Ryan Akkina: How MIT Builds Their Venture Fund Portfolio & How MIT Approach Direct Investing | E1109

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 29, 2024

Duration

57m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Stay on top of the private market with free access to volumes of real time market data and enjoy Hiive’s automated trading experience. With thousands of trades across hundreds of unicorns, Hiive is the fastest growing pre-IPO marketplace in the world. Create a free account today at hiive.com/20vc and see why over a thousand institutions and 10,000 accredited investors have joined Hiive. ----------------------------------------------- Ryan Akkina is a member of the Global Investment Team at the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), which is responsible for managing MIT’s endowment and pension plans. Ryan has invested in the likes of Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, a16z, Greenoaks and Initialized to name a few. Ryan also leads many of MITIMCo’s direct co-investments including most notably into Coupang and Rippling. Prior to joining MITIMCo, Ryan was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:50) Entering the World of Fund Investing (04:14) Changes at MIT Over 15 Years (06:07) Evolution of the Financial Industry (07:33) Investing in Emerging Managers Now (08:34) Evaluating Managers (13:18) Mistakes in Investing Evaluation (15:45) Why Good Funds Go Sideways (16:47) Evaluating Large Firms (18:08) Communicating Non-Reinvestment to Managers (18:35) Backing Greenoaks: A Case Study (20:46) Strategy Shifts and Position Sizing (23:37) Compressing Deployment Timelines (27:50) The Liquidity Challenge (29:33) Importance of Direct Investing (32:53) Portfolio Allocation and Position Sizing (34:40) Incentive Systems in Family Office Investing (36:00) Price Considerations in Direct Investments (38:59) Lessons from Investing Mistakes (43:16) Evolution of Ryan's Investing Style (52:49) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Ryan Akkina We Discuss:

1. From Engineer to LP with MIT: How did Ryan make his way into the world of fund investing as an LP with MIT? Why did he turn down the chance to be a VC early in his career? What does Ryan know now that he wishes he had known when he started at MIT?

1. The Manager Evaluation Process for MIT: What does Ryan look for most when investing in new managers? How important is track record when evaluating a new manager? What is the biggest mistake Ryan has made in picking a manager? What did he not see that he wish he had seen? How did that change his process?

1. How MIT Builds Their Portfolio: How does MIT construct their portfolio from private to public to everything in between? What are the three different types of check sizes that MIT writes when investing in new managers? What are the most common reasons why MIT will not re-up with a manager? What are the single biggest reasons why great managers turn bad?

1. MIT: The Direct Investor: Why does MIT see so much opportunity in direct investing? How does MIT approach the direct investing process? How do they approach underwriting themselves vs working with their managers in the process? How do MIT think about the right number of direct deals to make up their portfolio? How do they approach check sizing on a per-company direct investment? What has been Ryan’s biggest direct investing mistake? How did that change his approach and mindset?

1. LP Markets Today and Where We Go From Here: Are LPs open for business today? What type of firms will not struggle? Which will? How does Ryan view liquidity windows today? When will M&A and IPO markets open? What would Ryan most like to change about the world of LPs? Why does Ryan believe the LP incentive structure in terms of compensation is broken? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #harrystebbings #20vc #venturecapital #business #Ryanakkina #mit

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Harry Stebbings

  host

• Ryan Akkina

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Harry Stebbings and Ryan Akkina, Ryan Akkina: How MIT Builds Their Venture Fund Portfolio & How MIT Approach Direct Investing | E1109 explores inside MIT’s Endowment: How Ryan Akkina Selects and Backs VCs Ryan Akkina of the MIT Investment Management Company explains how MIT builds and manages its venture fund and direct co‑investment portfolio in a much more competitive, complex venture landscape. He outlines their evaluation framework for managers (“see, pick, win, serve”), the challenges of sizing commitments, staying loyal while funds scale, and deciding when to pare back or stop re‑upping. Akkina also details MIT’s growing use of direct co‑investments, the importance of structure and price discipline, and the incentive misalignments within traditional endowment models. Throughout, he reflects on mistakes (errors of omission like OpenAI, and bad direct bets), the half‑life of all venture firms, and what it now takes for emerging managers to successfully raise from top LPs.

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