![]() “They could raise as much money as they want, but they maximize for the opportunity, not their own pocketbooks,” says Christy Richardson, director of private investments at the Hewlett Foundation, a founding limited partner in Benchmark and many other funds. That beats out most billion-dollar funds raised by larger firms, who then can charge much more on fees. Its backers received a 1,000% gain-net of fees- over the past decade. Over the years, Benchmark’s eight funds have paid out $22.6 billion to investors. On a single day in December, Fenton celebrated IPOs for two portfolio companies: New Relic and Hortonworks. Benchmark’s reward for being one of the first VCs to back Uber is an estimated $7 billion stake in the car-hailing behemoth. A $21 million investment in Snapchat, led by Mitch Lasky ( No. A $32 million bet on Twitter is now worth $2.2 billion. The last few years have proven especially lucrative. ![]() Over the 20 years of its existence the partnership has backed many of the biggest names of the Internet era, such as Dropbox, eBay, Instagram, Yelp and Zillow. “When you restrict yourself in size, there’s nowhere to hide.”īenchmark’s approach may be contrarian, but it has worked beautifully. “We’re more of a jazz band than a marching band,” says partner Peter Fenton ( No. And the firm has eschewed the temptation to raise ever larger funds, keeping its own below $500 million. ![]() While Benchmark has an office in the Valley, many of the decisions are made at its San Francisco office, in a renovated building above the historic Warfield theater. Its website is a spartan, static page with exactly one hyperlink, which directs visitors to the Twitter feeds of its portfolio companies. There’s only a small staff to support the five partners. At a time when buzzy firms like Andreessen Horowitz or Google Ventures lard up their payrolls with marketers, PR handlers, recruiters and in-house designers, Benchmark is decidedly minimalist. The firm’s winnings-2.5% in management fees and 30% of the profits- are divided equally.Įgalitarianism isn’t the only Benchmark trait that bucks the latest VC trends. There are no junior or senior partners, only partners, and no one plays a CEO-like role. Unlike most of its rivals Benchmark is deliberately egalitarian. Giving everyone not just a voice but an equal voice is Benchmark’s stock-in-trade. “The table’s dimensions make it perfect for seven people to all speak together,” says Bill Gurley, the firm’s longest-serving active partner. The events are exclusive salons that tackle everything from the future of mobile computing to the features that drive Twitter’s success. It’s been custom-built for its hosts, Benchmark Capital, which uses it for partnership lunches and semi-secret weekly dinners with select members of the Valley’s brain trust. Made of a deep brown walnut, the table isn’t oval or square but a distinctive asymmetrical rounded triangle inspired by the French designer Jean-Marie Massaud. The first topic of conversation at one of Silicon Valley’s most exclusive dinners is usually the table.
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