moving beyond traditional advisory roles.

2. BCF’s Unique Role: Timeline Obsession & Strategic Intersections

BCF operates at two key entrepreneurial junctures in private markets:

• Established managers launching new strategies or pivoting.
• New spin-outs and platforms being built from the ground up.
  Unlike a placement agent or fund administrator, BCF integrates early—sometimes even before a team leaves their current firm—to conduct “audits,” manage complex, overlapping timelines, and provide rigorous project management to avoid common pitfalls.

3. Assessing Entrepreneurial Readiness: The Team & Traction

For potential spin-outs, Briggs looks for:

• Team Dynamics & Vision: The quality of people around the founders and their shared vision.
• Early Investor Validation: Significant anchor investors as a key signal of credibility.
• Practical Preparedness: Founders who are meticulously planning beyond the investment thesis to include operational realities (like payroll and administration).

4. The “5 R’s” of Track Record Assessment

BCF uses a rigorous framework to evaluate a team’s track record, centered on five critical “R’s”:

• Relevance: Is past experience relevant to the new strategy?
• Recency: How recent is the track record?
• Responsibility: Who was truly responsible for the performance?
• Restrictions: What legal or contractual restrictions exist on using this track record?
• Repeatable: Is the success replicable in the new context?
  Briggs noted that prior firms are often upset by departures, but that friction can ironically signal the team’s high value.
• Really Good: A strong historical track record requires assessing both its quantitative benchmarks and the future repeatability of its success.

5. Investment Thesis Diligence: Seeing Through an Investor’s Lens

BCF doesn’t judge markets in a vacuum. Instead, they channel the investor mindset, challenging managers to:

• Prove their market opportunity is large and compelling.
• Clearly articulate differentiation, investment process, and team setup.
• Anticipate and prepare for deep-diligence questions, helping craft content and data rooms that meet investor expectations.

6. The Spin-Out Trend: Motivations & Red Flags

While spin-outs occur across firm sizes, larger groups may struggle more with talent retention. Briggs emphasized that financial incentive must align with entrepreneurial drive. A red flag is a team focused solely on financial gain without a clear vision for their unique contribution, investment edge, or desired partnership model with LPs.

7. Investor Appetite for New Managers in 2025 & Beyond

Despite a trend toward relationship consolidation, there is strong investor excitement for new strategies and spin-outs. Investors see them as sources of potential outperformance and meaningful partnership. The challenge is filtering the high volume of opportunities. BCF helps managers streamline this process, making them more “investable” by aligning their preparation with investor needs.

8. The Future of Fund Advisory

Briggs believes core fundraising challenges will persist due to the dynamic nature of matching capital with talent. In ten years, while basic blind spots may diminish, the need for hands-on guidance in forming quality partnerships will remain. BCF aims to be a formative, long-term partner for firms as they evolve and launch future strategies.

Key timestamps:

00:07 Introduction to the Fireside Chat
03:32 Understanding Fund Launch Timelines
08:12 Assessing Entrepreneurial Potential in Fund Managers
10:42 Evaluating Track Record and Attribution
15:28 The Impact of Prior Firms on New Ventures
17:08 Investment Thesis Evaluation
22:46 Future Trends in Fund Management
29:34 Conclusion and Closing Remarks