Henri Pierre-Jacques: How I Founded Harlem Capital; Our $134M Fund | 20VC

Henri Pierre-Jacques is Managing Partner of Harlem Capital, on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years. From a kitchen table with his Co-Founder, Jarrid, Henri has scaled Harlem in just a few years to their latest fund last year of $134M, well over-subscribed from their $100M target. Prior to Harlem, Henri was in Private Equity at ICV Partners, and before PE was an Investment Banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.


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0:00 Henri's background
2:04 How does mindset change going from angel to institutional investor?
3:05 The 3 camps of Venture Capital
4:45 How to balance diversity and ownership levels
6:09 How do you think about your relationship to price?
8:11 Reserves planning
10:01 What nuances do managers miss?
11:50 The state of GP commits today
14:53 The first fund Henry raised
17:42 Most common reason people said "no"
18:46 How to convince institutions to invest in first time fund
20:44 Advice for first time fund managers
22:50 Biggest mistake I made raising my first fund
24:35 Min/Max check sizes from LPs
25:49 What are your biggest insecurities?
27:45 Biggest investing mistakes
30:23 The things on which you won't accept feedback
31:44 Do you feel you've quashed partners before?
33:23 What are you scared of?
34:56 What are the barriers to you achieving your goal?
36:27 How do you manage so many interns?
38:42 Deal memos
42:32 Favourite book
42:51 What have you recently changed your mind on?
43:25 Tips on time management
43:51 Secret to a great relationship
44:34 Who do you look up to in Venture?
45:30 Biggest advice to first time fund managers
46:36 Single biggest thing you'd like to change about LPs
47:30 Most recent publicly announced investment


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In Today’s Episode We Discuss:


1.) From Kitchen Table to $134M Fund:

How did Henri make his way into venture having had the idea for Harlem at the kitchen table with his best friend?
How did Henri use his angel investing strategically to position him to raise Fund I?
How did Henri’s mindset change when making the transition from angel to VC?

2.) The First Fundraise: Harlem I

How long did it take to raise the first fund? How many meetings did they have?
What were the most common reasons LPs said no for the first fund?
What were their biggest lessons around what potential LPs did and did not like?
How does Henri advise new managers when it comes to meeting new LPs?
How does Henri use past deal memos to serve as discussion material with LPs?

3.) Building the Firm: The Strategy:

What was the portfolio construction for the first fund?
How does Henri separate the world of funds into 3 distinct groups?
How did they approach reserves management with the first funds? What are some of Henri’s biggest lessons when it comes to effective reserves management?
How does Henri assess his own relationship to price and ownership? How does that change with fund size?
What are some very important nuances that Henri does not believe many managers think about?

4.) It Is Time For Change:

Specifically, what are Harlem street doing to ensure the next generation of investors is much more diverse? How do they leverage their intern program to achieve this?
What would Henri like to see change in the world of LPs when it comes to allocating to more diverse managers?
What legacy does Henri want to leave with Harlem? What will be a success for Henri?



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